The best time of year has come once again! While some of us wish we could say that 2020 was, yet again, a fantastic year for Toronto Whisky Society, 2020 was far from ideal. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a lot of challenges to whisky drinkers around the world and has severely impacted the drinks and hospitality industry from the distilleries who make your favourite spirits, … Continue reading Toronto Whisky Society’s Whiskies of the Year 2020
COVID sure did change a lot about whisky tastings in 2020, but it didn’t slow them down! In September we managed to work with Sagamore Spirit on a tasting event that included a virtual distillery tour, a history of Maryland Rye, a fantastic giveaway and if course 4 very neat expressions of their Maryland style rye: Sagamore Straight Rye Sagamore Double Oak Rye Sagamore Cask … Continue reading Sagamore Rye Tasting Event
Today I’m winding the clock back to the start of 2019. The year before, I had a few more American whiskies then I expected although not as many as I would’ve liked to review. My American whiskey of the year was the 125th Anniversary bottling of Four Roses Small Batch Cask Strength but that was out of a very limited cue of American whiskies that … Continue reading [Review] Thomas H. Handy 2012
Thanks to /u/devoz for this sample Elephants. They linger around the room. And the annoying thing is, as with elephants in small rooms, they come up. Someone mentions it. There’s a trunk that slaps you because it’s in musth. What am I blathering on about? A certain Bible that’s for whisky. Written by a cat eyed person who limits his tastebuds and never swallows. That bastard (because… Continue reading Colonel E.H. Taylor 4 Grain
Thanks to /u/devoz for this sample Woodford Reserve Malt?is the fourth addition to the Woodford Reserve lineup. The idea? A malt whiskey, because that’s something some US distillers are doing. And while Woodford is part of Brown-Foreman, and while they are a large company, I do find they are left to be kinda nerdy with their releases. Granted I’m in the minority because I’ve enjoyed some of… Continue reading Woodford Reserve Malt
Thanks to /u/devoz for this dram. Canadian whisky is allowed to still be called Canadian whisky and keep its age statement assuming that less than 1/11th of it is made up of spirits that have been aged at least two years or non-spirit (or wine) added. This was so that we could add in American whisky to ours and give it flavour. Oh, I’m sorry, I guess… Continue reading Booker’s Little Book Chapter 2: Noe Simple Task
? Westland Garryana 2016 Ed. 1 I recently had a discussion with a master blender, and we discussed the difference between your average whiskey geek and whiskey drinker. The end result was that your average whisky drinker doesn’t really understand what goes into their whiskey. When I was more foolish and less correct than now, I used to be disgusted at the inclusion of “sour… Continue reading Westland Garryana & Westland Peated American Single Malt
Thanks to /u/ScotchChick for pouring me a sample of this. Balcones Brimstone differs from other whiskies? Why? Well instead of smoking the grain, which in this case is corn, they smoked the whisky. Which I personally haven’t had before. However, if this was any other whiskey, I’d probably end the review right there, or opine the amazing aspects of innovation and how the American system allowing for that… Continue reading Balcones Brimstone
Thanks to /u/ScotchChick for the sample. So let’s start High West Double Rye! That’s not me being excited, just the name of the whiskey. That’s a mixture of 2-year-old rye and 16-year-old rye, each sourced from a different company. This was made before they started adding in their own rye. Or is that Rendezvous now? I think that’s RR. None the less, we start with those. Then… Continue reading High West Double Rye! Quady Black Muscat finish Premier Fine Wines and Liquor pick
Thanks to /u/throwboats for the sample. The word ‘Light’ really has been kicked around. It’s either some diet thing that didn’t learn from the 90s that diet things aren’t helpful in losing weight or some form of pop that has zero calories but doesn’t taste quite right. So when I originally heard about High West 14 Light – Very Rare, I wasn’t wowed. Turns out that Light Whiskey… Continue reading High West 14 Light – Very Rare
Thanks to /u/Scotchchick for pouring a sample for me. There’s a whiskey. Some would say ubiquitous. Still, others would say it’s legendary. Its golden hue is known by geeks and non-geeks alike, which based on how I did on Venn diagrams, includes everyone in the world (Editor’s note: That’s not how that works at all). Of course, I’m speaking about Mellow Corn. Not to get corny, but I’ve… Continue reading Mellow Corn
? Thanks to /u/orehnmadgib for the sample. I am tremendously bad at guessing mystery samples. However I ended up with a bunch after some swap, so it’s time to crack them open in a series I’m calling “I’m really bad at mysteries”. It’s tough to buck trends. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of the standards kept by American whiskey. I think the requirements ensure… Continue reading Cumberland Cask Ruby Cut
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