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
Please enjoy this review and stay tuned for more Canadian Whisky reviews in the coming weeks (and a little bourbon too).
Chimo!
The Rum Howler Blog 