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
Diageo just announced their 2019 Special Release collection. Although details are sparse, we know that they will all be single malt releases! Furthermore, each whisky is cask strength! Selected by master blender Dr Craig Wilson, the theme for the collection is “Rare by Nature”. Each bottle “celebrates the special, varied surroundings of each distillery, with each one delivering a different journey of discovery for the distillers … Continue reading Diageo’s 2019 Special Release Collection Announced
Last night the Toronto Whisky Society had a fantastic event with Mike Brisebois of the Distell Group of distilleries (Bunnahabhain, Tobermory/Ledaig, Deanston) and shared some amazing drams with the 30+ attendees! Reviews will trickle onto the site and pictures onto our instagram over the next few weeks, but here are some pics of the event, the highlight of which was an 18yr Distillery Exclusive bottling … Continue reading Distell Group Tasting with Mike Brisebois
Glen Grant is a scotch whisky distillery in the Speyside region which has been operating since 1840. It used to feature heavily in the Chivas blended whiskies, but since its acquisition by Grupo Campari in 2005, has focused more heavily on its single malt offerings. Campari reached out to the Toronto Whisky Society and asked us if we’d like to try their two LCBO-listed offerings, … Continue reading Glen Grant 12 & 18 Group Reviews
The good folks at Woodman Wines and Spirits invited us to a tasting a while back to try a line-up of AnCnoc bottles available at the LCBO. After the event, we had the opportunity to share the whisky with a few of our members to pull together some group reviews. AnCnoc is produced at a small distillery in the Highlands called Knockdhu, and is owned … Continue reading AnCnoc Line-up Group Review
For our 2nd event of the year, we went with an “oddballs” line-up of young Signatory Vintages bottlings. The pictures below all look the same, but be sure to click on them to see the variety of whisky we drank, and stay tuned for the reviews which will be posted here! Continue reading Oddballs 2019 – Signatory Vintages
Continuing on with our Irish Whiskey phase, I had the opportunity to interview Managing Director, Bernard Walsh of Walsh Whiskey – producers of Writer’s Tears and The Irishman. Competing in the premium category, Walsh Whiskey is a family owned distillery with values in farming, terroir, grains and distillate types. The Toronto Whisky Society got to sit down with him and sample 7 whiskies coming to … Continue reading An Interview with Managing Director, Bernard Walsh | Walsh Whiskey (Writer’s Tears, The Irishman)
Lately I’ve been enjoying wild ales. For those not in the know, a wild ale is a beer that has used yeast or bacteria in addition to Saccharomyces cerevisiae for fermentation. It’s recently caught on in the US, with Lambics using the method for centuries now. So, when I was invited to try Glenmorangie’s newest release, which used their own strain of wild yeast, I … Continue reading Glenmorangie Allta – Exploring Wild Yeast
If you asked people what they pictured when you say Persian Empire Distillery, they probably won’t picture a craft distillery in Peterborough, Ontario – one of the first in Canada to open its doors in nearly 40 years! Since 2006, Bruce Khabbazi has been producing spirits of both european and middle-eastern heritage, and recently expanded to a new facility that shoudl more than triple their … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: Persian Empire Distillery
TWS did something different for our first event of the year, and invited members to bring along some bourbon from their own collections to share with the group. We tend to be more scotch-oriented in the club and this was a great way to try some juice from south of the border! We failed to take many pictures, but tried many great bottles! Continue reading Bring Your Own Bourbon 2019
When one says The Balvenie, there’s one of two reactions: Either you enjoy the floral, sometimes fruity Speyside, or you pass. I am of the first group, so when I was invited (in addition to other members of the Toronto Whisky Society) to a Balvenie tasting at The Caledonian, of course, I cleared my schedule. Heck, I may have gone so fast that I cleared … Continue reading A night of Balvenie
Toronto Whisky Society 