2023 UPDATES UNDER EACH ENTRY BELOW Given the popularity of our post on The Best Scotch $100 Can Buy (LCBO 2017) a number of TWS members discussed the best American bourbons and ryes you can find at the LCBO for a reasonable price. We settled on $61 as the cutoff point to allow Wild Turkey Rare Breed to qualify, as we wanted a barrels proof … Continue reading Best Bourbon/American Rye Under $71 at LCBO
In my experience I’ve found a few drops of water really open up and benefit these whiskies, and therefore all my notes are with water added. (Approximately 3-4 drops for a half ounce pour) Blanton’s Gold, Bottled 9-19-14, Barrel 829, Warehouse H, Rick#29, 51.5% ABV, $100 CAD Nose: Brown sugar, sweet corn, vanilla, toffee, really nice cherry, cranberry, and pomegranate thing going on. Fruit hard … Continue reading Blanton’s Gold, Booker’s Bourbon, & Jack Daniel’s Barrel Proof.
Like most of us, I read about and watched reviews on combining W.L. Weller 12 and Old Weller Antique (OWA) to get something that resembled a Pappy Van Winkle. I was interested. I had a few OWA ($35 CAD), and won two Weller 12’s ($46 CAD) in this year’s Sazerac lottery, so I figured I’d try it. There are a few different recipes circulating, some … Continue reading My Poor Man’s Pappy experiment
Yesterday marked the annual Spirit of Toronto tasting event at the Roy Thomson Hall. An absolute must for the whisky enthusiast, Spirit of Toronto offers an all-inclusive experience with a wide range vendors and expressions. This was the second consecutive year I attended, and once again I had an amazing evening. One of the best features about Spirit of Toronto are the Masterclasses offered each … Continue reading Spirit of Toronto 2017
My wife and I recently had a great weekend in Windsor visiting the Hiram Walker Distillery, Canadian Club Brand Centre, Wolfhead Distillery and just hanging out with good company! We spent the weekend with some friends and he has a fantastic, growing collection of whiskies that he picks up in his business travels. Our weekend also involved a lot of great food including flaming cheese at Santorini’s … Continue reading Some NDP Bourbon Reviews
My wife and I were heading down to a town near Pittsburgh for a family event, so naturally I looked up any distilleries that may be along the way. I came across Five & 20 Spirits & Brewing, which is just off the I-90 on the far Western edge of NY state, and so we stopped in to try their rye and bourbon. Turns out, … Continue reading Five & 20 Spirits [Distillery visit & Reviews]
Rabbit Hole Distillery was founded in 2012 by Kaveh Zamanian and his wife, after 20 years in academia, with a goal of making unique whiskeys and experimenting with unique recipes. He’s collaborated with a number of former head distillers for the largest spirit companies in the world to develop his recipes. We received these samples from the distillery, as they wanted some reviews on the … Continue reading Rabbit Hole Distillery Spotlight and Reviews
A few weeks ago we received an email from PraxisPR, inviting us to attend the pre-launch party and tasting of the new Jim Beam Double Oaked and Black extra aged. So we, Bryan and Kyle, dutifully went to the Village Cigar Company & Barbershop for cocktails, old timey vaudevillian music, and in Bryan’s case, a free haircut won in a draw! This place was peak hipster, and … Continue reading TWS attends Jim Beam Black & Double Oaked pre-launch party + reviews!
Looks like them Toronto Whisky Society boys (and ladies) are up to no good again folks. Just kidding, we’re always up to great good. It was a slightly windy day in First Spring when the TWS (owners of this here website and such) had a good ol’ tastin’. We headed to Dupont, set out the nicest crackers, dark chocolates, and cheesey-poofs, and invited everyone. Entry? Well … Continue reading Toronto Whisky Society’s <10yr/NAS Social Event
When we launched the Toronto Whisky Society, one of the goals was to try new whiskies and provide honest, unbiased feedback on them. Our members have been doing this for quite a while now on Reddit, with over 2000 reviews posted collectively on the network. We soon found that distilleries are eager to get word out about their products and that our group is a … Continue reading Liberty Pole Spirits: Peated Bourbon
2016 was a fantastic year for the members of the Toronto Whisky Society, for many reasons: We launched our website and social media presence after existing primarily on Reddit for the past few years We held a number of highly successful events in homes, at pubs and at distilleries We made connections with a ton of distilleries to set up future events, AMAs and tastings … Continue reading Toronto Whisky Society’s Whiskies of the Year 2016
Appearance: 1.8, Old Oak Nose: Caramel, chocolate, grainy, malty, menthol, rich oak, leather, ginger, pepper steak, almost some red stone fruits here too. Normally with Amrut single casks, you get mostly the core Amrut profile with an accent of the cask type, not so here. The Amrut profile is there, but it is dominated by a rich spice and sweetness. This is not an out … Continue reading Review: Amrut Virgin Oak (Kensington Wine Market Exclusive)
Toronto Whisky Society 