TWS CANADIAN SINGLE MALTS OF THE YEAR

So after a full day of tasting, finding winners of 4 categories and 2 sub-categories, We had to determine our overall winners. 7 finalists were compared blind head-to-head and re-ranked to find our winners for the year. Congratulations to Macaloney’s, Two Brewers and Okanagan for having multiple entries each in the finals! Here are the winners: HONOURABLE MENTIONS RUNNER-UP 2023 CANADIAN MALT OF THE YEAR … Continue reading TWS CANADIAN SINGLE MALTS OF THE YEAR

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TWS Whisky Awards

Single Cask Malts

These malts participated in other categories but were distinct in that they came from a single barrel before release. You can see the full details of this single STR Port barrel Macaloney’s release in the finished whisky category. the LMD release was a single barrel Islay cask finished whisky, which participated in the peated category. The Two Brewers Release 37 single cask was the big … Continue reading Single Cask Malts

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TWS Whisky Awards

Under-aged Malts

Either by happenstance or intentional permanent release, there are some great malts out there that are under 3 years of age, and technically not whisky. Our entries in this sub-category this year were produced about as far apart as possible from the shore of Newfoundland to the coast of Vancouver island! This young malt also participated in the Classic malt category and as of writing … Continue reading Under-aged Malts

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TWS Whisky Awards

Cask Strength Malts

We had two cask strength malts submitted, from the Yukon and BC. Release 37 from Two Brewers is a single cask release made from standard barley plus Honey malt and Vienna malt. It was aged 8 years in a second use white oak barrel. This Okanagan Laird of Fintry Black label is cask strength, aged 5 years in white oak and finished for 6 months … Continue reading Cask Strength Malts

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TWS Whisky Awards

Sherry, Wine and other Finished Malts

We had 6 malts that fit in this category, ranging from BC to the Yukon, to Alberta. The Laird of Fintry Red Label was finished in Black Sage Vineyards Port pipes and aged over 5 years! The Kirkinriola is a single cask release, aged in STR Portuguese port pipes. NCF and 46%. Diamond S from Rig Hand is a 5 year old malt aged in … Continue reading Sherry, Wine and other Finished Malts

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TWS Whisky Awards

Peated, <50% ABV

We had 3 peated entries for 2023 from the Yukon, BC and Sask: Macaloney’s Peated Mac na Braiche (son of malt) is a single malt spirit, as it’s under 3 years of age. We first tasted MNB at an event in 2017 and saw some real potential already then. This peated malt from Two Brewers, release 38, is over 10 years old! This Smokey Single … Continue reading Peated, <50% ABV

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TWS Whisky Awards

The Classics: Unpeated, <50% ABV Malts

The Classic single malt is primarily ex-bourbon barrel, regular range proof, and we received 5 malts that fit in this category. They hailed from coast to coast to coast, representing the Yukon, Newfoundland, BC and Alberta! Two Brewers Release 35 was built from 8 and 11 year old liquids, this was a Gold Medal Winner at the Canadian Brewing Awards 2023. This <3yr malt was … Continue reading The Classics: Unpeated, <50% ABV Malts

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Event Recap, TWS Whisky Awards

2023 Toronto Whisky Awards – Canadian Single Malts

In 2017 we first launched the Annual TWS Canadian Whisky Awards, handing out medals across multiple Canadian whisky categories. Our process was an in-person blind tasting of whiskies by category, collaboratively aligning on which were the best. We continued this in 2018 and 2019, with fantastic results. When COVID hit in 2020, our in-person process wasn’t feasible, so we cancelled the awards for that year, … Continue reading 2023 Toronto Whisky Awards – Canadian Single Malts

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TWS Whisky Awards

2019 TWS Whisky Awards: Canadian Single Malts

The third and final category of the 2019 TWS Awards is the Single Malts! Canada’s single malt history dates back to the opening of the Glenora distillery on Cape Breton Island in the early 90s, and since then many others have taken up the torch from coast to coast. We always anticipate great things from this category, and this year didn’t disappoint! The bottles were … Continue reading 2019 TWS Whisky Awards: Canadian Single Malts

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TWS Whisky Awards

2019 TWS Whisky Awards: Canadian Single Grains

The second category in this year’s TWS Whisky Awards are the Single Grains, which include ryes, wheat, and other prairie grains. This year we received 8 bottles for this category, and evaluated them in the following random order: The Lineup: Stalk & Barrel 100% Rye: A 3 year old 100% Ontario rye whisky bottled at 46% with no colour or chill filtration. Black Fox Distillery … Continue reading 2019 TWS Whisky Awards: Canadian Single Grains

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TWS Whisky Awards

2019 TWS Whisky Awards

Two years ago we set out to try whiskies from across Canada to celebrate our great country’s 150th birthday. Interest grew in the second year and now in our third annual kick at this particular can, we’ve decided to re-brand the Great Canadian Whisky Tasting to the annual TWS Whisky Awards! We find it more befitting of what we’re doing here, and yet despite the … Continue reading 2019 TWS Whisky Awards

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TWS Whisky Awards

2018 TWS Whisky Awards: Canadian Whiskies

We were surprised last year when we only got a few bottles that qualified for this category, (and even some of those could have been put in multiple), and then this year we were overwhelmed with the sheer number of entrants! We split this category randomly into two sessions, took our top 3 from each group of 8 and then put those head to head … Continue reading 2018 TWS Whisky Awards: Canadian Whiskies

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