In Part 1, we covered grain, mashing and fermenting. In Part 2, we covered distillation, QA, barrelling and aging. Now we’re going to look at the final few steps in the whisky making process, our own attempt to do Don’s job of blending, and a trip into the Whisky Archives. Blending This step is where Don’s creative muscles are exercised. Unlike a single malt scotch, … Continue reading TWS visits Hiram Walker Distillery – Part 3
In Part 1 of the Toronto Whisky Society’s visit to the Hiram Walker Distillery we covered how they handle their grain, the mashing process and fermenting process. Next we move on to: Distillation Distillation is essentially selective evaporation to concentrate a substance and remove unwanted portions. In the spirits world, there are two types of stills: Continuous or column stills, and pot stills. At Hiram … Continue reading TWS visits Hiram Walker Distillery – Part 2
On March 24th, a few founding members of the Toronto Whisky Society were given the opportunity to tour the Hiram Walker Distillery and we want to share that experience with you in a few posts over the next few days. For any of you who don’t know, the distillery was built in 1858 by Hiram Walker, an American businessman who helped grow Canadian whisky to … Continue reading TWS visits Hiram Walker Distillery – Part 1
Ok , now I’m really stretching for those alliterations. Today I’m going to cover 2 Kilchoman drams. The first I got as a prize in our Toronto Whisky Society high proof bourbon tasting for getting I think 1 right or something? We weren’t very good at guessing. Kilchoman Coull Point – 46% Appearance: gloriously uncoloured with thick, sexy legs Nose: some light peat up front, … Continue reading Two-dram Tuesday: Kilchoman Coull Point & Kilchoman 5 Single Cask Bourbon
My wife and I were heading down to a town near Pittsburgh for a family event, so naturally I looked up any distilleries that may be along the way. I came across Five & 20 Spirits & Brewing, which is just off the I-90 on the far Western edge of NY state, and so we stopped in to try their rye and bourbon. Turns out, … Continue reading Five & 20 Spirits [Distillery visit & Reviews]
Was visiting family down near Pittsburgh for a weekend and decided to check out the city, as I’d never been before. In the Strip district we came across the Wigle Distillery. We went in and they were selling flights, so I decided to try this “most awarded craft distillery”‘s offerings (and see if it’s most awarded because of quality, or because they enter the most … Continue reading Wigle Whiskey [Distillery Visit & Reviews]
It’s that time of year again. St. Patrick’s Day is upon us and from now through the weekend people will be donning green attire, chugging green beer and chasing leprechauns, or something like that. As enjoyable as that is allow me to suggest one change in these annual festivities: ditch the green beer and have a glass or two of an Irish whiskey instead. If you find yourself wondering which of … Continue reading Toronto Whisky Society – St. Patrick’s Day Reviews
wanted to post something for PI day, and figured my 314th whisky review on Reddit is close enough. I was at the in laws, reviewed Jack Daniels and then wanted to do something else, but had nothing but Drambuie… Then my dad in law said I could have some OP12 from a mini I grabbed him in Scotland and I hadn’t had it before. Let’s … Continue reading PI Day Review: Old Pulteney 12
I haven’t had any of the 3 distilleries below before, despite having minis/samples from them for a while now. decided to review them all together. Glenburgie 10 Gordon & Macphail – 40% This is a mini I bought in Scotland at a bottle shop in edinburgh. Since we were limited in our weight flying from scotland back to mainland europe, we went the route of … Continue reading 3 new-to-me distilleries! Glenburgie 10, Balblair 10 and Glen Grant 1996, all bottled by Gordon & MacPhail
These reviews were my 400th and 401st whisky reviews on Reddit. Crazy to think about it. To celebrate that milestone I decided to review a couple bottles that have been with me for a while through my whisky journey: my 2 solera bottles. I started these in May 2014, so some of the juice in there has been marrying for nearly 3 years. My life … Continue reading Bryan’s Solera Reviews: Unpeated and Peated Bottles
Today I decided to review the Balvenie 12 Triple Cask, as I’d had a mini in my sample bag for a few months, and wondered how the review would compare to past Balvenie 12s I’ve had. So here’s a three-way comparison that’s also a bit of a time capsule of my reviewing over the past few years, as I looked at each of these in … Continue reading Three Balvenie 12s: Doublewood, Signature and Triple Cask + 16 Triple Cask
Rabbit Hole Distillery was founded in 2012 by Kaveh Zamanian and his wife, after 20 years in academia, with a goal of making unique whiskeys and experimenting with unique recipes. He’s collaborated with a number of former head distillers for the largest spirit companies in the world to develop his recipes. We received these samples from the distillery, as they wanted some reviews on the … Continue reading Rabbit Hole Distillery Spotlight and Reviews
Toronto Whisky Society 