Forty Creek Whisky has an annual tradition of producing a special limited release whisky which is built upon the foundation of the company’s flagship whisky, Forty Creek Barrel Select. These annual special releases each seek to bring new character to the Forty Creek family. This year, the distillery had a contest of sorts where five fans of Forty Creek Whisky representing different areas of Canada were asked to help create the 2018 Forty Creek Special Release. Because the group could not agree on which of the three special blends was the best, a fourth blend was created by Mr. Ashburn which ultimately became the chosen favourite of the entire group.
The special blend was called, “Unity“. One of the features of this Unity blend special is that it includes a subset of 4-year-old Forty Creek whiskies within its construct. These young whiskies were blended together and then aged for a further time using high mocha wood staves added to the barrels. Completing the blend is a 10-year-old corn whisky as well as a small amount of 15-year-old Portuguese-style Starboard wine aged in used Forty Creek barrels.
Here is a link to my full review for the 2018 Limited Edition Release, Forty Creek Unity.
Review: Forty Creek Unity
Please enjoy my review and my serving suggestion, the Old Fashioned Cocktail with Chocolate Bitters.
Chimo!
I liked that the recipe provided an unusual complement of flavours; but unfortunately I am not a fan of strawberries or strawberry flavoured foods and beverages. My wife, who knows me well, suggested that I substitute a raspberry flavoured beverage in place of the strawberry. Since Fanta makes both a strawberry and a raspberry soda, the switch was quite easy.
Note: Bulleit Bourbon is produced at the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. The brand traces its heritage back to 1830 when tavern keeper Augustus Bulleit (after a few experimental trials) created the brand and began to market it locally and eventually to areas outside of Kentucky. According to the Bulleit Bourbon website, the spirit is produced from a rye heavy mash with of course corn as well as malted barley. It is bottled at 45% for the North American Market. 
Crown Royal Canadian Whisky is currently produced in Gimli, Manitoba, at the Crown Royal Distillery. The distillery and the brand are owned by the spirits conglomerate, Diageo, and I think it is fair to say that Crown Royal is Diageo’s flagship Canadian Whisky brand.
Today Canadian Club Premium is the flagship brand for the company. Although it was previously aged for a minimum of 6 years in white oak barrels, the brand carries no longer carries an age statement. The aforementioned Canadian Club website now reports:
The Tomatin Distillery is located in the Monadhliath Mountains near Inverness, the capital of the Highlands of Scotland. The Distillery was established in 1897. (For those who do not know, the term “established in 1897″ is a code term which represents an acknowledgement by the distillery that the company began to legally pay taxes on the spirits it produced in that year. When the Distillery actually began to produces spirits is not acknowledged.) Because of its location in the Monadhliath Mountains, Tomatin is one of the highest distilleries (elevation wise) in Scotland at 315 metres above sea level. In 1985 as the Distillery was expanded and was at that time renamed, The Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd.. The company now operates 12 stills, in a process which perhaps more closely resembles a large-scale industrial factory rather than a typical Single Malt Distillery. This is because the distillery has always been a large-scale producer of whisky for Scotland’s major blends. However, Tomatin has recently began to focus their efforts on also producing their own Single Malt Whisky as well as establishing their own brand identity.
The Rum Howler Blog 