The third and final category of the 2019 TWS Awards is the Single Malts! Canada’s single malt history dates back to the opening of the Glenora distillery on Cape Breton Island in the early 90s, and since then many others have taken up the torch from coast to coast. We always anticipate great things from this category, and this year didn’t disappoint! The bottles were … Continue reading 2019 TWS Whisky Awards: Canadian Single Malts
The second category in this year’s TWS Whisky Awards are the Single Grains, which include ryes, wheat, and other prairie grains. This year we received 8 bottles for this category, and evaluated them in the following random order: The Lineup: Stalk & Barrel 100% Rye: A 3 year old 100% Ontario rye whisky bottled at 46% with no colour or chill filtration. Black Fox Distillery … Continue reading 2019 TWS Whisky Awards: Canadian Single Grains
This year, Toronto Whisky Society received 12 Canadian blended whiskies from 8 different distilleries ranging from large to small and from east to west. We tasted all of them blind in the randomized order below, and our rankings were anonymous. In the end, our #1 ranked whisky was unanimous. You’ll have to read through to the bottom to find out what it was! The Lineup: … Continue reading 2019 TWS Whisky Awards: Canadian Blended Whisky
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
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
Have you ever gone indoor rock climbing, and in between free climbs of the big wall, wished you could take a break and sip a few drams? Well lucky for you, the team at North of 7 Distillery has you covered! Greg Lipin and Jody Miall started the Coyote Rock Gym in 1992 with great success, often celebrated with their spirit of choice – Bourbon. In … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: North of 7 Distillery
Top Shelf in Perth, Ontario is another new distillery that has brought distilling back to an historical home of whisky in the province. Perth’s history dates back 200 years to when it was a Scottish military settlement around the time of the war of 1812. The Scottish population understandably had an affinity for malt whisky, but the distilleries in the UK couldn’t keep up with … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: Top Shelf Distillers
King’s Lock Craft Distillery is a small, family owned and operated distillery in Prescott, Ontario – a town rich with historical significance to Canada and the Canadian whisky industry. Owners Rob, Laura and Joey are proud of that history, and have weaved it into the fabric of their operations and products. Their entire line-up is 100% organic, and they The small town on the St. Lawrence … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: King’s Lock Craft Distillery
Central City Brewing has been a stalwart in the craft brewing scene in BC since 2003 with their Red Racer line, and entered the distilling game in 2013. Brewmaster Gary Lohin and Head Distiller Stuart McKinnon used their collective expertise to develop an innovative line-up of Lohin McKinnon single malts. The regular Single Malt did very well in our inaugural Great Canadian Whisky Tasting in 2017, as did their … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: Central City’s Lohin McKinnon Single Malts
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
