Lot No. 40 100% Rye Whisky, 43% ABV, $40 CAD Nose: Caramel, rye spice, oak, floral soap, banana, banana bread, icing sugar. Taste: Creamy toffee, rye spice, brown sugar, cooked banana. Finish: Medium/long length, good viscosity. Thoughts: This is what you want in a rye. Great balance of sweet and spicy. Although strong, the rye kick is nicely rounded so it doesn’t completely overpower the whisky. … Continue reading Lot 40 vs Lot 40 Cask Strength
We’ve written a few times about Corby’s recently released Northern Border Collection here, and that’s for a couple of reasons: It’s damn good whisky that is a bit of a paradigm shift for Canadian whisky Corby has been really good about reaching out to whisky lovers and groups like ours, letting us taste it and tell its story. So since by now you’ve heard it … Continue reading TWS Northern Border Collection Tasting
Highland Park 25 Year Old, 45.7% ABV, $415 CAD Nose: Apples, apple pie, pie crust, sour-dough bread, honey, leather, banana, peach juice, mild chocolate, white, chocolate, old wood, toffee, vanilla ice cream, Mr. Christie’s Arrow Rout cookies, raisins, waffle cones, and a nice malty note. Taste: Sherry, floral, leather, apple, honey, chocolate and white chocolate again, light cinnamon, golden plums, and underripe pears. Finish: So so good! … Continue reading Highland Park 25 Year Old
Highland Park 15 Year Old, 43% ABV, $79 USD Nose: Lemon, orange, musty peat smoke, vanilla, room temperature butter, and honey. Taste: Honey and lemon, smokey oak, there is a herbal element to it which is hard to pint-point, white chocolate, pepper, slight salty/coastal note which reminds me of Old Pulteney. Finish: Medium/long length, slightly drying, chocolate, pepper, and smoke linger. Thoughts: Great balance to this, nothing … Continue reading Highland Park 15 Year Old
Orphan Barrel – Barterhouse 20 year old Bourbon, 45.1% ABV, $100 CAD Nose: Black and Maraschino cherries. Big oak, toasted bread, almonds, and some vanilla. Taste: Heavy oak, very rich cherry (cherry pie filling), caramel, and an almond/marzipan thing going on. Finish: Medium to long, oak and cherry notes linger. Thoughts: 20 years of oak dominate the whisky, but it works here. I really like the cask influence. … Continue reading Orphan Barrel – Barterhouse 20 year old Bourbon
Bladnoch is a Lowland distillery – one of the few left – that’s over 200 years old. The distillery was sold in 2015, and the new owner, David Prior, is busy making his mark on the distillery and brand. There’s a new line-up of age stated single malts coming out soon, but the initial new release is a blend called Pure Scot. It contains a … Continue reading Bladnoch Pure Scot Blend Group Review
As the Scotch boom grows, so does the idea that cocktails can be made with Scotch. No longer are people sneering at the idea of mixing your single malt, and as someone who has had some, let’s say extra bottles, it can actually be quite fun. Auchentoshan has a yearly event named the New Malt Order. It takes place in Germany, Sweden, the US, Canada, … Continue reading Auchentoshan New Malt Order Cocktail Event (Cocktail Recipes included!)
A few weeks ago TOmodera and I were invited by Corby Spirits to attend an event in Prince Edward County for bartenders and whisky media to try out the new Northern Border Collection bottlings they’re releasing nationwide in October. Naturally, we obliged after some arm twisting… but actually we were pumped, having tried some of these before and knowing how good they are. The day … Continue reading Corby’s Northern Border Collection – Reviews of all 8 Expressions
Macallan 17 Fine Oak, 43% ABV, $170 USD Nose: Pomegranate, wood smoke, floral, Juicy Fruit gum, and a general overall fresh citrus note. Taste: Pineapple, mango, Runts candy (banana & apple flavour), wood smoke, and chocolate. Finish: Medium length, slightly drying. Thoughts: Really nice elegant complexity to this. The nose is very nice, its like smelling the fruit isle at an overpriced market. Probably my … Continue reading Macallan 17 & 18 Fine Oak
Recently Beth Havers, the Canadian Brand Ambassador for Glenfiddich, gave Toronto Whisky Society members a chance to try two new Glenfiddich releases (Glenfiddich IPA Experiment & Project XX). Huge thank you to Beth for giving us a chance to try these two whiskies which were recently released at the LCBO. Below are the aggregated thoughts, notes and review scores, along with the individual scores and … Continue reading Glenfiddich IPA Experiment & Project XX – Group Review
There are a few bottles that you don’t want any oxidization to occur. This is one of them. In my experience sherried scotch which is not bottled at cask strength has mostly negative effects from oxidization, whereas peated scotch or most things cask strength/barrel proof benefit with air in the bottle. After the bottle is about 1\5 gone I use Wine Enthusiast Private Preserve Wine … Continue reading Macallan 18 (Sherry)
On August 20th the Toronto Whisky Society had one of our most interesting and unique lineups for a tasting. Toronto Whisky Society had picked up a number of independent bottlings from various regions and distilleries, and our tasting was led by Igor, who is a whisky agent with a great deal of knowledge when it comes to whisky. (Igor leading Toronto Whisky Society members through … Continue reading August 20th Vintage Tasting – Toronto Whisky Society
Toronto Whisky Society 