In November of 2005, Highwood Distilleries Ltd. 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 recent 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. (The Distillery uses the Highwood banner 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 my new review of the Number 3 spirit in my Top 25 Canadian Whisky Countdown:
#3 Canadian Whisky – Ninety “Decades of Richness” 20 Year Old
The Ninety “Decades of Richness” Canadian Rye Whisky has quickly become one of my very favourite whiskies, and for my palate, it is on par with the best Bourbons, and the best Single Malt Scotches I have tasted to this point in my whisky explorations. I wrote four years ago that Highwood Distillers was one of the best kept secrets in the whisky world, I suspect that is about to change.
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Note: You may follow my Countdown list of the 25 Best Canadian Whiskies here: The Rum Howler 2013 – Top 25 Canadian Whiskies
When I first encountered this spirit in early winter of 2009 I was quite smitten the whisky’s smooth character and lovely flavour nuances. I was pleased, when after I wrote my review, that almost everyone who commented upon my website seemed to echo my sentiments. This year, in the fall of 2013, my judging panel echoed those sentiments as well, and when the scores were tallied, the Centennial 10 Year Old Canadian Whisky was found to be ranked Number 8 in my Top 25 Canadian Whisky Countdown.
These barrels made the journey to the Highwood facility in 2005 and have been sitting in that darkened corner waiting to be tapped and bottled. When the time is right, Highwood’s Master Blender carefully chooses the right barrels, and then carefully blends the wonderful elixir within to create a spirit which contains the distillery’s most prized well aged whisky, Lot 1525 Century Reserve Custom Blend Canadian Rye Whisky. The spirit represents yet another gem from those folks in High River, and this gem of a whisky is ranked Number 11 in my Top 25 Canadian Whisky Countdown.
According to the information provided me when I reviewed this whisky the first time, Century Reserve 21 Year Old Canadian Rye Whisky, is a premium a 21-year-old single grain corn whisky. This makes the Century Reserve something of a rarity upon the landscape of Canadian Whisky as there are very few single grain whiskies produced in Canada. It is also true that this whisky serves a very good example of how wonderful and tasty our Canadian Whisky can be. The 2013 bottling of the Century Reserve 21 Year Old arrives on my Christmas Countdown as the Number 18 Canadian Whisky!
Pristina Vodka is a quadruple distilled wheat Vodka produced in High River, Alberta in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains just south of Calgary. I have been a fan of 
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