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Posts Tagged ‘Whisky’

Review: Lohin McKinnon Wine Barreled Single Malt

Posted by Arctic Wolf on April 29, 2018

Central City Brewers + Distillers is a small craft producer of beer and Spirits. They began business as a brewpub in downtown Surrey (British Columbia), where they created their Red Racer craft beer. After this initial  success they turned their attention to spirits using Canadian barley to produce their whisky and Rocky Mountain Berries to produce their gin.

According to the company’s website:

We craft our premium spirits on 3 state-of-the-art Holstein Stills, manufactured in Germany on 3 different sizes: 2500 litre, 1250 Litre and 500 litre, to allow greater versatility. All fitted with reflux columns and one with up to 20 plates, this Stills are capable of producing up to 90% ABV and can produce almost any spirit our distiller can imagine.

I sampled their Lohin Mckinnon Wine Barreled Single Malt Whisky (a collaborative effort between Central City Brewery’s Master Brewer Gary Lohin, and Master Distiller Stuart McKinnon as part of my judging duties for the 2018 Canadian Whisky Awards. I kept brief notes for each of the spirits which I tasted, and after the reveal, I decided to pen a brief review based upon those tasting notes, as well as from a small tasting sample I was able to obtain afterwards.

Here is a link to that review:

Review: Lohin McKinnon Wine Barreled Single Malt

” … there was a very obvious sweetness in the air initially. More typical whisky scents gathered and settled into the breezes. After the tasting session when I sniffed my empty glass, the sweetness from the wine combined with the herbal tones in the whisky …”

Please enjoy my review of this new Canadian Single Malt, Chimo!

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Single Malt Whisky, Whisk(e)y | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Lohin McKinnon Wine Barreled Single Malt

Review: Hundred Volt Canadian Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on April 25, 2018

The Highwood Distillery is the only large locally (Albertan) owned distillery in Canada. It sits in the heart of the High River community, producing more than 300,000 cases of bottled spirits per year. Although the bulk of their production goes towards Vodka, Flavoured Vodka, and Premixes, they also produce a sizable (and growing) amount of Canadian Whisky each year. I consider the whisky produced at their distillery to be a unique product unlike anything else on the Canadian whisky landscape (I also find it very tasty). What is so original about the Highwood Whisky is the batch process they employ (see here).

Highwood’s  Hundred Volt Whisky is produced from prairie grains (corn and rye) in a batch style distillation (the grains are distilled and aged separately). The different styles of whisky are aged 3 to 5 years in charred American white oak barrels (without the addition of additives), and when they are mature, they is blended to produce that distinctive Canadian ‘rye’ flavour profile consistent with Canadian Whisky. The Hundred Volt Whisky is bottled at 50 % alcohol by volume, (One Hundred Proof).

Here is a link to my full review:

Review: Hundred Volt Canadian Whisky

“… The nose is just a touch astringent as the high alcohol proof shows itself in the breezes. A nice combination of soft butterscotch, vanilla and almond scents reveal themselves along with some fine oak spices which gives the whisky a dusty dry appealing quality. Light accents of orange peel, ginger and cigarette tobacco can be found within the oak spice …”

Please enjoy my review of this new Canadian Whisky from Highwood Distillers.

Chimo

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Review: Canadian Rockies 21 Year Old Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on April 19, 2018

Canadian Rockies 21 Year Old Whisky is produced for The Fountana Group Canada  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 apparently has been well received. The spirit is now a standard bottling (still owned by the Fountana Group) made also for the Canadian Market.

According to the information provided me, the spirit is (as it was before) distilled and aged by Highwood Distillers. It is a 100% corn whisky bottled at 46% alcohol by volume.

Here is a link to my recent review of what I believe was the best Canadian Whisky produced in 2017:

Review: Canadian Rockies 21 Year Old Whisky

“… The initial breezes above the glass brought me impressions of dusty grain fields and firm oak spices. Soon I began to notice orange peel and butterscotch scents moving together over time creating impressions of marmalade and caramel toffee. There were also lovely hints of cinnamon and vanilla weaving within the breezes …”

Please enjoy the review!

Chimo!

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Review: J.P. Wiser’s 35 Years Old Canadian Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on April 5, 2018

This past fall, I sampled and reviewed J.P. Wiser’s 35 Year Old Whisky. Unfortunately, within my bottle, I found a light taint of mold which I did not enjoy which I discussed in the review. To the credit of the brand owner, Corby’s, they approached me and wanted to get to the bottom of the problem. I was sent lab samples, a new bottle to replace the bottle which had the moldy taint, and they took back the moldy bottle to examine it in their own lab.

I of course tasted everything they sent me, and when I was a juror for the 2018 Canadian Whisky Awards, I sampled the spirit once again; this time in a blind format. None of my subsequent encounters with the new samples showed me any hint of the mold I had tasted in my original bottle. So after careful consideration, I have decided that my original bottle was a one-off, and a new review for the 35 Year Old Whisky was appropriate.

Here is a link to that new review:

Review: J.P. Wiser’s 35 Years Old Canadian Whisky

” … Initially the breezes above the glass brought me a combination of fine oak spices melded with scents of both corn and rye grain. Then some lovely deep smells of maple began to build with vanilla and lush baking spices (cinnamon, brown sugar, with hints of both nutmeg and cloves.) Nutty almond impressions began to give way to marzipan and alongside were fruity smells of canned apricots and marmalade …”

Please enjoy my review, Chimo!

 

 

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Review: J.P. Wiser’s 35 Years Old Canadian Whisky

Review: Last Mountain Prairie Cherry Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on April 1, 2018

The Last Mountain Distillery is part of a small wave of Micro-Distillers which have began to appear on the Canadian landscape over the last few years. These are small ‘mom and pop’ operations which make their spirits in small batches usually only a barrel or two at a time. This particular distillery is located in Lumsden, Saskatchewan, and it is owned and operated by the husband and wife team of Colin and Meredith Schmidt.

Last Mountain Prairie Cherry Whisky was launched in December 2014. It is produced by barrel aging the Last Mountain Wheat Whisky with organic sour cherries from Over The Hill Orchards in Lumsden Saskatchewan, and then lightly sweetened the spirit using organic sugar cane.

Here is a link to my latest review:

Review: Last Mountain Prairie Cherry Whisky

“… When I took my first sip, I found the spirit did not demonstrate nearly as much sweetness as the nose had indicated. The cherry flavour however, wasn’t what I expected. I was expecting the flavour of a nice ripe BC Cherry, whereas the Saskatchewan Prairie Cherry appears to have a somewhat different flavour. (The Saskatchewan Prairie Cherry were developed at the University of Saskatchewan to be suitably hardy for the cold Saskatchewan prairie winters. Although they are not necessarily sour as the name indicates,they do have a different taste characteristic than the BC Cherry.) I also felt that the underlying whisky seemed to be taking center stage with the flavour of the Saskatchewan Prairie Cherry playing a secondary role …”

Please enjoy my review, and my suggested recipe at the conclusion, the Prairie Cherry Cosmo.

Chimo!

Posted in Flavoured Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Last Mountain Prairie Cherry Whisky