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 had established (Century and Potters) were added to the Highwood portfolio.
Highwood produces two well aged whiskies under their Century Distillers label, Century Reserve 21 Year Old & Lot 1525 ( blend of 15 to 25-year-old corn whiskies). I have noticed that the flavour profile of these two blends has began to merge in recent years to the point that this year when I did some blind tastings, I could no longer tell which whisky was which. (It could be that after tasting 70 Canadian Whiskies for this countdown, my palate was beginning to shows signs of fatigue.)
This means that the Number 6 Whisky in my Rum Howler Top 50 Canadian Whisky countdown is actually two whiskies, both the Century Reserve 21 Year Old and Century Reserve Lot 1525 Rye whiskies.
Here is the link to the review for the Lot 1525:
#6 Century Reserve Lot 1525 Canadian Rye Whisky
Note: My Review for Century Reserve 21 Year Old can be found here.
Stay tuned as the countdown continues tomorrow with the Number 5 Canadian Whisky.
Chimo!
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* You may follow my 2016 Canadian Whisky Countdown by bookmarking this link:
The Rum Howler – Top 50 Canadian Whiskies of 2016
Somewhere in the Highwood Distillery barrel aging warehouse is a darkened corner where all of the oak barrels are all stamped “Lot 1525“. This corner contains the oldest whisky in the entire facility, with the age of the whisky inside the barrels ranging from 15 to 25 years. (It has been hinted to me that some of these barrels contain whisky that is perhaps even older!) These whisky barrels were originally part of the consignment of whisky acquired when Highwood purchased the Potter’s Distillery in 2005. As such, these are barrels of whisky produced from a corn-based distillation by the old Potters Distillery, in Kelowna British Colombia. The barrels made the journey to the Highwood facility in 2005 and have been sitting in the darkened corner waiting for the right moment to be tapped and bottled. From this darkened corner, the Master Blender has carefully chosen just the right barrels, and then just as carefully blended the wonderful elixir within to create a blend of whisky which contains the distillery’s most prized aged whisky, the Lot1525 Century Reserve Custom Blend Canadian Rye Whisky.
The barrels made the journey to the Highwood facility in 2005 and have been sitting in the darkened corner waiting for the right moment to be tapped and bottled. From this darkened corner, the Master Blender has carefully chosen just the right barrels, and then just as carefully blended the wonderful elixir within to create a blend of whisky which contains the distillery’s most prized aged whisky, the Lot1525 Century Reserve Custom Blend Canadian Rye Whisky.
I have been inside the 
These barrels made the journey to the Highwood facility in 2005 (from the Potter’s facility in Kelowna BC), 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 Lot 1525 Century Reserve Custom Blend Canadian Rye Whisky.
I have been inside the 
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