Highwood Canadian Rye Whisky
Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 30, 2010
The Highwood Distillery is the only locally (Albertan) owned distillery in the world. It sits in the heart of the High River community, producing more than 300,000 cases of bottled spirits per year. Although the bulk of their production goes towards Vodka, Flavoured Vodka, and Premixes, they also produce a sizable amount of Canadian Whisky each year. I guess you could say that I am partial to a success story that has occurred right in my own back yard, and I love to sample and review the spirits which Highwood Distillers produce.
I consider the Highwood Canadian Whisky to be a unique product unlike anything else on the whisky landscape (I also find it very tasty). What is so original about the Highwood Whisky is the grain from which it is distilled. Highwood uses local Canadian prairie wheat for the distillation base of all of their Highwood branded whisky. This is because wheat alcohol, rather than barley or corn alcohol, has less heavy non-digestible components. This makes for an extremely smooth easy to drink whisky. After sampling most of the Highwood Whisky range, I have come to the conclusion that they are making some of the smoothest whisky in the world.
At the recent Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Festival, I reconnected with Allan Owen, the Highwood sales Rep in my area. We had a nice chat, and he offered to drop a few more samples of whisky for me to review. The first of these samples was the Highwood Canadian Rye Whisky.
This is a Canadian whisky made from wheat grain which has been aged for at least five years in charred American white oak barrels. It is blended with an aged rye grain whisky to produce that distinctive Canadian ‘rye’ flavour profile. Here is an excerpt from my review:
“…The first thing I noticed about the Highwood Whisky as I sipped it was that it is a smooth, gentle, and mellow whisky which has the soft sensation in the mouth of a much older whisky. Honeycomb, ginger, wood spice, and a light dab of vanilla all support a wonderfully clean, dusty rye flavour….”
You may read the full review by clicking this link:
Review: Highwood Canadian Rye Whisky
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