(This distillery review was written by Toronto Whisky Society member Stephen Sheps who was recently in Islay. Thanks to him for sharing his distillery experiences!) Ahh, Islay. There is really no place quite like it, even in Scotland. It’s a place that, despite my having literally zero Scottish roots feels like where I have always belonged. Of course you might be thinking to yourselves now … Continue reading Bunnahabhain Distillery Review
It is that time of year again (you know, that Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus time of year), and whatever you celebrate, you’re probably buying gifts for the important people in your life. Got a whisky/whiskey lover on your list? Here are some helpful suggestions of what to get for them! General Gifts for the whisky fan: Do not get them whisky stones. We’ve mentioned this each of the last … Continue reading 2019 TWS Holiday Whisky Gift Guide
It’s the final true day on Islay, and to finish this journey off with a bang I decided to leave the most anticipated tour for last: the Laphroaig Distillers Wares Tour. Laphroaig was one of the first distilleries that truly got me in to drinking single malt whisky. So as I venture onto my final booked tour on Islay I’m very much excited to see … Continue reading Laphroaig Distillers Wares Tour
It’s now Day 2 of my Islay expedition and this one will be quite a more arduous journey then any other distillery tour I’ve experienced here on Islay. Not because of the distillery experience itself but because of it’s extremely remote location being the northernmost distillery on Islay. Since my dad and I didn’t have a car to use on Islay and the bus schedule … Continue reading Bunnahabhain Warehouse 9 Tasting
So after finishing up at Bruichladdich and waiting for the bus at a little café called Debbie’s just up the road from the distillery I grabbed the bus back to Bowmore to drop off the distillery valinch I purchased and headed on over to Bowmore Distillery for their last tour of the day. The Bowmore Distillery tour costs 10 pounds and comes with 3 drams … Continue reading Bowmore Distillery Tour
So it’s the dawn on the first morning on Islay. Bowmore is lovely as could be as the sun begins to shine onto Loch Indaal, but I won’t be staying for too long in Bowmore this morning. A quick hour long bus ride from Islay High School takes us to the pier of Bruichladdich, just minutes away from our destination, and our first distillery tour … Continue reading Bruichladdich Warehouse Tasting
The final part of my Campbeltown trip is finally here. It’s been a heck of a day. Some amazing whiskies were tried and I experienced a lot of new aspects about whiskymaking here in Scotland, but now it’s finally time to go out with a bang! And what better way to end my Campbeltown expedition then at the Glen Scotia Distillery! Now in terms of … Continue reading Glen Scotia Dunnage Tour and Tasting
After the wild and fun times I had at the Cadenhead’s warehouse (and the shop before and afterwards taking some time to admire the selection as well as some beauties found in the famed Cadenhead’s “Cage”) I now headed for the second distillery tour of the day and one that I was very interested to learn more about, which is the Glengyle Distillery Tour! The … Continue reading Glengyle (Kilkerran) Distillery Tour
So now that the Springbank Distillery Tour has concluded, with a fun first experience of Scotch distilling in the memory bank, it’s time for one of the most anticipated tastings that I had planned for this trip, the Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting! Now Cadenhead’s is an independent bottler of a lot of different spirits. Scotch is their main draw but they also bottle gin, rum, cognac … Continue reading Cadenhead’s Warehouse Tasting
Last night the Toronto Whisky Society had a fantastic event with Mike Brisebois of the Distell Group of distilleries (Bunnahabhain, Tobermory/Ledaig, Deanston) and shared some amazing drams with the 30+ attendees! Reviews will trickle onto the site and pictures onto our instagram over the next few weeks, but here are some pics of the event, the highlight of which was an 18yr Distillery Exclusive bottling … Continue reading Distell Group Tasting with Mike Brisebois
Glen Grant is a scotch whisky distillery in the Speyside region which has been operating since 1840. It used to feature heavily in the Chivas blended whiskies, but since its acquisition by Grupo Campari in 2005, has focused more heavily on its single malt offerings. Campari reached out to the Toronto Whisky Society and asked us if we’d like to try their two LCBO-listed offerings, … Continue reading Glen Grant 12 & 18 Group Reviews
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