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
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
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
Central City Brewing has been a stalwart in the craft brewing scene in BC since 2003 with their Red Racer line, and entered the distilling game in 2013. Brewmaster Gary Lohin and Head Distiller Stuart McKinnon used their collective expertise to develop an innovative line-up of Lohin McKinnon single malts. The regular Single Malt did very well in our inaugural Great Canadian Whisky Tasting in 2017, as did their … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: Central City’s Lohin McKinnon Single Malts
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
When most people think of Canadian whisky, their minds go to blends or rye (whether the whisky contains any rye spirit or not). Rarely do people associate Canada with single malts, although there are a number of distilleries producing them today with the craft distilling boom hitting the Great White North. But before that boom, while brown spirits were giving way to white spirits in … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: Glenora Distillery, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
For those of you who know me in person, you’ll know that I am a self-proclaimed Padawan whisky nerd (Star Wars reference). That is why I was absolutely thrilled when Wayne Gretzky Estates Winery invited me to visit their distillery and vineyard at Niagara-on-the-Lake. Wayne Gretzky Estates is an award winning winery and distillery owned by Peller Estate and Canadian legend Wayne Gretzky. Their most … Continue reading A Weekend at Wayne Gretzky Estates Winery & Distillery
Halifax has become a hotbed for breweries, and now also has two distilleries operating in the city. We had a chance to visit both of them, and the write-up of the brand new Compass Distillers was previously posted here. The Halifax Distilling Company is the other and actually finds its roots on Prince Edward Island as the Prince Edward Distillery started by Julie Shore, a … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: Halifax Distilling Company, Halifax, NS
Toronto Whisky Society 