Tag: blend

Distillery Spotlight

Distillery Spotlight: Persian Empire Distillery

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

Unknown's avatarBryan VanderkrukLeave a comment
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

Unknown's avatarTorontoWhiskySociety5 Comments
Review

Bladnoch Pure Scot Blend Group Review

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

Unknown's avatarTorontoWhiskySocietyLeave a comment
Review

Forty Creek Limited Editions: Port Wood, Three Grain Harmony & Founder’s Reserve

For #WorldWhiskyDay, I’m doing a trio of Forty Creek limited edition releases. Hard to believe I last reviewed a forty creek whisky back in my 20th review here, and now I’m at over 100. my opinions on Forty Creek have definitely changed over the years, going from hardcore fanboy to disappointment in the similarity of many releases, to now being a skeptic of their future … Continue reading Forty Creek Limited Editions: Port Wood, Three Grain Harmony & Founder’s Reserve

Unknown's avatarBryan VanderkrukLeave a comment
Review

Exclusive Pre-Release Group Review: J.P. Wiser’s Dissertation

As you’ll have seen from past group reviews and our trip to Hiram Walker last month (Pt1, Pt2, Pt3), we’re pretty big fans of what Dr. Don Livermore and the team at Corby/Pernod-Ricard are doing in the Canadian whisky category. From their Union 52 blend that includes some 52yr old Highland Scotch, to Last Barrels – a sour mash bourbon-style whisky, – to the use of virgin … Continue reading Exclusive Pre-Release Group Review: J.P. Wiser’s Dissertation

Unknown's avatarTorontoWhiskySociety5 Comments
Distillery Spotlight, Event Recap

TWS visits Hiram Walker Distillery – Part 3

In Part 1, we covered grain, mashing and fermenting. In Part 2, we covered distillation, QA, barrelling and aging. Now we’re going to look at the final few steps in the whisky making process, our own attempt to do Don’s job of blending, and a trip into the Whisky Archives. Blending This step is where Don’s creative muscles are exercised. Unlike a single malt scotch, … Continue reading TWS visits Hiram Walker Distillery – Part 3

Unknown's avatarTorontoWhiskySociety7 Comments
Review

Bryan’s Solera Reviews: Unpeated and Peated Bottles

These reviews were my 400th and 401st whisky reviews on Reddit. Crazy to think about it. To celebrate that milestone I decided to review a couple bottles that have been with me for a while through my whisky journey: my 2 solera bottles. I started these in May 2014, so some of the juice in there has been marrying for nearly 3 years. My life … Continue reading Bryan’s Solera Reviews: Unpeated and Peated Bottles

Unknown's avatarBryan Vanderkruk1 Comment
Review

Toronto Whisky Society Union 52 Group Review

Occasionally one of our members will pick up a bottle and give out samples to a number of Toronto Whisky Society (TWS) members to review individually. These reviews are amalgamated into a single multi-person review like this one. This time around both Bryan Vanderkuk and Devozwhisky were lucky enough to purchase bottles of the new Wiser’s release, Union 52 from British Colombia.  Originally Devozwhisky and … Continue reading Toronto Whisky Society Union 52 Group Review

Unknown's avatarTorontoWhiskySociety3 Comments
Review

Cheap Blend Reviews: Té Bheag, Islay Mist and Black Grouse Alpha

These are a few reviews from about 3 years ago of some cheap blends available at the LCBO, average price of about $30. when I was just building up my assortment, these were helpful to have on the shelf to serve to non-whisky drinking friends, or just to have a cheaper daily dram. My original scoring system back then differentiated between blends and single malts … Continue reading Cheap Blend Reviews: Té Bheag, Islay Mist and Black Grouse Alpha

Unknown's avatarBryan Vanderkruk1 Comment
Review

Black Friday Review: Black Bottle

I reviewed this about 13 months ago and since I posted a bourbon for American Thanksgiving yesterday, why not stay topical for Black Friday? This is the new packaging of Black Bottle. Sadly I never had a chance to try the old bottling. Black Bottle (new packaging) – 40% ABV Appearance: deep copper orange. Definitely chock full of e150 Nose: quite sweet. You can smell … Continue reading Black Friday Review: Black Bottle

Unknown's avatarBryan Vanderkruk1 Comment