On a recent trip to Nova Scotia, my wife and I drove the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton and made a stop at the Glenora Distillery for a tour and tasting. I write in detail about the distillery and its history here, and have included this post to cover the reviews we did of the drams we tasted. Previously reviewed Glen Breton bottlings can be … Continue reading Glenora Distillery Multi-Review
When most people think of Canadian whisky, their minds go to blends or rye (whether the whisky contains any rye spirit or not). Rarely do people associate Canada with single malts, although there are a number of distilleries producing them today with the craft distilling boom hitting the Great White North. But before that boom, while brown spirits were giving way to white spirits in … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: Glenora Distillery, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
For those of you who know me in person, you’ll know that I am a self-proclaimed Padawan whisky nerd (Star Wars reference). That is why I was absolutely thrilled when Wayne Gretzky Estates Winery invited me to visit their distillery and vineyard at Niagara-on-the-Lake. Wayne Gretzky Estates is an award winning winery and distillery owned by Peller Estate and Canadian legend Wayne Gretzky. Their most … Continue reading A Weekend at Wayne Gretzky Estates Winery & Distillery
When you exit Cape Breton Island and start driving back towards Halifax, most travelers don’t think about taking Highway 344 and heading down the East shore. This is somewhat unfortunate, as there are a number of beautiful towns with waterways running through them and it’s an incredibly scenic drive. It also includes the future site of a commercial spaceport, which means the number of cars … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: Authentic Seacoast Distillery, Guysborough NS
Nova Scotia’s south shore is a gorgeous mix of rocky crags, lighthouses, hiking trails and fishing towns and is well worth a visit by anyone travelling to the province. One of the most popular destinations on the south shore is Lunenburg, an historic fishing town that was put on the map as the home of the Bluenose, the famous racing schooner that graces the Canadian … Continue reading Distillery Spotlight: Ironworks Distillery, Lunenburg, NS
Wayne Gretzky. To some Canadians, he’s royalty. To others, he’s merely the son of Canadian royalty, and part of the reason we have more gold medals then we deserve (1 more, if you’re following). To others, he’s a hockey player, right? However you’re not here to discuss hockey. That would be an easy discussion: He was a good hockey player, and certainly gives back to … Continue reading Wayne Gretzky Distillery (& Winery, if you’re naughty)
So I’m at the precipice of hitting both 300 scotch reviews and 500 total whisky reviews on reddit and plotted out my path to those milestones. Inspired by /u/tomodera‘s recent Arran-pocalypse posts (Part 1, Part 2), I decided to do a smaller multi of the Arran drams I haven’t posted here in the past. It’s kind of like the B-movie version of his post… it’s Piranha … Continue reading Arran-mageddon: 12 reviews of Arran single casks, LEs and crazy finishes
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
On April 23rd the Toronto Whisky Society hosted our most recent event, a tasting by the Victoria Caledonian Brewery & Distillery. Andrew Campbell Walls, the incredibly delightful brand ambassador of Victoria Caledonian Distillery, was gracious to lead is through a tasting of the TWA Blended malts available from the distillery, along with a sample of the currently maturing single malt spirit (Mac Na Braiche). Below … Continue reading Victoria Caledonian Distillery – TWS Event
Timberwolf Forest Products isn’t exactly a name that brings whisky to mind, but the company has been integrally involved in the whisky industry, handling the in/out processing of barrels for Hiram Walker – the largest distillery in North America – for years, as well as a small third party bottling operation for small batch runs of spirits. So it wasn’t as big a leap as one … Continue reading Wolfhead Distillery [Visit & Review]
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
In Part 1 of the Toronto Whisky Society’s visit to the Hiram Walker Distillery we covered how they handle their grain, the mashing process and fermenting process. Next we move on to: Distillation Distillation is essentially selective evaporation to concentrate a substance and remove unwanted portions. In the spirits world, there are two types of stills: Continuous or column stills, and pot stills. At Hiram … Continue reading TWS visits Hiram Walker Distillery – Part 2
Toronto Whisky Society 