Have you ever gone indoor rock climbing, and in between free climbs of the big wall, wished you could take a break and sip a few drams? Well lucky for you, the team at North of 7 Distillery has you covered! Greg Lipin and Jody Miall started the Coyote Rock Gym in 1992 with great success, often celebrated with their spirit of choice – Bourbon. In … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: North of 7 Distillery
Top Shelf in Perth, Ontario is another new distillery that has brought distilling back to an historical home of whisky in the province. Perth’s history dates back 200 years to when it was a Scottish military settlement around the time of the war of 1812. The Scottish population understandably had an affinity for malt whisky, but the distilleries in the UK couldn’t keep up with … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: Top Shelf Distillers
King’s Lock Craft Distillery is a small, family owned and operated distillery in Prescott, Ontario – a town rich with historical significance to Canada and the Canadian whisky industry. Owners Rob, Laura and Joey are proud of that history, and have weaved it into the fabric of their operations and products. Their entire line-up is 100% organic, and they The small town on the St. Lawrence … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: King’s Lock Craft Distillery
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
This past weekend, we had a chance to sample some fantastic independently bottled whiskies from a private collection. Like last year’s event, the tasting was led by Igor of Heads & Tails, who regaled us with tales of drinking with Malt Maniacs, master distillers and whisky royalty, while providing insight into the bottles we were enjoying. This year’s theme was ‘whisky with a twist’ and … Continue reading Event Recap: 2018 Vintages Tasting
Kinsip House of Fine Spirits (Prince Edward County, ON) is a relative newcomer to the Canadian distilling scene – at least as a corporate entity and brand. The distillery itself has been around since 2012, and was formerly known as 66 Gilead Distillery (named for its street address), making unique, crafted white and brown spirits. When the former owners decided to sell the business, a … Continue reading Distillery & New Release Spotlight: Kinsip House of Fine Spirits & Cooper’s Revival Rye
We recently had an event with Cameron Millar, the brand ambassador for Edrington in Eastern Canada and tasted some fantastic drams. We both brought a few bottles we had gathered, leading to a great tasting including a number of limited editions and since delisted bottlings including: The Naked Grouse The Macallan Edition No. 2 The Macallan Edition No. 3 The Macallan Classic Cut Highland Park … Continue reading Event Recap: Macallan & Highland Park tasting with Cameron Millar
A couple of years ago, Corby Spirit and Wine started their Rare Cask Series of whiskies – a collection of one-off bottlings with unique characteristics, production methods and stories – highlighting the innovative potential inherent in Canadian whisky and their warehouses. The first three releases were Last Barrels (a bourbon-style mashbill whisky), Dissertation (comprised of whiskies from Dr. Don Livermore’s PhD experiments), and Union 52 … Continue reading New Release Spotlight: J.P. Wiser’s Seasoned Oak 19 year
In March, we had a tasting event with Jamie Johnson (@bourbonthing), the Balvenie Brand Ambassador for Canada. Jamie blew everyone’s expectations out of the water, bringing us 9 different expressions to try, including some unicorn bottles, as well as new make and barrel-seasoning rum! The drams were tasted were: Balvenie 12 Doublewood Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask Balvenie 17 Doublewood Balvenie 21 Portwood Balvenie 12 Single … Continue reading Balvenie Tasting – Event Recap
On April 18, we had a tasting event with Matt Jones (@whisky_chef on instagram/twitter), the Beam-Suntory brand ambassador for the company’s Scotch and worldwhisky portfolios. Matt brought us a number of expressions from both of these Islay distilleries and regaled us with tales from that beautiful island, and the people who live and work there. He also brought some great swag for everyone to take … Continue reading Laphroaig / Bowmore Tasting – Event Recap
I recently had the wonderful opportunity to meet with Ger Buckley, fourth generation Head Cooper at Jameson Distillery, and Steve Beauchesne of Beau’s Brewery and ask questions about their respective companies, roles and upcoming collaboration. Jameson shots are virtually synonymous with St. Patrick’s Day in North America, along with green beer and other things the Irish likely find abominable about our celebration of their holiday! … Continue reading Perfect St. Patrick’s Day Pairing – Jameson Caskmates and Beau’s Strong Patrick
Back in November, the Toronto Whisky Society was invited to an event with International Beverage Holdings and Woodman Spirits, held at the Royal Canadian Military Institute, and TOModera and I were the privileged pair who got to attend. In case you don’t know (and didn’t follow those links), International Beverage Holdings is a company that owns many alcoholic beverage brands and manufacturers, including 5 distilleries … Continue reading Lunch & Tasting with Malcolm Waring of Pulteney Distillery & Woodman Spirits
Toronto Whisky Society 