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Archive for the ‘Extras’ Category

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#Top100CanadianWhisky #5: Canadian Club 40 Year Canadian Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 19, 2017

This holiday season, a new Canadian whisky is on the wish lists of Canadian Club fans. After 40 years of resting in American oak barrels in Windsor, Ontario, Canadian Club released Canadian Club 40 Year Old, its oldest age expression released to date, and possibly the oldest in Canadian whisky history.

According to Rob Tucker, Senior Brand Manager, Canadian & American Whiskies at Beam Suntory:

“With 160 years of great whisky making, Canadian Club’s numerous gold medal awards won in recent spirit competitions, and with our storied past as the preeminent club whisky in speakeasies which were known for stylish, stirring times, and a little mischief in mixed company, it only makes sense that a historic brand like Canadian Club gets to treat Canadians with such a delicious one-of-a-kind whisky like Canadian Club 40 Year Old,”

 

According to my sources, Canadian Club 40 Year Old was produced from a selection of American Oak barrels which contained 100% corn whisky. These barrels had been consolidated many times over the course of 40 years to minimize the oxidation of the spirit during its lengthy maturation period. The whisky has been released in part to commemorate Canada’s 150 Anniversary, and was available with full distribution across Canada as of mid November in limited quantities.

Here is a link to the Rum Howler #5 Canadian Whisky in my list of the 100 Best of 2017:

Review: Canadian Club 40 Year Canadian Whisky

“… The aroma in the breezes above the glass offers no disappointment. My immediate reaction was Yumm! The breezes brought forth a combination of butterscotch, oak and vanilla which was melded into a luscious toffee. After a few minutes I began to notice a welling up of fresh corn underlain with firm impressions of tobacco and hints of burlap …”

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We have reached the top 5 whiskies in my 2017 countdown of Canada’s best. Just to make sure I got it right, I re-tasted each of the top 5 spirits side by side to determine my final scores and rankings.

Note: To follow the countdown list of the Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017, you should follow me on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100CanadianWhisky.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows by viewing my Reveal Page here on this website:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017

Posted in Awards, Canadian Whisky, Extras, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100CanadianWhisky #5: Canadian Club 40 Year Canadian Whisky

#Top100Rums of 2017: #3 – El Dorado Special Reserve 21 Year Old Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 18, 2017

The 2015 Best Rum in the World

Demerara County (in Guyana) is popular across the world for its rich, three hundred year history of rum production. Using a combination of old wooden stills in conjunction with modern stills and distilling techniques, Demerara Distillers Ltd. (DDL), has built a reputation for outstanding quality and consistent production. In fact, Demerara Distillers is the currently the largest supplier of bulk Caribbean Rum to Europe and North America.

The DDL Master Blender is credited with the creation of El Dorado 21-Year-Old Rum which uses a blend of rums selected from their world-famous stills, the Enmore (wooden Coffey still), the Versailles (single wooden pot still), and the Albion (Savalle still). All of the rums in the blend have been aged in oak for a minimum of 21 years, making this one of the oldest production rums in the world.

According to the DDL website…

“El Dorado rums are blended selections of different ‘vintages’ or batches of rums from different stills – aged in oak barrels. Importantly, the age statement specifically indicates the youngest rum in the blend, even though the oldest may be many years older. This rule is the same as the one for Scotch Whisky and is used for rums produced in English-speaking countries…”

Here is a link to the review for the Rum Howler #3 Rum of 2017:

Review: El Dorado Special Reserve 21 Year Old Rum

“… The immediate nose is full of baking spices, orange peel, vanilla, and dry fruits. There are absolutely no medicinal notes or harsh scents associated with the aroma. As the rum decants, I begin to sense glimmers of almonds and hazelnuts weaving through the tapestry of smells, and I sense a building oakiness which is bringing more spice to the fore …”

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We  have reached the top 5 rum spirits of 2017. In mid November, I tasted each of the top 5 rums side by side to determine the final rankings. These final rankings may not absolutely agree with my previous scores when reviewing each spirit, but they do reflect my feelings regarding the relative merit of each rum in mid-November 2017.

You can continue to follow the countdown on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100Rums.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows daily by viewing my Reveal Page:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Rums of 2017

Posted in Awards, Extras, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

#Top100CanadianWhisky #6: J.P. Wiser’s Red Letter

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 18, 2017

Wiser’s Red Letter was introduced to Canadians in 2007 to pay homage to the 150th anniversary of John Philip Wiser’s distillery in Prescott, Ontario 1857 – 2007), as well as to the original Red Letter Whisky which John Phillip produced in the late 1800s.

In 2009, when I reviewed the inaugural 150th Adversary Edition (see review here), I was told by my contacts within Corby, that the spirit contained various blends of whisky which (although they ranged in age) were all ten years old or more. After these mature whiskies were blended they were then finished in virgin white oak barrels for 150 days. Once the final characteristic of flavour had been achieved, the Red Letter was bottled at 45 % alcohol by volume (non chill filtered). In developing the spirit, the folks at Wiser’s apparently researched the original J.P Wiser’s Red Letter 19th century recipe using it as a guideline to construct their celebratory whisky.

In 2013 Corby, once again in a tribute to their founder J.P Wiser released Wiser’s Red Letter Whisky 2013 Release. As with the 150th Anniversary Edition, the whisky was finished in virgin white oak casks and then bottled without chill filtering at 45 % alcohol by volume. In 2015 Corby began a re-branding of the entire Wiser’s lineup adding the initials of John Philip Wiser to the brand name across the portfolio.

Here is a link to the Rum Howler #6 Canadian Whisky in my list of the 100 Best of 2017:

Review: J.P. Wiser’s Red Letter

“… nose is full of both dusty rye and lush corn with yummy vanilla, maple, toffee and baking spices revealing themselves alongside. Corby’s Canadian Whisky Ambassador shared with me that the spirit is predominantly a corn whisky, and the corn smells continue to grow verifying his claim. As the glass sits the tobacco and oak seem to both well from the glass dusty grain spices, zesty orange peel …”

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Note: To follow the countdown list of the Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017, you should follow me on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100CanadianWhisky.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows by viewing my Reveal Page here on this website:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017

 

Posted in Awards, Canadian Whisky, Extras, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100CanadianWhisky #6: J.P. Wiser’s Red Letter

#Top100Rums of 2017: #4 – Ron Millonario XO Reserva Especial Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 17, 2017

According to the Ron Millonario Website, Ron Millonario XO Reserva Especial Rum is produced in Northern Peru upon three old Scottish column stills using a slow distillation process from sugar cane molasses. The Peruvian distillery uses its own specially selected yeasts in the fermentation process, and mention is made of the distillery’s own coopers who construct their own aging barrels from American and Slavonian oak.

Although specific information about the Ron Millonario XO is hard to glean from the website, we can deduce some important information about the Ron Millonario XO from its younger sibling the Ron Millonario Solera 15 Year Reserva. The Solera 15 Reserva is produced from a 4 stage Solera process with the final stage bringing the oldest rum in the blend to 15 years. It may be reasonable to assume that for the XO a fifth Solera stage is introduced bring the oldest rum in the blend to somewhere in the 18 to 21 year range.

Here is a link to the review for the Rum Howler #4 Rum of 2017:

Review: Ron Millonario XO Reserva

“… When I took my first sip of this rum, my immediate reaction what to exclaim, “Oh, that is lovely!” and subsequent sips and samplings have done nothing to dissuade me from this initial reaction. The main flavours of caramel/molasses, oak spice and baking spices seem to be perfectly melded together. Hints of raisin, figs, tobacco and chocolate seem to provide just the right accent to make this a suave mouth watering rum …”

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We  have reached the top 5 rum spirits of 2017. In mid November, I tasted each of the top 5 rums side by side to determine the final rankings. These final rankings may not absolutely agree with my previous scores when reviewing each spirit, but they do reflect my feelings regarding the relative merit of each rum in mid-November 2017.

You can continue to follow the countdown on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100Rums.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows daily by viewing my Reveal Page:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Rums of 2017

Posted in Awards, Extras, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

#Top100CanadianWhisky #7: Ninety “Decades of Richness” 20 Year Old

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 17, 2017

In November of 2005, Highwood Distillers finalized the purchase of Potters Distilleries (founded by Ernie Potter in 1958). Part of this acquisition, was the purchase of all of the remaining barrel aged stocks of whisky in the Potters facility. These barrels of whisky were transferred from the Potters warehouse facilities in Kelowna, B.C. to the newly constructed warehouse facility in High River, Alberta, where they were allowed to continue to age at the foot of the Rocky Mountains on the western edge of the Canadian Prairies. The whisky brands which Potters Distilleries had established (Century and Potters) were added to Highwood’s portfolio of spirits where they have not only been maintained but also expanded upon. Part of that expansion was the 2013 addition of the ‘Ninety’ branded whiskies to the Century Distillers line-up. Like the other whiskies in the Century portfolio, the Ninety branded spirits are corn-based rather than wheat-based blends. (Highwood Distillers uses the Highwood brand for all of its wheat based whiskies.)

Highwood chose the brand name ‘Ninety’ because these new whiskies are bottled at 90 proof (or 45 % alcohol by volume) rather than the usual 80 proof (40 % alcohol by volume). The higher bottling strength means that the final whisky will retain a character closer to the original cask strength whiskies from which they were blended. In the case of the Ninety “Decades of Richness” 20 Year Old Canadian Rye Whisky, the bulk of blend almost certainly has been drawn from Highwood’s treasured reserves of remaining Potters whisky stocks which are rumoured to contain barrels of whisky as old as 33 years.

Here is a link to the Rum Howler #7 Canadian Whisky in my list of the 100 Best of 2017:

Review: Ninety “Decades of Richness” 20 Year Old

“… Tasting notes do not adequately reflect how good this whisky actually is. The words which I wrote down a year ago to describe the flavour are correct: oak, cedar, corn, butterscotch, vanilla, orange peel, marmalade, almond and tobacco, but they do not adequately convey how rich and flavourful this whisky is …”

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Note: To follow the countdown list of the Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017, you should follow me on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100CanadianWhisky.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows by viewing my Reveal Page here on this website:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017

Posted in Awards, Canadian Whisky, Extras, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100CanadianWhisky #7: Ninety “Decades of Richness” 20 Year Old

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