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Archive for the ‘Extras’ Category

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Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Canadian Whisky Countdown: #14 – Ethan Koll Rare 8 Year Old

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 11, 2016

rum-howler-top-50-2016Ethan Koll Rare 8 Year Old Canadian Whisky is a whisky brand developed by Distiller Sales Company of Princeton, Minnesota and is part of a portfolio of brands owned by Phillips Products Company (PPC). The Brand was registered in 2010, and is distributed in the Northwestern States of the US and Western Canada.

Ethan Koll SAM_2622When I tasted this brand earlier this year I was very surprised with the quality I encountered. The Ethan Koll Canadian Whisky was an unexpected treat. The spirit takes a little time to gather itself together in the glass, but if you are patient with the glass you will be surprised by the rich whisky flavour and the mild maple sweetness which developes.

Here is a link to the Number 14 whisky in my Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Canadian Whisky Countdown:

#14: Ethan Koll Rare 8 Year Old Canadian Whisky

“… The mouthfeel was soft and approachable, and I tasted a combination of maple and butterscotch sweetness melded into the oak spice, cedar and rye grain. This gave the spirit a mild rum-like quality which I quite enjoyed. There was however also a strong underlying impression of rye grain and damp tobacco which certain left no mistake that this was a whisky, and a very good one at that …”

Stay tuned as the countdown continues tomorrow with the number 13 Canadian Whisky.

Chimo!

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* You may follow my 2016 Canadian Whisky Countdown by bookmarking this link:

The Rum Howler – Top 50 Canadian Whiskies of 2016

Posted in Awards, Canadian Whisky, Extras, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Canadian Whisky Countdown: #14 – Ethan Koll Rare 8 Year Old

Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Mixing Rums Countdown #15 – Pusser’s Blue Label Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 10, 2016

2016rum_howler_badgePusser’s Rum is advertised as the original rum of the British Royal Navy. And it is a fact that for over 300 years it was a tradition of the British Navy that each member of the crew was issued a daily ‘tot’ of rum. This tradition began in 1655, and by 1731, the tradition of the daily ‘tot’ was in general use throughout the British Navy. As it was the ship’s purser who was responsible for issuing the rum. The Rum became known as Pusser’s Rum in a sort of slang derivation of the term ‘Purser’s Rum’.

Pusser's and a PainkillerAlthough the naval tradition of the daily tot had ended, in 1979  Charles Tobias obtained the rights and the blending information for the British Naval Rum, and formed Pusser’s Ltd. on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. His company produces their Pusser’s Rum following the blending information and the traditions of the Admiralty, including producing the rum from wooden pot stills just as the had been the tradition for over 200 years.

Here is a link to the 15th best Mixing Rum on my 2016 Top 50 Mixing Rum Countdown:

#15: Pusser’s Blue Label Rum

“… The Pusser’s website encourages you to add cola to the rum, making the assertion that the rum flavour will push through the cola creating a delightful cocktail. When I follow the website lead, I find that they are correct, the rum really does have the strength of character to push through the cola. This leads me to believe that this Pusser’s Blue Label Rum is going to be an excellent cocktail rum …”

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Stay tuned for more mixing rum revelations as I will be adding to this list each day until Christmas Eve.

And you can follow the rankings by bookmarking this page:

The Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Mixing Rums Countdown

Posted in Awards, Extras, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Mixing Rums Countdown #15 – Pusser’s Blue Label Rum

Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Canadian Whisky Countdown: #15 – Forty Creek Copper Pot

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 10, 2016

rum-howler-top-50-2016The Forty Creek Copper Pot Reserve, (like all Forty Creek Whiskies), is built upon Whisky Maker, John Hall’s, foundation of three separately distilled grains: barley, corn and rye. Each grain is distilled and aged in oak separately. When each whisky is ready, the three finished whiskies are blended together and ‘married’ in oak once more allowing the three to become one.

copper-pot-on-ice-sam_2897Indeed, John Hall’s flagship whisky, the Forty Creek Barrel Select is a perfect example of that concept of marrying three separately distilled and aged grain whiskies into one. The Copper Pot Reserve is a more ‘premium’ version of the Barrel Select. Mr. Hall chose his best grain whiskies as the base for the Copper Pot. He aged these best whiskies a little longer to bring in more flavour from the oak, and then he chose the best of these whiskies to marry together in oak once more to complete the final blend. The Copper Pot Whisky is bottled at 43 % abv (rather than the traditional 40 %) allowing this premium whisky to showcase its robust flavour.

And it is a flavour which I appreciate enough to have selected the Copper Pot Whisky from Forty Creek as the #15 Whisky in my 2016 Top 50 Canadian Whisky Countdown!

#15: Forty Creek Copper Pot Reserve

“… The initial nose of the whisky brings oak and rye spices into the breezes above the glass with an effervescent orange peel zest riding the coattails of the spice. As the glass sits, green tobacco and orange marmalade jump in with a soft punky caramel tainting their scent. I detect some cinnamon and ginger rising up from the glass and my sense is that the Copper Pot is going to be a very interesting and complex whisky …”

Stay tuned as the countdown continues tomorrow with the number 14 Canadian Whisky.

Chimo!

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* You may follow my 2016 Canadian Whisky Countdown by bookmarking this link:

The Rum Howler – Top 50 Canadian Whiskies of 2016

 

Posted in Awards, Canadian Whisky, Extras, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Canadian Whisky Countdown: #15 – Forty Creek Copper Pot

Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Mixing Rums Countdown #16 – George Street Spiced Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 9, 2016

2016rum_howler_badgeThe capital of Newfoundland and Labrador is a city called  St. John’s, and there they have a place where the rum consumption reaches its apex. That place is George Street! A street full of music and revelry, lined from top to bottom with Pubs and Restaurants, where almost everyone’s drink of choice seems to be rum! And it is for that place that the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Commission (NLC) have named their spiced rum, George Street Spiced Rum.

George Street Spiced SAM_2721This isn’t an ordinary spiced rum. The rum itself is from Guyana, the home of the world-famous Demerara Rum, and that rum has been well aged blended from marques which are two, five , and seven years old. This blended aged rum is then spiced using both extractions and distillations of real spices. The product is bottled at 35 % alcohol by volume and is sold across Canada.

Here is a link to the Number 16 spirit in my Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Mixing Rums Countdown:

#19 – George Street Spiced Rum

“… There is a light bitterness winding throughout the spirit which reminds me of walnut and pecan. Additional impressions of tobacco, cola and bittersweet chocolate can all be found if one takes the time to look for them.

As indicated in my first review for the George Street Spiced Rum, spiced rum and coke cocktail is a natural combination for this spirit as the sweetness of the cola works beautifully with the dryer, more bittersweet elements of the rum. However, I also made a splendid short cocktail mixing the spiced rum with lemon and grapefruit juice …”

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Stay tuned for more mixing rum revelations as I will be adding to this list each day until Christmas Eve.

And you can follow the rankings by bookmarking this page:

The Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Mixing Rums Countdown

Posted in Awards, Extras, Rum, Rum Reviews, Spiced Rum | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Mixing Rums Countdown #16 – George Street Spiced Rum

Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Canadian Whisky Countdown: #16 – Coyote Ugly

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 9, 2016

rum-howler-top-50-2016On January 27, 1993, Wall Street intern, Liliana Lovell opened the first Coyote Ugly Saloon in New York City. If you watched the Jerry Bruckheimer movie Coyote Ugly (released in 2000), then you know all about this place where the waitresses, called ‘Coyote Girls’, serve the drinks, dance and sing, and even (apparently) down shots of whisky with the customers.

It was a flick that was panned by critics, but loved by the public becoming a box office hit during the late summer and early fall of 2000. The movie must have been good for business because in 2001, another Coyote Ugly Saloon opened up in Las Vegas followed by other locations across the USA, and even as far away as Russia.

coyote-ugly-sam_2765With all this success, it was apparent that the Coyote Ugly brand had reached what I will call, ‘celebrity status’. The term ‘Coyote Ugly’ has in fact become firmly entrenched into the public consciousness. When that happens, the resulting cache of the brand is well worth capitalizing on. Which is why Celebrity Cellars International founder, Jeff Harder, teamed up with the founder of the Coyote Ugly Saloon, Liliana Lovell. They have decided that it is time to get Ugly (Coyote Ugly that is) with the launch of Coyote Ugly Canadian Whisky!

I received a sample bottle of this whisky from PURE Global Imports who asked me to provide a review here on my website to serve as a preview for the world-wide launch of the new Coyote Ugly Canadian Whisky on March 12, 2012. Four years later, I am revisiting this review as part of my 2016 Top 50 Canadian Whisky Countdown, with an aim to see if the whisky has changed, and to re-score it if it has.

My re-tasting has launched the Coyote Ugly Whisky all the way to the number 17 slot in my yearly countdown. Here is my newly re-scored review:

#16: Coyote Ugly Canadian Whisky

“… The whisky smells of rich butterscotch and caramel. Light rye scents waft into the breezes with dabs of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. A light footprint of vanilla and almond compliment the delicate baking spices leaving impressions of marzipan in the air above the glass …”

Stay tuned as the countdown continues tomorrow with the number 15 Canadian Whisky.

Chimo!

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* You may follow my 2016 Canadian Whisky Countdown by bookmarking this link:

The Rum Howler – Top 50 Canadian Whiskies of 2016

 

Posted in Awards, Canadian Whisky, Extras, Whisk(e)y, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Canadian Whisky Countdown: #16 – Coyote Ugly

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