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Archive for the ‘Whisk(e)y’ Category

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Review: Danfield’s Limited Edition 21 Year Old Canadian Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on July 23, 2013

SAM_0833 Dan 21Danfield’s Canadian Whisky is produced in the small City of Lethbridge in my home Province of Alberta. It is produced for Williams & Churchill by Schenley Distilleries Inc. at the Black Velvet Distillery, (also referred to locally as the Palliser Distillery). Williams and Churchill are not distillers themselves, rather they appear to be a third-party company which owns the Danfield’s Brand. They are also very difficult to contact, and therefore the only information I have about the Danfield’s Limited Edition 21 Year Old Canadian Whisky comes from the little booklet which is strung around the neck of the bottle. According to this booklet, the 21 Year Old is a small batch whisky produced from rye, corn and malted barley. It is bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume and prior to this bottling, the whisky is apparently “diamond filtered” to add further polish to the whisky.

Being a bit of a collector of Canadian Whisky, I have had a couple of bottles of the Danfield’s Limited Edition in my possession for about three years now. I finally broke down and opened one such that I could provide a review here on my website.

Here is a link to my full review:

Review: Danfield’s Limited Edition 21 Year Old Canadian Whisky

“… The rye continues to pour out with the scent becoming earthier as it changes from a clean dry rye to a thick fruit-filled rye over the course of the nosing. Hints of marzipan and orange peel come forward as does a nice underlying nuttiness which reminds me of the wild hazelnuts which grown around the lakes in west-central Alberta …”

Please enjoy the review and the suggested cocktail recipe which follows, the Iced Ruby Manhattan.

Slainte!

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Cocktails & Recipes, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Danfield’s Limited Edition 21 Year Old Canadian Whisky

Review: Pike Creek 10 Year Old Canadian Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on July 19, 2013

Pike CreekPike Creek is a 10-year-old Canadian whisky produced from a double distillation in small column copper stills, and aged in ‘first-use’, white oak bourbon barrels. (The term ‘first use’ refers to an oak barrel which has been used only once previously, in this case to age American bourbon whiskey.) Once aged and blended, the whisky is finished in vintage port wine barrels.

Pike Creek was originally released in the late 1990s as part of Corby’s initiative to introduce new high-end Canadian whiskies into the North American market. Unfortunately the whisky was discontinued after only a brief time as consumers seemed uninterested in a the new premium product. The whisky was re-introduced last year as the profile of Canadian Whisky has recently undergone a bit of a renaissance world-wide and demand for whisky at the premium end of the market has seen a sharp increase.

You may click on the following excerpt to read the full review:

Review: Pike Creek 10 Year Old Canadian Whisky

” …The immediate nose is of caramelized  brown sugars, rye grain, field berries (blackberries and raspberries) and bits of red licorice. Some wood spices build in the glass as it breathes (or maybe I just took my time about noticing them). I also seem to sense a bit of dark fruit and chocolate similar to Christmas fruitcake in the air …”

Please enjoy my review of this outstanding new edition to the landscape of Canadian Whisky!

Cheers Everyone!

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Single Malt Whisky, Whisk(e)y | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Pike Creek 10 Year Old Canadian Whisky

Review: Solan Number One Full Bodied Malt Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on July 16, 2013

SAM_0837 Indian SummerSolan Number 1 Malt Whisky is produced by Mohan Meakin Limited at the Kasauli Distillery which is found in the Himalayan Highlands at an elevation of over 6,000 feet. (The town of Kasauli in located in the Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, India.) The distillery was founded in the late 1820s by Edward Dyer who apparently chose this location because the climate in this area of India was quite similar to his native Scotland, (and because the British troops in the nearby Punjab had a taste for Scottish style whisky).

Solan Number One is blended with mature Malt Spirits produced using traditional Scottish methods of malting, kneading, and distillation on vintage copper pot stills and aged in oak casks. I was recently sent a sample bottle by the local Alberta distributor, Madira Spirits Inc. and asked if I could provide a review here on my website. I was more than happy to oblige.

You may click on the following excerpt to read my full review:

Review: Solan Number One Full Bodied Malt Whisky

“… The initial nose is honeyed with a mixture of sweet malt and butterscotch, some clean oak spices and hints (but only hints) of a rum-like cane syrup. I let the glass sit to see how the nose developed, and I was rewarded with a few new notes of orange peel, heather and tobacco. I find the aroma appealing …”

Included at the conclusion of my review of this surprisingly good whisky is my latest cocktail, Indian Summer.

Please enjoy my latest review!

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Indian Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Solan Number One Full Bodied Malt Whisky

Review: White Owl Canadian Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on July 15, 2013

White_Owl_WhiskyThree years ago a new whisky was produced in Canada which was completely different from any other whisky I had seen. For one thing, the distillation mash for the whisky was based primarily upon wheat, not barley, corn, or rye. (This was not as surprising as you may think, as the distillers of White Owl Whisky are Highwood Distillers, based in High River, Alberta. They have, after all, been distilling their very wonderful Centennial Whisky with a wheat based mash for many years.) However, it was the next feature of the whisky which I found most interesting and unusual. White owl is a clear, well-aged, ‘cocktail’ whiskey! In fact if the bottle did not say whisky on the front you would be forgiven for believing this was an Ultra-premium Vodka, until you opened the bottle, at which time you would realize that the spirit inside is unmistakably whisky!

The whisky achieves its clear form by the means of carbon filtration. Highwood crafts and blends an aged whisky, and then runs it through a filtration process to remove all colour and smooth out the taste profile. This is a first for me, and I believe a first for well-aged  Canadian Whisky!

I was lucky enough (sorry Portwood, I couldn’t resist) to receive a sample bottle directly from the distillery after touring the facility three years ago, and today, as the good folks at Highwood Distillers are hard at work cleaning up after the recent flash flood which affected their town and their distillery (read here), I thought it would be nice to revisit my review of three years ago. (My original review was, I believe the first published review for Highwood’s ground breaking cocktail whisky.)

Please click on the excerpt to read my revised review. (Actually only slightly edited to correct some grammatical errors in the original review. I concluded after a recent tasting that the character and quality of the whisky had not changed.)

Review: White Owl Canadian Whisky

“… As I take the first sip, the first impression I have is of a soft whisky flavour accented by a hint of licorice. The oak flavours are mild and there is no harsh tannin or unbridled spice. Yet in the background, if you let it develop, that true Canadian rye whisky spice and flavour present themselves. Butterscotch rises and falls as does the hint of licorice and even a touch of cereal grain …”

Three years ago, I was so enthusiastic about this new whisky that my review included, not one or two, but rather five cocktail recipes which all tasted fantastic when made with White Owl Whisky.

(And for the record, I am still enthusiast about Highwood’s ‘cocktail whisky’, and I still feel very lucky to have been on of the very first persons to have received a sample bottle three years ago.)

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Cocktails & Recipes, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: White Owl Canadian Whisky

Review: Jim Beam Devil’s Cut Bourbon Whiskey

Posted by Arctic Wolf on July 13, 2013

Jim Beam Devils cut1Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is produced by the Jim Beam Distillery which was founded in 1795, and has operated as a family run business for seven generations. According to the company website, after bourbon whiskey ages (or any other straight whiskey for that matter), and it is emptied from the oak barrel, a certain amount of the spirit is left behind, trapped within the wood fiber of the empty barrel. This portion of trapped whiskey is called the “devil’s cut” and is usually lost to those who make bourbon. Recently however, the folks at Jim Beam have developed what they call a proprietary process which releases the devil’s cut from these empty barrels. What Jim Beam extracts from the barrel is held for a certain length of time (which apparently allows the flavour to develop), and then blended with a 6-year-old bourbon. The mixture is bottled at 90 proof (45 % ABV) and the result is a new style of bourbon which they call Jim Beam Devil’s Cut.

You may read my full review by clicking on the following excerpt.

Review: Jim Beam Devil’s Cut Bourbon Whiskey

“… Very briefly I taste sweet impressions of caramel, marmalade and maple syrup. However, very quickly the woody flavours and the spices within the whiskey build up and overwhelm the sweetness. The heart of the Devil’s Cut is a sort of whiskey extract which is literally pulled from the inside of the wood fibers of oak barrels …”

Please enjoy the review which includes a nice cooler style recipe of mine called Minted Brass.

Have a great day everyone!

Posted in American Whiskey, Cocktails & Recipes, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Jim Beam Devil’s Cut Bourbon Whiskey

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