Either by happenstance or intentional permanent release, there are some great malts out there that are under 3 years of age, and technically not whisky. Our entries in this sub-category this year were produced about as far apart as possible from the shore of Newfoundland to the coast of Vancouver island! This young malt also participated in the Classic malt category and as of writing … Continue reading Under-aged Malts
We had two cask strength malts submitted, from the Yukon and BC. Release 37 from Two Brewers is a single cask release made from standard barley plus Honey malt and Vienna malt. It was aged 8 years in a second use white oak barrel. This Okanagan Laird of Fintry Black label is cask strength, aged 5 years in white oak and finished for 6 months … Continue reading Cask Strength Malts
We had 6 malts that fit in this category, ranging from BC to the Yukon, to Alberta. The Laird of Fintry Red Label was finished in Black Sage Vineyards Port pipes and aged over 5 years! The Kirkinriola is a single cask release, aged in STR Portuguese port pipes. NCF and 46%. Diamond S from Rig Hand is a 5 year old malt aged in … Continue reading Sherry, Wine and other Finished Malts
We had 3 peated entries for 2023 from the Yukon, BC and Sask: Macaloney’s Peated Mac na Braiche (son of malt) is a single malt spirit, as it’s under 3 years of age. We first tasted MNB at an event in 2017 and saw some real potential already then. This peated malt from Two Brewers, release 38, is over 10 years old! This Smokey Single … Continue reading Peated, <50% ABV
The Classic single malt is primarily ex-bourbon barrel, regular range proof, and we received 5 malts that fit in this category. They hailed from coast to coast to coast, representing the Yukon, Newfoundland, BC and Alberta! Two Brewers Release 35 was built from 8 and 11 year old liquids, this was a Gold Medal Winner at the Canadian Brewing Awards 2023. This <3yr malt was … Continue reading The Classics: Unpeated, <50% ABV Malts
In 2017 we first launched the Annual TWS Canadian Whisky Awards, handing out medals across multiple Canadian whisky categories. Our process was an in-person blind tasting of whiskies by category, collaboratively aligning on which were the best. We continued this in 2018 and 2019, with fantastic results. When COVID hit in 2020, our in-person process wasn’t feasible, so we cancelled the awards for that year, … Continue reading 2023 Toronto Whisky Awards – Canadian Single Malts
This whisky has been staring me in the face behind the bar at my pub for ages, and I’ve finally gone and tried it. There’s more to this that meets the eye. The distillery that’s known today as Clynelish was built in 1967, right next door to the original Clynelish distillery which was renamed “Brora”. Bizarrely, up until the mid-70s, it was common practice for … Continue reading [Review] Clynelish 12 Gordon & MacPhail “Ainslie & Heilbron” (bottled ~1984)
Glenburgie is rapidly becoming one of my very favourite Speyside distilleries. It seems to produce those tropical fruit notes that I go crazy for with consistency, provided it’s had enough time in the cask. The 21 years of age on this distillery-label bottling from Gordon & MacPhail should be enough to get those flavours going. Nose: Ehhhh, there’s some stale sulfur here, and mustiness like … Continue reading [Review] Glenburgie 21 Gordon & MacPhail Distillery Label
Despite a relatively small sample size, Imperial has become one of my very favourite Speyside distilleries. It delivers the tropical and waxy goods regularly, and despite closing in 1998 it doesn’t (yet) have the same dead-distillery premium on it as many of the bigger names. This Signatory bottling from 1976 will be the oldest vintage Imperial I’ve ever tried. Colour: Straw. Nose: Sweet and fatty. … Continue reading [Review] Imperial 19 1976 Signatory Vintage
This is Talisker’s latest duty-free exclusive bottlings. It has a snazzy purple label, but it surpass the high bar set by Talisker 10? Nose: Strong, with some volatile character. Peppery peat – applewood-smoked BBQ, with that vinegary Carolina-style hot sauce. Green apples, lemon, and interestingly some strawberry. Slightly greenish-grassy. Palate: Light texture. Arrives with green apple, gooseberry, strawberry, and torched grass. Peppery and slightly acrid peat smoke … Continue reading [Review] Talisker Surge
This is the most recent batch of Amrut Spectrum, bottled in 2021. I’m extremely excited to try this whisky – Amrut is one of my favourite distilleries (without any “not located in Scotland” qualifier!), and the original Spectrum from 2015 remains one of my top whiskies of all time. Confusingly, both that release and this new one are numbered “004”, as are a number of … Continue reading [Review] Amrut Spectrum 004 (2021 Release)
The other night I finally got to try the line of official bottlings from the Fettercairn distillery. Up to now I had only tried independent bottlings, which are generally good and aren’t too hard to find. An East Highland distillery, Fettercairn has a particular tropical character that comes from cooling rings on top of the stills, as well as a characteristic earthy funk. I can’t … Continue reading [Review] Fettercairn 12, Fettercairn 16 2022, Fettercairn 18
Toronto Whisky Society 