In October, We held a great tasting that we called “Oddballs,” as the bottles didn’t fit any type of theme, and generally were a little different than you’d typically expect from the distillery or cask profiles. In order we tasted: Benrinnes Càrn Mòr 18 year old Rock Town Distillery Single Barrel Cask Strength Bourbon Cask 450 by Springbank Single Malt Scotch Whisky 1991 Whyte and … Continue reading Event Recap: Oddballs 2018
GlenDronach bottles and sells my favourite whisky. As much as I like peat, a well-aged sherry single malt just does it for me (Editor’s Note: Yes, we know that prior to 2002 GlenDronach was peated, but I think DistillAsian means very peated whisky here). So the first thing I want to do when visiting Scotland is hit up the GlenDronach Distillery. It’s not as hard … Continue reading GlenDronach Distillery Tour
Thanks to Wiser’s for giving a number of Toronto Whisky Society (TWS) members a chance to try the 2018 Northern Border Collection. The 2017 Northern Border Collection had some of the best new Canadian whiskies we tried last year, so expectations are high for this year’s release. The first of the 2018 Northern Border Collection will come to Ontario in almost a week. Sadly the … Continue reading 2018 Northern Border Collection Review – Rare Series
I signed up for the last available Distillers Wares tour first thing Sunday morning. However two days before that I found myself driving right past the visitor parking lot and parking right outside of the of the Mash House after the distillery had closed to the public for the day. An acquaintance was able to get my wife and I a private tour of the … Continue reading Laphroaig Distillers Wares
My wife and I rushed through a lunch at a small bar in Port Askaig in order to make it to the 2 pm Cask Strength Experience at Caol Ila. Funny story: Turns out we didn’t need to rush that much and could have had a heartier lunch because we were literally 5 minutes away. Well funny to me at least. I had been drinking. … Continue reading Caol Ila Distillery Tour
All the rumours are true: Bunnahabhain feels like the most remote and difficult to get to of all the distilleries on Islay. The final stretch is spent driving a long way down a nondescript single lane road. What they don’t tell you is that the Bunnahabhain Distillery complex looks like something out of a nuclear fallout movie, with seemingly old and rundown industrial buildings. Any … Continue reading Bunnahabhain Warehouse 9 Tasting
After Lagavulin, we ate a lovely lunch at the Islay Hotel, where we ended up getting seated beside and chatting with an Australian that had made the trip to Islay on his own. Happily full and ready to go, we were off on the 40-minute drive to Bruichladdich. As this was my wife’s first time driving on this trip, I was understandably nervous and sober … Continue reading Bruichladdich Warehouse Experience
If you have been paying any attention, the original Lot 40 Cask Strength 12yr was the darling of Canadian whisky releases last year. A well priced, cask strength 100% rye that was widely available. Also helps it was bloody delicious. I would like to thank Corby/Wiser’s who provided the sample of Lot 40 cask strength 11 year, the bottle of the 12 year I purchased … Continue reading Head-to-Head: Lot 40 Cask Strength 11yr (2018) vs Lot 40 Cask Strength 12yr (2017) Review
My wife was kind enough to indulge my whisky obsession and not veto my idea to make the trip to Islay, aka Whisky Mecca, during our trip to Scotland. She said that I could go to as many distilleries as I could fit into three days on Islay. Well, the joke is on her because the answer to that question is 7 in what turned … Continue reading Lagavulin Warehouse Demonstration
Toronto Whisky Society 