Larry McKenna loves a Chardonnay made in a fresh, crisp style with creamy texture but balanced by bright acidity, a medium to full body and a long finish. So, if big buttery Chardonnays are your thing, this wine will meet your hopes in a textural fashion. Which is another way of saying, try this great white made in a fresh style.

It's made from grapes grown on Te Muna Road, Martinborough, which were planted in 1999. The wine goes through malolactic fermentation with lees stirring to enhance texture and it aged for 11 months in French oak, 20% of it new.

A single malt from the Japanese distillery White Oak, which has been aged for three and a half years in cognac barrels before a finishing period of 10 months in red wine casks that preciously held red wine from the Akashi vineyard located in Yamanashi.

It's called Dark Oak for a reason and that reason is maturation in a combo of oloroso sherry, Pedro Ximenez sherry and bourbon casks. Auchentoshan are famous for their light, triple distilled, Lowland style... but here it combines beautifully with the wood influence and the result is a single malt packed full of stewed fruit and warming Christmas spice notes.

Dry sherry aromas mingle with stewed raisin and roasted hazelnut, complemented by a fresh citrus edge.

Creamy milk chocolate and orange zest flavours lead to spiced stewed fruits.  The finish is fruity with lingering citrus.

Supple, succulent and incredibly drinkable. This is a classic blend of southern French grape varieties, modelled on a Cotes du Rhone blend with Cinsault in the lead, contributing 54% towards this juicy red, supported by Shiraz and Grenache. 

Winemaker A A Badenhorst suggests that the Cinsault component will provide the structure for excellent ageing and enough suppleness for drinking young. Aromas here are perfumed, peppery, spicy and exhibit ripe red fruit flavours.

Founded in 1898 by WM. Teacher & Sons, The Ardmore distillery has continued to uphold traditional distilling methods, using only the aromatic smoke from natural, Highland peat fires to dry its malted barley.  

This is matured in quarter casks, barrels and puncheons, hence the name, and these various casks have imparted plenty of fruit and caramel flavours.

Distillery - Aberfeldy
Bottler - Distillery Bottling
Bottling series - Exceptional Cask Series
Bottled - 2019
Stated Age - 20 years old
Casknumbers - 6,7,8,9,10,18,120
Number of bottles - 3600
Strength - 43.0 % Vol.

To produce this release of Akashi Single Malt Whisky, the White Oak distillery aged this whisky in Cognac barrels for 3 and a half years before refining it for 10 months in barrels of white wine from the Akashi vineyard in Yamanashi County. The result is a Single Malt without cold staining or filtration, which has a nice balance and focused on woody and fruity notes.

Located in the city of Akashi in the Hyogo Prefecture, by the seaside of the Seto Island Sea is the White Oak Distillery. This distillery was founded in 1888 by Eigashima Shuzo and has been producing Sake and Shochu every since. In 1919, Eigashima Shuzo obtained a license to manufacture whisky and when the company moved to their current facilities in 1984, the White Oak Distillery was born.

The nose is light and well-balanced. There are notes of malted barley and honey, a touch of spice and fresh fruit salad. The palate is of medium-body with notes of calvados and barley, a touch of honey and mixed peels and notes of oak. The finish is quite long with oak and caramel.

40% ABV

Opens fresh, salty and clean on the nose, developing to sweet malt dried over peat. On the palate, detect ashes, sweet tar, beaches and smoking chimneys. The finish is long and lingering, replicating the palate with salty, tangy liquorice, smoke, bonfire ashes and a phenolic quality.

Alcohol Vol. 46%

Jeb Dunnuck - 94 Points 

"Mostly Grenache with 15% Syrah brought up in foudre and old barrels, the 2019 Côtes Du Rhône Les Quartz tastes like a Châteauneuf du Pape as opposed to a Côtes du Rhône and offers a powerful bouquet of red and black fruits, melted licorice, and peppery garrigue. With loads of Provençal charm, full-bodied richness, and supple tannins, it's already hard to resist, and I see no need to delay gratification. Drink this beautiful Côtes du Rhône over the coming 5-7 years."

Created in 1912 by Edouard Martell, the bottle became a legend in the world of Cognac as middle range Cognac. A gentle giant. The Cognac's taste is dominated by eaux-de-vie from the Borderies area.

Tasting notes:

The color: Amber-bronze color
On the nose: Elegant aromas and flavours of cinnamon, flowers and wooden floral. Prune like, a bit of sweetness.
The taste: A rich yet supple entry, very round some sense of vanilla, spice and citrus peel. Dense dried fruit, nut, sweet spice, chocolate, deep copper chestnut aromas and some roasted nuts. The finish: a warm finish, some leather. Really solid.

source: cognac-expert.com

The whisky that kicks off the Glenlivet range, one of the oldest and most reputable distilleries in Speyside. Named in honour of the distillery's founder, George Smith. It's classic Glenlivet, with a creamy and fruity character bolstered by the use of first-fill American oak to mature some of the whisky.

This gift box comes with two branded glasses.

Tio Pepe is one of the great dry white wines of the world and is a fortified sherry from Gonzales Byass; the largest producers of this classic Spanish fortified wine style. 

This wine gains its bone dry flavours and green olive like astringent appeal from being aged under flor yeast, a foamy looking white film, which develops during the ageing process, which takes four years. This flor ageing process imparts the distinctive nutty and bread-like aromas to the sherry. There are hints of green apple and raisins on the palate. 

This wine tastes outstanding served lightly chilled with salty tapas and smoked slivers of serano ham and other smoked meats.