Happy holidays! One of 12-15 traditional drinking seasons. For some reason the cold makes us more agreeable to sticky, rich and cloying sweets, treats and meats. Might be an evolutionary thing we inherited from our bear ancestors. #BearsNotMonkeys Sortilege is Quebec maple syrup and Canadian rye & corn whisky blended together to become pretty much […]
Sometimes I forget things. Things like, where did this whisky come from, and, who are M and St in the tasting notes. According to the website, Caldera Hurricane 5 Canadian whisky is grown, distilled and aged in Nova Scotia! And according to the LCBO website, this whisky is not available in the LCBO. Same with […]
Interesting story on this one. Crown Royal released the bottle as Bourbon Mash (seen here because we got the hookup), a Canadian whisky made in Canada using a typical Bourbon mashbill. And since a Scottish Rye would still be Scottish, it got approved etc and sent out to market. However, because of the prominent Bourbon […]
Just a quick review – finally getting around to the beers from Iqaluit. Nunavut Brewing Company Frob Gold Strong Golden Ale – this one is pretty okay, if you think about all the extra effort that has to go into getting the stuff to make it. If you don’t, it’s still pretty okay. The website […]
Video BattleScotch! nose Simon – Barnburner Steve – Barnburner Chris – Barnburner neat Simon – Barnburner Steve – Barnburner Chris – Bearface 7y finish Simon – Barnburner Steve – Barnburner Chris – Bearface 7y splash Simon – Barnburner Steve – Barnburner Chris – Barnburner overall Simon – Barnburner Steve – Barnburner Bengt […]
Video Review! Bearface is a somehow new 7y Canadian whiskey. I’m being facetious – you can do that by buying other people’s at least 7y whisky. It looks like this company buys, blends and barrels, but I can’t tell exactly how much they do from their very internet website. Said very internet website has […]
Video Review! Barnburner Ontario Whisky from Maverick Distillery. This was a sleeper – probably one of the best tasting budget Canadian whiskies I’ve had, and I’m super judgey of Canadian whiskies. Here’s more of what we thought: Nose Stephan – smells strong, nose tickler, smell the alcohol, not very subtle, coughing from smelling it, a […]
A recent very excellent birth day present, two tickets to Whiskey Ottawa, thanks Hillary! A massive event with a good 3-400 people and looooots of different whiskeys and whiskies. So much scotch, such tiny glasses. For the sake of it not taking half a year to publish, and because the notes are short and get […]
Steve is a tricky palate. He likes things other people don’t, and doesn’t like much of what we’d consider “the good stuff”, except for the odd time he really likes the really good stuff. This is one of those times. Unibroue is one of Quebec’s more interesting large brewers – they have the curiosity to […]
Dominion City Brewing in Ottawa does a lot of interesting stuff, but Davey and I couldn’t agree on whether this was one of them. As stouts go, it’s great for people who don’t like stouts. Whether it’s for you is yours to discover, here’s what we thought: nose Davey – 70% dark chocolate, acai Simon […]
This one is going to be a very short review. We had this beer with Christmas dinner (not quite 6 months ago), so we weren’t able to take traditional notes. I was hoping for something that might cut the savoury with enough structure and flavours of its own to compete. The Collective Arts Bourbon Barrel […]
It’s been an interesting spring, and May 2-4 weekend found yours truly ping-ponging around The Drive-Thru Province, traditional home of the Irving family, land of seafood, craft beer and more seafood, New Brunswick. My local fixer Hillary, political ninja and tour guide to the stars, planned several days of family and friends, seeing sights like […]
We don’t usually do wine here on iScotch but my buddy Davey started working at the Wine… Shop? Store? Wine Bunker..? Nono, the Wine-o-Rama, in the Sobey’s on Metcalfe. He gave me some great recommendations for wines for gifts/supplies over the holidays. Black Cellar Whisky Oak Aged Shiraz-Cabarnet Blend #5 comes highly recommended. Davey says […]
The Continuing Weird Beer Adventures Of Innis & Gunn – Don’s Choice Black IPA with Coconut & Rhubarb. The definition of too many things – a barrel-aged black IPA with coconut & rhubarb which is the result of a “landslide” winning contest suggestion from a Canadian, the aforementioned Don. I think I know a hundred […]
Another holiday bottle where you pay more for extra packaging! It’s okay – I’m using it as a riser for my scotch display back row now. Sleeman Sparkling Ale was released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the brewery. That’s all the website has to say, aside form calling it “brilliantly filtered” and I don’t […]
This one appears to have slipped through the cracks – Yip Cider from Long Reach, New Brunswick. I know I know – it’s the middle of winter, this is from last summer’s tour of Eastern Canada and Western Ontario, this is a cider review? Off brand! Yeah fair enough. Barging forward anyway. It was a […]
Aviation Gin, The American Gin Owned By A Canadian. So says the video spot starring & voiced by the professionally handsome recent gin brand purchaser, Ryan Reynolds: It works because really, all any of us want is to be purchased by a celebrity. Especially a Canadian celebrity who would send us on very polite maple […]
When a lovely birthday present isn’t a lovely whisky – Thanks Steph! Caribou Crossing Single Barrel whisky – a birthday gift that has turned into a bit of a public service announcement. We’ve talked before about the Box Tax, well, this whisky makes you pay all the taxes. The Box Tax. The Swank Velvet Bag […]
Spicebox spiced whisky – “real prohibition rye whisky” marked “spices” to help smuggling. There’s a great story on their website that seems to have zero relationship with this product other than them calling it “real prohibition rye whisky”. Maybe this booze is specifically banned somewhere, otherwise I don’t understand how that works. Since spicing for […]
I could’ve sworn we’d had a Pike Creek before, but a quick search for “creek” only pings Forty, Knob and Corner. So add another creek to the… uh.. pile? of creeks? Not creaks, creeks. This particular creek is where Pike Creek ages their whisky, in this case in Rum Casks. Altho the website only mentions […]
Aww yeah ten and a half months later finally get to my Christmas present from Dan – Twelve Barrels Canadian Whisky. The story of this bottle is a little amazing. A high school bootlegger making prison wine under his bed in his parent’s home, pitches the story to distilleries all over the world, lands a […]
Odd Society Wallflower Oaken Gin. 100% British Columbian grown gin, aged in oak barrels. A pretty interesting idea. One issue we see a lot with craft gins is the mash/swamp factor. That same sort of distillate distaste you get with tequila, moonshine and young whisky, and what is likely one of the reasons we age […]
This one’s going to be a little messy. Steph, Dan & I reviewed the Founder’s Original – Dan discovered he does not like Old Fashioneds and bowed out of the Barchef review – fair dinkum. Steph suggested we have some people by – these things are made for parties. So we invited some interesting Ottawa […]
We’re in the middle of tornado recovery here in Ottawa, so this week’s review is limited by data plans and battery life. Which is fine because there isn’t too much to say about this product. I had thought that Maple3 Maple Water was basically maple syrup leftovers. When you make maple syrup you boil off the […]
