Lot No. 40 is, make no mistake about it, a new style of Canadian Whisky. It is made with locally grown rye which has been distilled upon a single 12,000-litre copper pot still. The final whisky is aged in new oak barrels to showcase the creamy caramelized flavours which new freshly charred oak barrels bring. Hiram Walker Distillery Master Blender, Dr. Don Livermore. elaborated on the process for me:
“Without getting into specific recipes, Lot 40 is comprised of 100% of our (Hiram Walker) rye whisky. This whisky was made via pot distillation and subsequently aged in new casks. There is a proprietary proportion of distillers malt(s) used in the brewing process that allows for conversion of the rye grains into fermentable sugars. The brewing process is made in small batches according to the traditional recipes dating back to the early 1900s.”
Here is a link to the Rum Howler #10 Canadian Whisky of 2015:
Lot No. 40 Single Copper Pot Still
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You may read about the Top 25 Canadian Whisky Countdown here:
The Rum Howler 2015 Top 25 Canadian Whiskies
Ron Millonario XO Reserva Especial Rum is the premier rum produced by this Italian Company, and it has been one of my most favoured rums ever since I first tasted it.
According to my correspondence with the media company responsible for, Gibson’s Finest Whisky, the Gibson’s Finest brand is produced from of two sources: a base grain whisky (which would be a corn-based column still whisky), and a blend of rye based flavouring whisky which contains rye and malted barley (distilled by a single column still and a pot still). When aging their whisky, Gibson’s Finest uses a variety of barrels: ex-bourbon barrels, new oak barrels, etc. The ratio of each barrel-type used can differ from batch to batch because the whisky is blended to a specific taste profile rather than to a specific barrel regimen.
The next 5 great rums in my countdown of the Best Rums of 2015 demonstrate a growing trend upon my website. Rums from South America are beginning to dominate the landscape of premium rum. Three of the next five rums are South American, one from Peru (Ron Millonario), one from Colombia (Juan Santos), and one from Guyana (El Dorado). It could be argued that there is a fourth South American Rum on the list as Pusser’s Navy Rum, although blended from rums of various Caribbean countries, receives the lion’s share of its taste characteristic from the giant wooden double pot stills of Demerara Distillers in Guyana, South America as well.
I still have a few bottles which I treasure, and although they were inexpensive, I prize them as highly (or perhaps maybe even more highly) than my much more expensive well aged Single Malt scotches. That is because this whisky is simply better than almost every one of them. Price does not dictate quality, care and attention do. And this whisky is the proof of that.
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