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Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $9.99
Red plum, currants and cedar aromas with a touch of earthy goodness. This wine is medium to full-bodied and...
Rapid Ship
White
750ml
Bottle: $9.99
Fragrant aromas of white peach, nectarine and Bosc pear backed by pastoral scents of hay or straw. Slightly sweet and...
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $39.69
12 bottles: $38.90
Aromas of currants, cedar and violets follow through to a medium body and fine tannins with a lovely, light velvety...
12 FREE
VM
92
JS
92
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $37.84
Golden and bright in the glass, the aroma suggests caramel apples. The palate shows plenty of oak and spice, opening...
12 FREE
WE
91
UBC
91
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $58.49
This whisky is elegantly polished by the additional white wine cask maturation. Ripe peaches, nectarines and creamy...
12 FREE
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $62.39
Aged in oak and former Sherry casks, this enticing Scotch has a ripe red-apple scent and rich salted caramel and...
12 FREE
WE
97
UBC
91
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $192.53 $202.66
Amber color. Aromas and flavors of toast with orange marmalade, green olive, snicker bar, salted pecans, honey, and...
12 FREE
BTI
94
UBC
94
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $105.23
96-100 Intriguing and challenging bouquet of aromas of roasted nuts, old leather, black pepper, old oak and dried...
12 FREE
WE
100
BTI
95
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $64.99
Dark amber color. Aromas of roasted peanuts, molasses cookies, coconut, caramel, and dark chocolate with a satiny,...
12 FREE
BTI
94
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $799.94 $1199.94
This whisky was distilled in 1999 and laid to rest in first-fill sherry hogshead #3089 for 21 years before being...
12 FREE
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $62.22
One of Islay’s classic malts, this whisky evokes ashes of a campfire on a stony beach. The maritime and smoke...
12 FREE
UBC
95
WKY
92
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $279.94 $349.94
COLOUR: Sunset Gold. AROMA: On the nose, rising aromas of herbal pine and fennel flow into sharp notes of citrusy...
12 FREE
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $66.00
An enticing nose reveals pronounced peat complemented by seamlessly integrated wood notes. On the palate, the...
12 FREE
UBC
94
WKY
93
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $249.94
Removing the cask heads to expose more wood during toasting, we’ve turned Ardbeg whisky upside down and inside out....
12 FREE
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $109.43 $115.19
Rated 96 - Powerful, muscular, well-textured, and invigorating. Even within the realm of Ardbeg, this one stands out....
12 FREE
WNR
96
UBC
95
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $83.99
Bright and crisp aromas of crunchy butter crackers, smoked grains, and campfire are lively and invigorating. The...
12 FREE
UBC
96
WKY
94
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $43.04 $49.19
A nose filled with sea spray, sea salt, dried cherry, dried fig, freshly hewn oak, and burnt driftwood. Distinctively...
UBC
96
WKY
94
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $62.21 $71.10
Matured in American oak ex-bourbon & double-fired American oak casks, bringing elegant complexity and warmth Natural...
Rapid Ship
White
12 FREE
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $61.78 $65.03
Soft melodies of warm cereal, almond biscotti, maple honey, backed bramble fruit sing from the glass. The palate is...
12 FREE
WE
96
UBC
96

Japanese Whiskey Merlot Riesling Single Malt Scotch Rapid Ship

Whisky might not be the first thing that springs to mind when we think of Japanese fine produce, but over the past one hundred years, this fascinating and multi-faceted country has diligently forged a unique whisky identity which is growing in popularity, and which is entirely its own.

The story of Japanese whisky begins in 1918, when Masataka Taketsuru was sent to Scotland to undertake a tour of single malt distilleries in the Highlands, and bring home a knowledge of whisky and distillation skills. He returned full of inspiration, helped no doubt by his new Scottish wife, and alongside his friend, Shinjiro Torii, set up what would become a successful whisky industry.

Today, the Japanese whisky industry is spread over a relatively small handful of distilleries, which continue to use Scottish techniques and recipes, but with a hefty dose of distinctly Japanese experimentalism. This is displayed most obviously in the barrelling techniques the Japanese use - to create a distinctly Oriental set of tasting notes, native Japanese oakwood casks are used for ageing, alongside casks taken from plum wine producers, which impart a beautiful set of floral flavors to the whisky.

While some distilleries produce some excellent single malts, the majority of Japanese whiskies are blended, which reveals a unique set of flavors and aromas ranging from honeysuckle and orange blossom, to toffee and acetone.

With its dark blue colored fruits and high juice content, Merlot varietal grapes have long been a favorite of wine producers around the globe, with it being found in vineyards across Europe, the Americas and elsewhere in the New World. One of the distinguishing features of Merlot grapes is the fact that they have a relatively low tannin content and an exceptionally soft and fleshy character, meaning they are capable of producing incredibly rounded and mellow wines. This mellowness is balanced with plenty of flavor, however, and has made Merlot grapes the varietal of choice for softening other, more astringent and tannin-heavy wines, often resulting in truly exceptional produce. Merlot is regarded as one of the key 'Bordeaux' varietals for precisely this reason; when combined with the drier Cabernet Sauvignon, it is capable of blending beautifully to produce some of the finest wines available in the world.

Riesling grapes have been grown in and around central Europe for centuries, and over time, they became the lasting symbol of south Germany's ancient and proud wine culture. Whilst the reputation of German wines abroad has in the past been mixed, the Germans themselves take an enormous amount of pride in their wineries, and Riesling grapes have now spread around the globe, growing anywhere with the correct climate in which they can thrive. Riesling grape varietals generally require much cooler climatic conditions than many other white grapes, and they are generally considered to be a very 'terroir expressive' varietal, meaning that the features and characteristics of the terroir they are grown on comes across in the flavors and aromas in the bottle. It is this important feature which has allowed Riesling wines to be elevated into the category of 'fine' white wines, as the features of the top quality bottles are generally considered to be highly unique and offer much to interest wine enthusiasts.