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Archive for the ‘Whisk(e)y Review’ Category

« Previous Entries

Review: Basil Hayden’s Straight Kentucky Bourbon

Posted by Arctic Wolf on October 16, 2023

Basil Hayden’s was originally promoted as part of Jim Beam’s Small Batch Bourbon Collection. This collection is composed of Knob Creek, Booker’s, Baker’s  and Basil Hayden’s bourbon whiskies. Although Jim Beam Distillers no longer promotes the Small Batch Collection, I would like to suggest that this selection of premium bourbon played no small part in the explosion of popularity of the spirit for whiskey enthusiasts. (It certainly has a positive impact on me.)

Basil Hayden’s is unique in that it is produced from a distilling mash which has an especially high rye content, twice as much rye in fact as would normally be used in a Jim Beam Bourbon Whiskey. The whiskey is aged in American white oak for 8 years, and then bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume.

Here is a link to my review of this stellar whiskey:

Review: Basil Hayden’s Straight Kentucky Bourbon

“… The normally strong aroma of freshly fallen timbers which we usually find in bourbon is muted as if a light rain has fallen to dampen the effect.What is not muted is a firm presence of spicy rye grain which rises with oak spice and vanilla making this a bourbon aroma which has an immediate appeal for a Canadian like me who loves a rye forward whisky …”

I hope you enjoy this review which continues my look back at the original Jim Beam Small Batch Bourbon Collection. 

Chimo!

 

Posted in American Whiskey, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Basil Hayden’s Straight Kentucky Bourbon

Review: Bearface Wilderness Series Matsutake Release 01

Posted by Arctic Wolf on September 9, 2023

Bearface Whisky Wilderness Series Matsutake Release 01 is owned by Mark Anthony Wine and Spirits. The company does not have its own distillery for making whisky so to make their Bearface brand they begin with Canadian single grain whisky from an undisclosed outside source.  In creating their Matsuktake limited edition whisky, they first mature the whisky in ex-wine casks and sherry pipes in shipping containers that have been placed in the Canadian wilderness in a process they call ‘Elemental Ageing’. The whisky is then finished in a Cask which contains Matsutake Mushrooms.

To write this review I was working with a small sample which had been sent to me as part of a Whisky judging competition. The sample was judged without knowing what it was and my brief notes for the spirit are the basis for my scoring. After the competition I re-tasted the spirit to confirm the tasting notes and added to them as required.

Here is a link to my final review:

Review: Bearface Wilderness Series Matsutake Release 01

“… Butterscotch, vanilla, almond and spice (grain spice and cinnamon). Orange peel moving to marmalade, canned apricots and hints of creamed corn. As you let the glass breathe the scents and smells deepen with both tobacco and hints of milk chocolate and vanilla pudding evolving …”

Please enjoy the review as much as I enjoyed the whisky! Chimo!

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , | Comments Off on Review: Bearface Wilderness Series Matsutake Release 01

Whiskey Review: Knob Creek Bourbon Whiskey

Posted by Arctic Wolf on September 2, 2023

I’ve been away for a while as I spent August with the family as we travelled to Langley BC to watch my son compete at the Canadian National Track Meet where he took home a bronze medal in the 100M wheelchair finals.

Now that September is here, I have lots to catch up on. I thought I would begin with a look at one of my favourite bourbon whiskeys.

Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey was originally promoted as part of Jim Beam’s Small Batch Bourbon Collection. This collection is composed of Knob Creek, Booker’s, Baker’s  and Basil Hayden’s. Although Jim Beam Distillers no longer promotes the Small Batch Collection, I would like to suggest that this selection of premium bourbon played no small part in the explosion of popularity of the spirit for whiskey enthusiasts. (It certainly has a positive impact on me.)

Knob Creek is the oldest of these small batch whiskeys, and is aged a full nine years in newly charred oak barrels, then bottled at 100 proof or 50 % alcohol by volume. The whiskey brand is owned by Beam Global and is produced at the Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont, Kentucky.

I have recently began to revisit this collection of whiskies (see my review of Baker’s Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey here), and I continued this look back with sample of Knob Creek Straight Kentucky Bourbon. Here is a link to my recently revised review:

Review: Knob Creek Bourbon Whiskey

“… As spicy as this is, there is also plenty of vanilla and brown sugary sweetness which gives the whiskey a rum-like feel as flavours of Demerara sugar, rich caramel, and sticky orange marmalade provide a firm counterbalance to the spicy heat and alcohol push. Tasty baking spices (nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves), hints of chocolate and toasted walnuts add to the rich flavour …”

Please enjoy the review, Chimo!

Posted in American Whiskey, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Whiskey Review: Knob Creek Bourbon Whiskey

Review: Last Straw Distillery Rice and Rye

Posted by Arctic Wolf on June 30, 2023

The Last Straw Distillery is Ontario’s smallest production micro-distillery located at 40 Pippin Rd. in Vaughan, Ontario (a wee bit north of Toronto) just off Highway 400 and around the corner from Vaughan Mills Shopping Centre.

Last Straw Distillery’s Rice and Rye Whisky is the result of a question posed by Mark Hayhoe, then of K2 Milling. He wondered out loud when speaking to Don DiMonte of Last Straw whether wild rice make good whisky?

So the folks at Last Straw Distillery ran a batch of Argentinian Wild Rice through the distillation process. Problem was, the batch didn’t produce enough distillate to fill a cask. So they decided to to top up that cask (a #3 char re-charred ex-Bourbon barrel) with rye distillate. Four years and Nine months later, they decided to send out some samples and get a few opinions as they prepared to bottle their new creation.

The whisky sent to me to analyze was constructed from 55% Argentinian long grain rice, sourced from farms in Cordoba, Argentina and 45% Ontario Rye grain sourced from small family farms in York and Simcoe Counties.

Here is a link to what I found out when I tasted this new Rice and Rye whisky:

Review: Last Straw Distillery Rice and Rye

“… When I nosed the glass, I found it was full of leathery grain and rye spice. Some dusty dry grain is evident as well. Bits of sweet honeycomb is forming in the breezes and there is a little fresh tobacco as well some light baking spices …”

Please enjoy this review and stay tuned for more Canadian Whisky reviews in the coming weeks (and a little bourbon too).

Chimo!

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , | Comments Off on Review: Last Straw Distillery Rice and Rye

Review: Forty Creek Barrel Select Niagara Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on June 22, 2023

It is almost almost ten years since Campari assumed the reigns of the Forty Creek Whisky brand, and I notice that some changes have taken place. Now Bill Ashburn is Forty Creek’s Master Blender (although is is very likely that Bill has had his hand in most of the Forty Creek whiskies since the beginning). Forty Creek has shifted the branding of its whisky adding the term Niagara Whisky to their labels attaching themselves firmly to the Niagara Peninsula and Canada’s largest wine region. New bottles have been introduced; and, for many of their whisky brands, lower prices as well.

The flagship brand is still Forty Creek Barrel Select, and the website still promotes this whisky as a blend of separately aged grain whiskies (corn, barley, and rye). However, whereas the distillery once promoted this spirit as having a wine barrel finish. This tidbit of information is now absent from Whisky’s description on the the shop website (maybe I missed it). I thought it was about time I revisited the whisky, and wrote a new review based on the new bottle and the liquid inside.

He is a link to my new review completely revised review:

Review: Forty Creek Barrel Select Niagara Whisky

“… When I bring the glass to my nose, the breezes bring me a light sweetness of corn and butterscotch mixed with almond, vanilla and orange peel. There is a lot of fine wood and grain spice and perhaps just a touch of alcohol. As I let the glass breathe, scents of marmalade begin to form as does a light impression of fresh cut grain laying in the windrows …”

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , | Comments Off on Review: Forty Creek Barrel Select Niagara Whisky

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