Whisky Neighbour

A quick Friday review of Knob Creek Straight rye. I have had this bottle around, unopened for a while but with all the rye coming out in Canada I thought I better open it up and give it a chance. I do not know that much about Knob Creek rye, but I have enjoyed some of their other bourbon expressions. The distillery is part of Beam Suntory group and produced at the Jim Beam distillery. I have found various sites claiming to know the mashbill, but I do not have any official knowledge was what the gran mix is here. We do know it is aged a minimum of two years in charred new American oak barrels and has a minimum of 51% rye. Likely this is aged much longer and I would imagine it is in the 6 to 8 year mark. On the nose I find this rye gives a light floral note, some sweetness of corn, and a hint of oak. On the palate it is spicy and the sweet notes continue to move toward caramel and vanilla, not fruit. The fruit I do pick up is muted and hard for me to pin point. The finish is medium l

Today I pour an interesting rye from Alberta Distillers. In Canada this bottle is released under the name “Dark Horse”, but in the US it is labeled “Alberta Rye Whisky Dark Batch”. I have seen this bottle on shelves for a while, but for some reason, I had not picked it up. A friend at work mentioned it might be going away so I picked one up, and have poured a few over the last couple of weeks. Alberta Distillers makes amazing rye. They have released their own older expressions years ago, but also sell an excellent product to companies like Whistle Pig or Masterson’s. This bottle is a mix of their own rye and a few other ingredients. Before I get there, maybe I’ll just give my impressions when pouring, nosing and tasting this whisky. The colour of this liquid is exquisite. I really like the dark amber almost red tone of the bottle. Moving it around in the glass and letting it sit shows off some nice legs on the side and promises a great experience. On the nose I find this sweet and

Happy Friday! This is a quick post to compare two widely available American Bourbons; Buffalo Trace and Bulleit. I thought I would share my thoughts on these two, since I find a wide variety of opinions on the net over them and talking about them might help my readers understand my taste profile a bit better. Buffalo Trace is the name sake of Buffalo Trace Distillery. I believe it has been operating under different names for a very long time, possibly as far back as the end of the 1700s. I really have not researched enough to comment intelligently here, but suffice it to say, they know their stuff. Thet make a large variety of bourbons, including Eagle Rare, George T. Stagg, Van Winkle, Weller, and Blanton’s to name a few. They started releasing Buffalo Trace Bourbon by that name in 1999.  It uses a low rye mash bill. I understand it is their #1 mashbill. Here is a good site to read more if you are interested ( http://bourbonr.com/blog/updated-buffalo-trace-distillery-mash-bills /)

x I was recently in Saskatoon Saskatchewan for my daughter's dance competition. It was a good weekend, but I had a lot of down time between her dances or other activities so I took to walking around town and visiting liquor stores. I finally came across one man who told me about a local distillery south of Saskatoon that was making some excellent pickle Vodka. I'm not a vodka drinker and I am certainly not a flavored vodka drinker, but the story intrigued me and eventually at the Co-Op on the edge of town I was able to find a whisky from the distillery he mentioned; Last Mountain. I had not heard anything about this place, but the bottle looked interesting, it was a bit stronger at 45% abv which I like, and it had various stickers from the Canadian Whisky Awards, which I greatly respect. I picked it up and I am extremely glad I did! This is a great whisky, and for it to come from a family owned micro distillery in Saskatchewan makes it a real treat. Here are a few of

This was a great weekend to love whisky. Corby finally released the antique expressions of their northern border collection. This would include JP Wiser 35 yr, Pike Creek 21 yr, Gooderham & Worts 17 yr, and Lot 40 12 yr cask strength rye. Since each of the regular expressions in this collection are superb, I can only imagine these longer aged versions will be spectacular. In this show I open up the Lot 40 cask strength. Immediately on the nose this Rye bursts with dark fruits and rich sugars. There are hints of oak and a little bit of dill or grass notes playing around too. I am surprised that the alcohol does not come up strongly since this is bottled at 55%, but it must have been smoothed in with age. On the palate this is a full, spicy, peppery Rye. Not too sharp though. Instead the oak or wood notes create an excellent counter point and smooth out the flavour. The mouth feel is rich, but not too oily. In the finish, I am left with a drying sweetness that also leans toward w

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! This is a wonderful time of year. The harvest is coming in and we are gearing up for winter. The smell of baking and fall fruits fill the air. Maybe it's the Canadian in me, but I love the turn of the seasons. This is also a time of year I start to spend a few more evenings at home near a fire. Walks or time outside tends to end earlier in the night and we have a little more time visiting. This is a great time to explore Scotch. Reflecting on my comments from my last review, I thought I would chose two bottles that are reasonably affordable and approachable; Highland Park 12 and Bowmore 12. These are both peated Scotches but are around the 20 - 25 ppm and would be a good introduction to the style. Highland park distillery is on the island of Orkney, just north of the Scotish mainland. I have not had the pleasure of a visit, but I've read it is a beautiful island with few tall trees. This gives it's peat bogs a distinct make up and flavour th

In typical Alberta fashion, the weather flipped and we are now enjoying a warm fall day. This actually works out perfect for my blog and show, since I wanted to review a Bourbon next. In this episode I will pour and sip an industry standard - Maker's Mark. You can always identify Maker's Mark in a bar or a store easily by the shape of the bottle and the characteristic red wax top. I think Maker's was the second Bourbon I ever seriously tried and I have enjoyed coming back to it over time when the weather is nice or I'm looking for the sweet taste of corn spirit and the strong wood notes from new oak and southern aging. If you watch my review, you'll see I do not have a lot of flavours to attach to Maker's Mark. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy this. However, I do not find Maker's terribly complex. The nose is inviting with lots of caramel and candy sugars. The palate is very similar, but smooth for a young Bourbon. This might be a result of Maker's

I woke of this morning and it was cold, really cold for October. There was a dusting of snow on the ground and the wind was blowing through the trees and making the day feel almost like winter. Of course, I immediately though of pouring a wonderful glass of peated Scotch. I tend to like peated Scotches in winter and for my second episode I decided this would be a good direction to talk the show. Laphroaig Quarter Cask is an excellent example of an Islay whisky. Traditionally these distillers heat their malted barley with fires fed by peat to stop the germination. This imparts smoke and peat smell the resulting whisky. The Quarter cask is a young whisky, I would guess between 6 and 8 years. What helps bring out the wood notes and bring it together is they finish the spirit in casks that are about 1/4 the size of regular bourbon barrels. This gives the Scotch a great exposure to the wood. I love this Scotch. It is a bit young, and the smoke is strong up front, but give it a bit of

To get things moving I decided to review a very special Canadian Whisky. J.P. Wiser's One Fifty. They only released 7,827 bottles which corresponds to the number of weeks since confederation. each bottle is numbers and the week it represents is clearly marked on the front. One note I need to add here is that this whisky was aged in new oak. during the YouTube recording I could not remember and I misspoke. It is new oak. This release is a wonderful way to celebrate Canada's 150! I enjoyed this smooth whisky on July 1st and picked up toasted sugars, a bit of vanilla and balanced oak. I generally find Wiser's a bit sweet, but this expression had a longer finish and and fuller mouth feel than a few of their other offerings I have had. Coming back to it now in October, I do notice some spicy notes, but they are well balanced with age or blend, so they are interesting, but not overpowering. If you can still find a bottle I would definitely go out and pick one up. This is an e

Welcome here! Over the past few years I have really begun to enjoy whisky. My journey began with Scotch about ten years ago. I was just starting out as a school principal and the outgoing principal bought me a bottle of Scotch and said, "Here, now that you are an admin, you will need to learn to appreciate Scotch." That simple statement and gift began an exploration of taste and smell that continues today. More recently I have been trying more Canadian Whisky and finding that I enjoy many expressions. There are some excellent, more talented and qualified reviewers out there, like Rob @whisky_in_the_6 or Mark and Jamie @thewhiskytopic to name just a few I have followed for a while. However, I really love to talk about whisky and to share that passion with friends who might drop by. This youtube channel , podcast, and blog will explore that passion for whisky and if you like my reviews or thoughts, please like, share, subscribe, and comment. After all, I'm putting thi