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Posts Tagged ‘Whisky’

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The 2nd Annual Edmonton Whisky Festival

Posted by Arctic Wolf on January 4, 2011

I would like to invite everyone to the 2nd Annual Edmonton Whisky Festival in support of the MS Society of Canada. Last years event was a smash hit and raised over $6000.00 in support of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. This year it is hoped that the amount of money raised can be increased by 50 % for this worthy cause.

Here are the important details:

What: 2nd Annual Edmonton Whisky Festival in support of the MS Society of Canada
When: January 19, 2011 (7:00 pm – 10:00 pm)
Where: Sutton Place Hotel, 10235 – 101 Street, Edmonton, Alberta
Price: $75.00

The admission price ticket gets you into what I believe is Edmonton’s Premier Whisky Event.

As well,  your ticket stub gives you $10.00 or 10 % (whichever is greater) off of your next purchase of Scotch Whisky at Vines Wine Merchants in Edmonton.

The event will also features over 15 whisky importers and distributors with over 100 different whiskies to sample as part of your ticket price.  And you even get a cool commemorative Edmonton Whisky Festival Glen Cairn glass.

I was there last year and can confirm that I had a blast pouring over 100 whiskies to sample with only one night to do it. (Last year’s event sold so well that a larger venue had to selected for this year. )

Additional events planned in conjunction with the festival are a special Bowmore Dinner at the Petroleum Club with Dave Gordon; and a special Silent Auction to raise additional funds.

Tickets for the Edmonton Whisky Festival and the related  Special Events are available at:

Vines-Riverbend Wine Merchants – 2331 Rabbit Hill Rd, Edmonton (780-434-9444)

or

The Vineyard Wine Market – 41 St. Thomas Street, St. Albert (780 419 6696)
email: vineyardwinemarket@telus.net

*Remember your ticket stub is redeemable for a $10 or 10% discount, whichever is the greater, on your next purchase of Scotch Whisky at Vines Wine Merchants. Offer expires April 30, 2011

So come on out and support the MS Society and have a great time doing it. I will be there and would love to say hello!

*(Just a note to let everyone know that I am not affiliated in any way with Vines-Riverbend Wine Merchants, I just think what they are doing with this festival and their support of the MS Society is worthy of writing about!)

Posted in Fund Raisers, Howls | Tagged: , , | Comments Off on The 2nd Annual Edmonton Whisky Festival

Review of Potter’s Special Old Rye Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 28, 2010

Potter’s Special Old Rye Whisky was originally produced by Potter’s Distilleries (founded by Ernie Potter in 1958). When Highwood Distillers finalized the purchase of Potter’s Distilleries in 2005, they brought all of the aging whisky stocks from the Potter’s warehouse facilities in Kelowna, British Colombia to their new warehouse facility in High River, Alberta and continued to let them age at their site in the foothills just east of the Rocky Mountains. From these aging whisky stocks Highwood has kept the Potter’s Whisky brands alive, incorporating them into their portfolio of whisky products.

Potter’s Special Old Rye Whisky is primarily a corn-based whisky which has been aged in charred American White Oak barrels for 4 – 5 years.  As per Canadian tradition, the whisky is labeled as a “Rye Whisky” because of the rye flavour profile which has been imparted by adding a percentage of aged rye grain whisky to the blend.  The bottle I am reviewing was given to me by Allan Owen, the Highwood Distillers Sales Rep in my area.

Here is an excerpt from my review:

“…A clean spicy rye is out in front carried by light oak and the combination delivers a nice wonderful mouth-feel full of what I can only term as old-time traditional Canadian Whisky flavour. In fact this might just be the closest that I have come to recapturing the Canadian Whisky flavour that I remember from my younger days…”

You may read the full review here:

Review: Potters Special Old Rye Whisky

Please enjoy the review and the cocktail that follows.

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

Highwood Canadian Rye Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 30, 2010

The Highwood Distillery is the only locally (Albertan) owned distillery in the world. 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 amount of Canadian Whisky each year. I guess you could say that I am partial to a success story that has occurred right in my own back yard, and I love to sample and review the spirits which Highwood Distillers produce.

I consider the Highwood Canadian Whisky to be a unique product unlike anything else on the whisky landscape (I also find it very tasty). What is so original about the Highwood Whisky is the grain from which it is distilled. Highwood uses local Canadian prairie wheat for the distillation base of all of their Highwood branded whisky. This is because wheat alcohol, rather than barley or corn alcohol, has less heavy non-digestible components. This makes for an extremely smooth easy to drink whisky. After sampling most of the Highwood Whisky range, I have come to the conclusion that they are making some of the smoothest whisky in the world.

At the recent Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Festival, I reconnected with Allan Owen, the Highwood sales Rep in my area. We had a nice chat, and he offered to drop a few more samples of whisky for me to review. The first of these samples was the Highwood Canadian Rye Whisky.

This is a Canadian whisky made from wheat grain which has been aged for at least five years in charred American white oak barrels. It is blended with an aged rye grain whisky to produce that distinctive Canadian ‘rye’ flavour profile.  Here is an excerpt from my review:

“…The first thing I noticed about the Highwood Whisky as I sipped it was that it is a smooth, gentle, and mellow whisky which has the soft sensation in the mouth of a much older whisky. Honeycomb, ginger, wood spice, and a light dab of vanilla all support a wonderfully clean, dusty rye flavour….”

You may read the full review by clicking this link:

Review: Highwood Canadian Rye Whisky

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Cocktails & Recipes, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Highwood Canadian Rye Whisky

Introducing: Sweet Sippin’ Canadian Maple Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 23, 2010

My Rum Chums, (Dennis and Lucas), were out and about at the Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Festival with me, when I became side tracked by the Highwood Distillers booth. I have come to know the local rep, Allan Owen, quite well, and so I had to mosey over to greet him. While I was busy gabbing and talking at the booth, Dennis and Lucas took the opportunity to sample some of Highwood’s Sweet Sippin’ Canadian Maple Whisky.

“You gotta try this, Chip,” was their consensus opinion.  Not one to argue unnecessarily with my friends,  I sampled the Sweet Sippin’ Maple Whisky and I was literally taken aback by the nice combination of maple and whisky flavours I encountered. The Maple Whisky (22 % alc/vol) had a gentle sweet maple flavour carried to the palate by a particularly smooth Canadian Rye Whisky.  In all it was quite nice!

So after the festival, I decided to do a little research as I wanted to know a little more about this particular flavoured Whisky which seemed to have a lot more depth and smoothness of flavour than I was expecting.  What I discovered was that Highwood’s Sweet Sippin’ Maple Whisky is the fusion of three ingredients, Highwood  Canadian Rye Whisky (a five-year old wheat based Canadian Whisky), 100% pure natural Amber Maple Syrup from Quebec, and pure natural spring water.  No additives are used in producing the Maple Whisky which probably accounts for the inviting flavour profile I encountered.

Now a full review based upon one tasting at a festival where I probably sampled at least 40 different spirits is pretty much impossible. Fortunately for me, Allan Owen contacted me shortly after the festival and asked if he could drop off a sample of the Sweet Sippin’ Canadian Maple Whisky (and the Highwood Canadian Rye Whisky) for me to review. Being the generous fellow that I am, I accepted his kind offer and will in the coming weeks review both the Sweet Sippin’ Canadian Maple Whisky and the Highwood Canadian Rye Whisky.  I look forward to sharing the results in the coming weeks, cheers!

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Howls, Whisk(e)y | Tagged: , , | 5 Comments »

Whisky Review: The Macallan Fine Oak 15 Year Old Scotch Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 14, 2010

After a year of blogging about whisky, I decided I deserved a treat, and so I went into my private stash of rare whiskies, (well maybe not so rare), and I brought out a bottle of The Macallan Fine Oak 15-year-old Scotch Whisky.

The Macallan Fine Oak Series is a series of single malt Scotch whiskies, produced at The Macallan Distillery at Craigellachie in the Speyside region of Scotland which are matured in seasoned American oak casks, (sherry as well as bourbon), as well as sherry casks from Spain. This series is quite a departure for The Macallan who are renowned for their whiskies which have been aged solely in Sherry  Oak casks from Jerez, Spain,  The new Fine Oak Series has drawn rave reviews some quarters (Jim Murray for example awarded it “Best New Scotch Brand” when it was launched), and dramatic criticism from others who considered the American barrels inferior due to the lighter flavour profile of the American Bourbon Cask.

Since I was treating myself to one of my more favoured whiskies, I thought it might nice to write a review to share my thoughts as to why I enjoy this particular whisky so much.

Here is a snippet from the review…

“…The whisky flavours are pushed forward  firmly by the higher alcohol content. Oak vanilla, honeycomb, dabs of brown sugar, and a trace of malty barley are all wound up in a soft sherry smoke which seems to entwine them in a delightful chorus of flavour.  Dry fruits flavours accent the smoke, while fresh citrus fruit seems to be bursting out of the sides of the whisky flavour….”

You may read the full review here:

Review: The Macallan Fine Oak 15 Year Old Scotch Whisky

Please enjoy the review and the recipe at the conclusion.

Posted in Scotch Whisky, Single Malt Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , | Comments Off on Whisky Review: The Macallan Fine Oak 15 Year Old Scotch Whisky

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