Seven years ago, I encountered Canadian Rockies 21 Year Old Whisky as a random sample which I was assessing as part of my duties when I served on the jury for the 2012 Canadian Whisky Awards. At the time the small sample bottle which contained the Canadian Rockies 21 Year Old Whisky was one which I earmarked as a superior whisky. So, when the Awards Competition was complete, it was to my dismay that I learned this particular whisky (Random Sample number 7 by the way) was a brand destined not for Canada; but instead for Taiwan.
The Fountana Group Canada is the brand owner, and it turns out the whisky was produced by Highwood Distillers right here in my home Province of Alberta. The Fountana Group contracted Highwood to produce a well aged whisky for export to Asia where it has by all accounts been well received. It was, I should add, also well received by the other jurors on that panel for the Canadian Whisky Awards as this brand won the prestigious Connoisseur Whisky of the Year for the Export Market at those same 2012 Canadian Whisky Awards.
When I wrote a brief review for this whisky in 2013, I lamented that this great whisky was available only in Asia, and I hoped that the brand owner (and the folks at Highwood Distillery) might read the review, and decide that maybe Canada deserved this Whisky too. The Fountana Group must have agreed with me as the whisky has for a few years now been available across Canada.
Here is a link to a more recent review written in 2017:
Review: Canadian Rockies 21 Year Old Whisky
Please enjoy the review!
Chimo!
On the 20th day of my 24 Days of Rum Journey, I find myself back in the Caribbean on the very Island that Christopher Columbus first landed when he crossed the Atlantic in 1492. And the rum I have sampled links itself to that journey both in name and place.
Caribou Crossing is what is known as a Single Barrel Whisky. From the company’s inventory of over 200,000 barrels of Canadian whisky, Sazerac’s whisky making team selects what they deem to be some of the very finest barrels. Each of these chosen barrels is bottled individually capturing its unique flavour. This means that each individual bottling offers a unique taste experience for the whisky enthusiast.
Normally, if one takes a trip to Nepal, where it is an actual trip or as in this case an imagined one, the assumed destination would be Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world in terms of elevation. But in my case, I am heading to Kathmandu, the Capitol, to taste some rum.
I struggled with myself as to whether or not I should include Mister Sam on this list of my favourite Canadian Whiskies. There are two good reasons why it doesn’t belong. The first being that it technically is not a Canadian Whisky. It is instead a blend of Canadian and American Whiskies (although it is named for a great Canadian, Sam Bronfman). The second reason is that it is really hard to find, and a whisky which I purport to call one of my favourites, shouldn’t be one that I have so little access to.
The Rum Howler Blog 