It was the price tag that first caught my eye; $47.70.

I was on the hunt for a bargain table whisky to bring to the a meeting of the club. Stalking the spirit aisles of the LCBO, I noticed an unfamiliar brand: Ezra Brooks 7 year old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, and I remember thinking something like, "Hmmm, a 7 year old bourbon under $50, ok, what else we got...waitaminute, a 7 year old, 50.5% over-proof bourbon under $50 in the LCBO!?"

And then, 

"Who or what is Ezra Brooks?"

The brand dates back to the late 1950's and was the creation of Frank Silverman of the Hoffman Distilling Company in Lawrenceburg. The story goes that he came up with an idea to add a bourbon to the distillery's product line to compete with the ascendant Jack Daniels which was suffering from it's success and was under stocked to meet demand resulting in market shortages and strict allocations. Looking to capitalize on the whiskey boom, Silverman pretty much copied everything about the whiskey right down to the charcoal filtration and honed in on the action. 

Ezra Brooks was made at Hoffman until the late '70s and then was revived in 1993 when the brand was picked up by Luxco. This year, Luxco opened it's Lux Row Distillery in Bardstown and moved production from Heaven Hill to the new location. The change in address is bringing about a change to Old Ezra too as the new product site showcases not only a redesigned label but also an increase in the ABV to a muscular 58.5%. 

The new Old Ezra is due out this month in American markets but who knows when it will appear up here... but in the meantime and, in between time, let's see how the old Old Ezra stands up to its reputation as a sippin' whisky.

Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon is a yearly release by Heaven Hill Distillery, the same producers behind the much-loved Elijah Craig, Parker's Heritage, Bernheim et al.. Single barrel offerings are special because they've not had their "rough edges" or unique characteristics blended out for the sake of consistency and so every batch is a little different. Every year since 1995, the Master Distillers select an assortment of barrels from their vast warehouses in Bardstown, Kentucky to be bottled as part of the annual single barrel edition. Each bottle is then marked with the serial number of the barrel from which it's drawn along with its vintage date.

It's uncommon to see single barrel expressions of anything in the LCBO, so I leapt at the opportunity to score a couple of my own this year. My bottle, from the 2018 release, was from barrel #547 and was put in oak on April 12, 2010 for just shy of 8 years before bottling - unblended - at 43.3% ABV. 

Suntory's single malts are a relatively uncommon sight on LCBO shelves and, as of May 2018, they've become even harder to find. Whether they're a victim of the success of the Japanese whisky category or simply the result of poor forecasting, the Hakushu 12 year old single malt and the 17 year old blend are being pulled from "certain markets" and will have limited availability in others. Moreover, Suntory's CEO Takeshi Ninami said it could take up to a decade for Beam Suntory's Japanese whisky distilleries to meet demand from consumers and retailers. 

I found this bottle on a trip to Buffalo a couple of years back at Premier Wines & Spirits; it's bottled at 43% ABV and is most likely chill-filtered and contains some colouring.

Father's Day is this weekend and if you're running short on options this year for what to get your whisky-loving Dad this year, we've listed the top 5, commonly available, value bottles in the LCBO under $100! 

For Ontario readers, make use of the embedded links to check LCBO stock (look for the hyperlinked price!) before heading out to your local store. Remember, for any locations showing one bottle of something, be sure to phone the store confirm availability. As always, every attempt has been made to ensure that all whiskies listed herein are available in the LCBO at the time of publication. With some of the whiskies listed, the title links to a full write up of the bottle - if we've reviewed it - in case you want a little more detail.  

Crown Royal's Bourbon Mash made a bit of a splash when it was first released a few weeks back owing to the fact that the Canadian whisky giant was perceived to have committed a faux pas by using the word "bourbon" in the product name as a descriptor of the whisky's mash type. American and Canadian whisky bloggers alike leapt into the fray and, within days, parent company Diageo announced a compromise of sorts: in the USA it will be re-branded as "Blender's Mash" and it'll remain Bourbon Mash here in Canada.  

Controversy aside, this first release from Crown Royal's new Blender's Series was selected to showcase one of the  component whiskies that make up the iconic Canadian whisky brand. Don't let it's affable, easy-going style fool you into thinking it's a "simple" whisky; making Crown Royal is a surprisingly complex bit of blending!  The company's team of Master Blenders select from 50 or so whiskies of differing ages, barrel conditioning, and grain types, to create each batch of Crown Royal. 

These whiskies are divided into two main "streams": base whiskies and flavouring whiskies. The base stream is derived entirely from all-corn spirits made either by continuous distillation or by batch process in a column still after a longer fermentation time and are aged for various time periods in a variety of barrels thereby creating a range of options from which the blenders can draw.

The flavouring stream contains a high rye whisky (the same found in Northern Harvest Rye) and two other whiskies made using a mash bill style typically employed by American producers whereby different grain types are combined, mashed, fermented, and distilled together. Like the base stream, the flavouring whiskies are also aged in varying barrel types for different durations.

As you've probably guessed by now, the Bourbon Mash is sourced from one of the flavouring whisky streams. Made from a mash bill of 64% corn, 31.5% rye and 4.5% malted barley, it's distilled by way of a short column still then aged in a combination of new charred American oak and ex-bourbon barrels for at least 3 years. The whisky was then blended with a number of other vintages from this stream and bottled at 40% ABV.

So, while it may not be a bourbon per se, it's certainly made in that style.

Aultmore distillery has switched hands many times since originally opening in 1895. However despite its long history, Aultmore only produced its first single malt bottling in 2004. Located in the Speyside region, the distillery sources its water from the peat-imbued springs of the Foggie Moss.  The Aultmore 12 year old has been available at the LCBO for a few years, but this 18 year old expression is just now available at $199.95. Part of Dewar's "Last Great Malts" range, it was first launched in 2015.

Nose: Brilliant pale gold; a complex nose, with caramel, fruity, buttery notes contributed by lengthy barrel ageing. Cereal, fruit salad, vanilla, citrus, peach. Very inviting. Adding water brings notes of fresh cut grass clippings. 

Recently awarded "Best Canadian Rye" at the 2017 World Whiskies Awards and a Silver medal at the 2017 Canadian Whisky Awards, J.P. Wiser's Triple Barrel Rye is the creation of Master Blender Dr. Don Livermore. Responding to the demand for more "rye-forward" expressions of Canadian whisky, Dr. Livermore formulated a blend of 5 whiskies aged in 3 different barrel types for maximum flavour and smoothness.

Using a combination of virgin American White Oak to bring out vanilla and caramel flavours, first-fill Bourbon casks to emphasize dried fruit notes and Canadian whisky barrels to further express the grain characteristics, Triple Barrel Rye is the first of its kind in the Canadian whisky landscape.

Nose: Intense aromas of rosewater, green apples, rye spice and dusty grain.

Jameson's Caskmates owes its origins to a chance meeting between the master brewer of the Franciscan Well craft brewery and the master distiller of Jameson's at a pub in Cork, Ireland. The brewer was looking for some casks to condition his latest stout and thought some ex-Jameson barrels would be interesting to test as a finish. By all accounts, the resulting stout was delicious and it led the distiller from Jameson's to ponder, "What might happen if we finished some of our whiskey in these stout casks?" 

Using the standard, triple distilled, Jameson's blended Irish whiskey, the newly "stouted" whiskey casks from the Franciscan Well were filled and left to finish for nearly 4 months. The result, as they say, was a whiskey "greater than the sum of its casks." The colour looked the same but a subtle stout influence appeared in the whiskey's flavour profile with new aromas of coffee, chocolate and butterscotch. 

From that experiment the idea for Caskmates took off and the folks at Jameson's recognized that they had a fantastic opportunity ahead of them. Not only could they innovate on their product line with a new beer cask finish but they would also reach out to select brewers around the globe to build new partnerships under the framework of the Caskmates program. Jameson's would provide their ex-whisky casks to brewers, who would in turn use them to condition their ales for a few months and then the brewers would ship the casks back to Jameson's to be used to when finishing the next version of Caskmates. 

Within months, Jameson's established a series of partnerships with craft brewers that would see the Irish whiskey giant loan out barrels on an unprecedented scale. For Jameson's, the appeal was two-fold: the possibility of developing more prosperous relationships in existing mature markets and the opportunity to experiment with dozens of styles of beer soaked barrels for future, limited runs of Caskmates unique to the brewer's country or region of origin. A partnership with a brewer in Kenya, for instance, would yield a beer conditioned in Jameson's casks for the local market and, later, a special version of Jameson Caskmates finished in those Kenyan ale-filled would be made available exclusively for Kenya. 

So when Jameson's reached out to Steve Beauchesne, co-founder and CEO of Beau's All Natural Brewing Company, about participating in the Caskmates program he was understandably, "over the moon!" The chance to partner with a leader in the spirits business on a cask exchange program is the stuff of fantasy for most Canadian brewers; after all, Ireland is a long ways off and "what are the odds they'd look here for a partner?" mused Steve at a meeting in downtown Toronto earlier this year, "but I think they took notice of our use of organic ingredients and our experimental, collaborative approach to brewing and I think that spoke to them." 

To most Canadians, the eastern Ontario brewery is probably best known for their flagship "Lug Tread" lagered ale but the award-winning, innovative, craft brewery has a varied product line with upwards of 50 different beers made each year. But before fully committing the sole Canadian brewery to the partnership, Mr. Beauchesne and team "traveled to Cork and met with Jameson's fifth generation cooper Ger Buckley to learn more about their process." 

Nose:  Sharp; redolent of wood shavings and damp cardstock with a whiff of vanilla buttercream icing. A little time in the glass reveals a delicate fruitiness.

For those of you unfamiliar with the style, it's similar to single malt with a key distinction: the mash must be made from a mixture of malted and un-malted barley distilled in a pot still and, interestingly, the mash may also contain up to 5% of other cereal grains.Traditionally, the whiskey is distilled three times but there is no legal requirement to do so. Like the Scottish single malt definition, there is a geographic requirement that the whiskey must be aged for a minimum of 3 years in a wooden cask, in Ireland, and the resulting bottling must contain only distillate from the same distillery. The story goes that Irish whiskey makers began the practice of mixing malted and un-malted grains in the early 1800s as a reaction against the "English Malt Tax" which imposed a levy on producers based on the amount of malted barley they used. Not only did Irish whisky become cheaper to make but the addition of un-malted barley added some key differences to the flavour profile of the whiskey; namely a creamy texture and a characteristic spiciness.

Redbreast is made using a mixed mash bill of locally sourced malted and un-malted barley that's triple distilled and matured in ex-Sherry casks before being bottled at 40% ABV. 

Monkey Shoulder is a blended malt whisky produced by William Grant & Sons and contains a mixture of single malts from the brand's Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie distilleries. Matured in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks, the whiskies were then vatted for around 6 months before being bottled at 43% ABV.

Created by the now-retired legendary Master Blender, David Stewart, in 2005, Monkey Shoulder was conceived as a blended malt whisky made for mixing. In fact, the brand is the title sponsor of the annual "Ultimate Bartender" competition which tests participant bartenders on 7 crucial skills needed to earn the top spot. 

With no less than twelve cocktail recipes featuring Monkey Shoulder listed on their site, it's evident that the spirit plays nicely in a mixed drink - but how would it hold up on its own, neat?

On or around, January 25th, Scots, and lovers of all things Scottish, gather to celebrate the life and works of 18th century poet Robert Burns. Burns Night, as its called, is a feast in honour of Scotland's national bard that typically feature selected readings, dancing, haggis, and of course, whisky. 

I've had the chance to attend a few Burns' Nights over the years and no two are alike. Ranging from a salon of erudite aesthetes quoting Burns and his contemporaries to something closer to a raucous ceilidh; everyone has their own take on the tradition. The one thing that is constant for me across all these Burns' Nights however, is the dull roar of a headache that generally follows the next day. 

Thankfully, I've discovered a remarkable restorative to dispatch the fog: the Ardbeg Caesar. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the Caesar, it's a distinctly Canadian phenomenon that resembles a Bloody Mary but with clam-flavoured tomato juice as the base. 

Sounds odd, yet it works so well in this drink; especially since you'll be using a pungent spirit like Ardbeg 10. The briny elements in both liquids act as a sort of flavour bridge which makes the smoke and peat turn slightly tangy against the backdrop of tomato juice with seasonings. Unctuous, smooth, and lightly smoky, the Ardbeg Caesar is an unexpectedly delicious twist on the recipe. 

How do you make one? Simple. Replace the vodka in a standard Caesar with an equal measure of Ardbeg 10. 

But, if you really want to go for broke and enjoy the ultimate Ardbeg Caesar, swap out the standard celery stalk for a crispy and, well patted-dry, piece of bacon. 

I mean, what is the point of being "health conscious" when you're preparing a single malt Caesar at anytime before noon, right?

Strolling through the LCBO earlier this year I was intrigued to see Johnnie Walker Green Label back on the shelves. After vanishing a few years back it was rumoured that parent company Diageo was discontinuing the expression in favour of replacing it with a non-age-stated (NAS) blend variant. Given the trend for the "majors" in the industry toward NAS bottings it wasn't totally out of the realm of possibility that Green Label would come back as a shadow of it's former self. 

Yet, the rumour never came true. The age statement was kept and so was the formulation of the blend. The blended malt comprised of aged spirit from Diageo's Talisker, Cragganmore, Caol Ila and Linkwood distilleries. Containing whisky from nearly all of Scotland's whisky regions, Green Label is one of only two of Johnnie Walker blends to bear an age statement in the core range and is bottled at 43% ABV.