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Archive for the ‘Extras’ Category

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Introducing: Pusser’s Rum Cake

Posted by Arctic Wolf on March 1, 2011

For a good part of the last three centuries, it has been a tradition of sorts  for the British Royal Navy to bake cakes for special occasions and events. These cakes (including incidentally, the traditional  Christmas Cake), typically use the Rum associated with the British Royal Navy, Pusser’s Rum, as an integral part of the recipe.

With that tradition as the starting point, Pusser’s has introduced their own Premium British Navy Pusser’s Rum Cake. Each of these rum cakes contains three ounces of Pusser’s Rum, and it is this rum which is at the forefront of both the aroma and the flavour of the cake.

About three weeks ago I received some emails from a couple of representatives at Pusser’s asking me if I would like to receive one of their Famous Rum Cakes to review. I thought the trade-off was fair, a review for a cake, especially as I have been somewhat curious about these rum cakes for a while now.  So I agreed and my rum cake arrived last week.

The resulting review can be found here:

Review: Premium British Navy Pusser’s Rum Cake

Enjoy!

Posted in Extras, Rum Cake | Tagged: , | Comments Off on Introducing: Pusser’s Rum Cake

John Hall and Whisky: A Good Meritage

Posted by Arctic Wolf on February 4, 2011

Last month, Wednesday, January 19 to be exact, I was invited to attend a private luncheon at Bistro la Persaud, in Edmonton with John Hall, the founder of Forty Creek Whisky. It was a small gathering with only a few of us ‘media’ folk invited. The purpose of the luncheon was to allow the invitees to have an informal question and answer with Mr. Hall taking advantage of his attendance at the 2nd Annual Edmonton Whisky Festival and the launch of his new whisky Forty Creek Confederation Oak.

I kind of sat back and let the others (who are more experienced at this sort of thing) do the questioning and interjected only a few queries here and there. It seemed better just to listen than to speak…

You may read the complete story on John Hall and his unique Canadian Whisky by clicking the following link:

John Hall and Whisky: A Good Meritage

In case you are interested, I have reviewed a few of the Whiskies from Forty Creek and have provided links to these reviews below:

Review Forty Creek Barrel Select Whisky

Review: Forty Creek Portwood Reserve

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Extras, Howls, Interviews, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on John Hall and Whisky: A Good Meritage

Howling Highlight: Highwood Distillers

Posted by Arctic Wolf on February 26, 2010

Last week I took a little holiday from my regular routine and traveled 250 miles south to visit one of the last independent distillers of whisky in Canada. The trip took me 40 miles south of Calgary Alberta, to the town of High River, nestled beside the Rocky Mountains on the western edge of the prairies.

High River is a great little town full of bustle and western charm. I couldn’t resist the urge to spend a little time just driving through the town, visiting a few of the local businesses and taking in the atmosphere of the place and the people. What I found was a town of friendly people with a solid blue collar work ethic. They all seemed to bustling around doing something important. But in spite of this apparent busyness, they were more than happy to help me out with directions to the local sights and even willing to share a story or two about the local history.

Highwood Distillery is the only Albertan owned distillery in the world. It sits in the heart of the High River community, producing 300,000 cases of bottled spirits per year.

If you are interested in learning how Hiaghwood produces their whiskies, rums and vodkas, please click on the link provide for a full report on this uniquely Albertan Distliiery;

The Highwood Distillery Tour

I want to thank the staff at Highwood Distillers for taking the time to provide me with such a nice day at their facilities.   Look for future articles where I will review the samples of White Owl Whisky and Momento Rum which they provided me at the tours conclusion.

Posted in Distillery Tour, Howls | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Howling Highlight: Highwood Distillers

Howling Highlight: Interview with James Robertson

Posted by Arctic Wolf on February 10, 2010

An Interview with James Robertson
by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)

At the Edmonton Food and Wine Festival.

At the Rocky Mountain Food and Wind Festival, I had the privilege of meeting up with James  Robertson, the International Brand Manager for Tulllibardine Distillery. This distillery is one of many that had been mothballed, by previous ownership, and was now being resurrected and brought back on stream by a dedicated group of businessmen. James, who treated me with what I can only describe as with the utmost class and respect, agreed to a small interview.

I thought I would try to capture some of the  story of the excitement surrounding the reopening of the distillery for my readers.

Question # 1

How long have you worked for theTullibardine Distillery, and what is your role within the company?

Since April 2008 and I am the International Sales Manager looking after key markets around the world. I cover both sales and brand ambassadorial roles.

Question # 2

Exactly when was the Tullibardine distillery closed, and why?

White and Mackay closed Tullibardine in 1995 due to over production in the whisky industry at the time and also due to the fact that Tullibardine was not a core part of their portfolio.

Question #3

Do you know how the decision came about to reopen the Distillery?

A group of businessmen some connected with the whisky industry saw the potential for Tullibardine and approached W&M to sell it to them including all the old stock.

Question #4

It must have been exciting to unlock the gates/doors to the distillery for the first time when it reopened.  Can you tell me something about that feeling if you were there?

I was not there but I do know that there was an amazing feeling of purchasing a part of Scotland’s Heritage and also realizing a dream.

Question #5

I really can’t imagine the old barrels of whiskey, which were part of the repurchase.  Were they still inside the distillery or had they been stored offsite and cared for elsewhere?

All the casks were here under lock and key in the original warehouse where they had been put once filled. The oldest due to be bottled sometime soon is a quarter cask from 1952, then there are casks from the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s.

Question #6

Tullibardine seems to be following the model of Bruichladdich, with a variety of new cask finishes coming to market.  Is this fair? How is Tullibardine different, and how are you maintaining the old traditions of the distillery?

Bruichladdich reopened 2 years before us having also been closed by W&M. we have followed what they have done closely as they have a similar problem of no stock for the period when the stills were closed. We have not followed their model totally as they have issued over 100 different bottlings whilst we have been probably more selective but they have an advantage in that Islay is very popular whilst we as a distillery were never known for our Single Malts in the past. That said we have proved that we can produce good Single Malt and our new production with the quality of the casks that we have been buying has improved our product immeasurably.

Question #7

Tell me about Tullibardine’s new Whiskeys coming to market.

We have just bottled the Tullibardine Aged Oak which is predominantly single malt from 2004, so post re-opening with a small amount of older Tullibardine added to give it some complexity. We will continue with our Wood Finish Range and there should be a Rum Finish out in the first part of 2010, along with a few single cask bottlings.

————————————————————————————-
I would like to thank James Robertson and the Tulllibardine Distillery for taking the time for this interview. For those interested I have completed a review of the Tullibardine 1988 Vintage bottling, and that review can be found here:

Review: Tullibardine 1988 Vintage Edition

Posted in Interviews, Whisk(e)y | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Howling Highlight: Interview with James Robertson

Introducing: Wiser’s Legacy

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 30, 2009

On November 11, 2009 I published my review of  Wiser’s Red Letter Whisky.  I was very pleasantly surprised to receive an email the very next day from  Corbys Distillers (Canadian Office).   Apparently my review had been noticed, and they were interested if I maybe would like to receive a lab sample of a new whisky,  Wiser’s Legacy.

Of course the answer was yes.  This is something that every reviewer wants, a chance to test his or her palate on a new spirit with very little information in the public realm to pollute the tasting notes.  I should point out that Tastings, (The Beverage Tasting Institute) in Chicago, has already previewed the Legacy and that information was available to me.  But, so far no other information has been sought or obtained by myself.  This is a clean as a review gets, and I am eager to share the results.

A couple of things of course are unknown to me at this time.  First the age of the blend,  my guess is that it is about six  to eight years old  ‘refinished’ in new oak to give the whisky a much more robust new oak taste profile. I further suspect that new white virgin American oak barrels were used in this “refinishing”.  Now my palate is not necessarily  as smart as that, but based upon what I know of how Wiser’s  Red Letter, and Wiser’s Small Batch are finished and some similarities I noted in the tasting, this seems a safe guess.  (Later correspondence from Corbys indicates that indeed Legacy is a very special whisky developed by their Master Blender in a similar formula to that of J.P Wiser’s final recipe. This product is positioned above Wiser’s 18 Year Old and includes a unique blend of copper pot distilled rye. This hand crafted whisky will also be produced in limited quantities.)

I also do not know if this is a final blend or a sample blend still in design.   I suspect this is the final design blend, as I can see no real reason for Tastings to be publishing the results  on their website unless it is a final blend.  (Correspondence from Corbys on Jan 4,2009 indicates this is a final blend and that I was one of the first whisky writers to receive a sample)

And finally I do not know what the final label and bottle will look like.  On this front, I have no guesses, although the sample bottle looked very much like an ex Hiram Walker Special Old Rye Whisky bottle.

What I do know is that the legacy is a 45 % alcohol by volume blend,  It is a rich orange copper coloured Canadian Whisky that oozes  complexity in the nose and on the palate.

Because of the unknowns, a complete review based upon my regular methodology is impossible.  Part of my score is for presentation and with no knowledge of the final bottle design I cannot score this particular area.  But because of what I do know, a First Impression Tasting was not only possible,  but also very enjoyable. I scored the areas of my review just as I would normally do, but left no score or comments for IN THE BOTTLE.

So without further ado here is my first impression of

Wiser’s Legacy Canadian Whisky.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

This Note added January 4, 2010

I have chose to add additional notes to this posting in bold Italics in the areas where further correspondence with Corbys  has clarified information.


Posted in Canadian Whisky, First Impressions, Whisk(e)y | Tagged: , | Comments Off on Introducing: Wiser’s Legacy

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