This past Saturday, January 24, 2015 I attended a Robbie Burns Day celebration hosted by Johnnie Walker at Toronto's majestic modern-day castle, Casa Loma. Upon arrival, guests were treated to 2 varieties of Johnnie Red-based cocktails with an inspired collection of hors d'oeuvres. Just before dinner, a pipe band struck up a tune and lead the procession of guests to the dining room where we were entertained by a troupe of Highland Dancers. 

As Emcee for the evening, the knowledgeable Mortlach Brand Ambassador Georgie Bell introduced each course and provided some tasting notes on the whisky pairing. Before long, the haggis was piped in followed by a toast to the "bard" and more dancing. We finished off the evening with a decadent chocolate course paired with my personal favourite of the Johnnie range, Gold label. 

I had a great time revisiting the Johnnie line, mingling with guests and, as you can surely tell from the pictures, the food was delicious. Thanks to Amy at North Strategic for the invitation.

 

During a three month period early last year, I'd been stopping by my local Liquor Control Board of Ontario store weekly, waiting patiently for new whisky releases. Each time I surveyed the shelves I was let down, finding that not only were there no new products to be found, but also that the shelves under the large words "single malt" were slowly becoming bare.

These sad few months inspired me to embark on a quest to understand why we in Ontario have the dubious honour of both paying some of the highest alcohol prices in the world as well as being unworthy of having year-round accessibility to unique and interesting whisky products. Let me start by saying that the results of my investigation have left me fuming over the disadvantaged position Ontarians are in.

While the LCBO is proud to show off the upsides of having a crown corporation provide booze to the citizens of Ontario, there can be no argument that consumers are losing out; both regarding the money from their pockets, and the products on the shelf. Full LCBO privatization is not something that any government has been receptive to. As such, the solutions presented within this article are focused on working with the current system to build and improve upon it.

To illustrate this, let's compare LCBO operations to those of privatized specialty alcohol retailers in other markets. I recently had the fortune of interviewing Andrew Ferguson, Co-Store Manager and Whisky Expert at Kensington Wine Market (KWM) in Calgary. As a private retailer, he has much less clout in the industry than a behemoth like the LCBO would, yet KWM outshines even the best LCBO store in numerous ways.

Before we get going, please allow me to offer some advice on what not to buy: whisky stones. Every year whisky drinkers the world over are gifted these cubes of soapstone meant to provide cooling effects to glasses of whisky without diluting them. While the intent of the product is admirable, their usefulness is highly suspect as we have written about before; and to top it all off, if your intended recipient has been drinking whisky for more than a year or two, the odds are quite high that they already have several sets from previous well wishers. Please don't buy your loved ones whisky stones this year. I'm sick of... I mean they probably already have a set or three.

Alright, let's get to what should be bought, shall we? 

The Crown Royal Monarch 75th Anniversary Limited Edition Canadian Whisky was created to celebrate the brand's history and its relationship to British royalty. Seventy-five years ago, in 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth journeyed across North America and were gifted a bottle of Crown Royal to enjoy as they toured the continent by train.

Seeking to commemorate the occasion, Crown Royal Master Blender Joanna Scandella was asked to hand-select whiskies from the brand's extensive stock including a special whisky from the historic Coffey rye still, residing in the company's distillery in Gimli, Manitoba to make this one-time-only blended Canadian whisky. Our bottle, generously provided by North Strategic for Diageo Canada, is encased in a gold and silver coloured carton with a magnetic enclosure. The bottle itself, which is taller and broader than the standard offering and topped with a large plastic gold crown cap, is contained within a soft silver bag embroidered with gold accents and is a variation on the iconic purple bag long associated with the brand. Along with the deluxe packaging is a certificate of registration indicating the batch lot and bottle number which, in our case, reads 0008 and B47R4 respectively. 

Compass Box Whisky Company is no stranger to controversy within the sometimes staid world of Scotch whisky. Whiskymaker John Glaser has been not only challenging popular attitudes toward blended whisky but his innovative approaches to maturation has also ruffled some feathers. In 2005, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) threatened legal action to halt the production of Compass Box's wildly successful "Spice Tree" blend. The whisky had undergone a secondary partial maturation stage in casks containing additional, flat French oak inserts (also known as 'inner staves') which violated the SWAs interpretation of the laws regarding traditional practice in the production of spirits in European Union countries. In response, Compass Box altered the production process for subsequent releases of "Spice Tree" wherein the secondary maturation stage takes place in casks containing toasted French oak heads instead of using the new inner staves.

But opportunity can appear at the strangest times, even in the depths of defeat. With the green light from the SWA on the use of new French oak heads, the conditions were set for the development of the Oak Cross blend. Made up of Highland single malts from Alness, Brora and Carron, the blend is subject to two maturation processes. The first occurs in a mix of first-fill and re-fill American oak ex-bourbon casks before a portion is selected for additional maturation in the Oak Cross marrying casks that contain new French oak heads on American casks. Adding new heads to a cask doesn't sound like a big deal, this type of maturation happens all the time in the wine industry, but for whisky - especially blended whisky - this remains an oddity. To date, Compass Box remains the only company to release a blended Scotch whisky matured in this fashion.

Bottled at 43% ABV, free from colouring additives and non chillfiltered, Oak Cross is billed as a food-friendly whisky capable of performing double duty as an aperitif with a splash of chilled water in the winter and "full enough" to act as a digestif in summer months. 

This is what I pondered hustling downtown on a typical Toronto November night. Frankly, I was a touch surprised, albeit pleasantly so, to be invited back to another event for The Macallan after what many have called a rather scathing indictment of The 1824 Series. While I stand resolutely by those statements, I must confess that the concept of the evening makes sense, and is something that I genuinely feel should become more common in our local and national experiences.

Rather than stepping into a bar, cellar, or restaurant surrounded by the typical trappings of whisky tastings such as old wood, leather seats, and dim lighting, Ryan and I stepped into Harry Rosen's store in First Canadian Place in the heart of Toronto's financial district. Known for being Canada's carrier of top-end men's attire, this co-branding exercise was designed to launch The Macallan Lounge experience.

The core concept: enjoy a fine dram while shopping for fine clothing, thus simultaneously achieving sartorial and sensory advancement. Aside from the obvious gender-specific intent of the marketing, I must say that the idea of imbibing while shopping is one that appeals to me on a personal level, as well as making great business sense. After all, what better way to add value to the act of shopping while also loosening a man's financial restraint mechanisms to aid in the sale of a Canali suit?  

For those of you looking to enjoy The Macallan Lounge and its "Scotch and Shop" experience, it runs daily at the First Canadian Place location until November 21, 2014 each weekday from 3pm to 6:30pm. For those looking to find out what it's like to indulge the pinnacle of the 1824 Series, read on.

In 1987, legendary Jim Beam (now Beam Suntory) Master Distiller Booker Noe introduced his own signature bourbon to the Small Batch Collection. His Kentucky Straight Bourbon was one of the first widely available straight-from-the barrel, uncut, unfiltered and unadulterated bourbons to hit the shelves. Unlike many other cask strength bourbons, Booker's bourbon is subject to slight batch variation and can therefore appear between 59% and 67% ABV and may be aged between 6-8 years. It is this commitment to "authenticity" of product in an era of flavoured whiskies and bland, watered-down, non-age-stated whiskies that has kept connoisseurs and enthusiasts alike enamoured with now deceased Master Distiller's namesake bourbon for over twenty years. 

We've loved every bottle of Booker's that's ended up in our collective glasses and so a review of this whisky is long overdue. The bottle in this review is from Batch No. C06-K-8, was aged 6 years and was bottled at 65.2% ABV. 

For those that have yet to get swept up in the peat and PR tornado, Supernova was originally released in 2009 with an eye to being the most heavily peated whisky of all time; a title quickly usurped by Bruichladdich's Octomore series. It all seemed to be an experiment in chest puffing pavonine posturing, except that the whisky was quite good from any point of view. This naturally led to its own sub-cult following, which promulgated enough allegiance to warrant a second release the following year. 

However, from then on the cries for more fell on deaf ears, until now.

On Saturday, October 18, 2014 I attended Whisky Live Toronto at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. The all-inclusive event featured dozens of booths pouring several whiskies each, a delicious buffet, live entertainment and masterclass sessions available for purchase. The well-attended event seemed mostly geared to those who are new to the world of whisky but there were a few gems available on-site for long-time whisky enthusiasts.

Compass Box Whisky Company's founder and chief whiskymaker John Glaser is on a mission to change whisky enthusiasts' perception of blended scotch whiskies. The American ex-pat, based in London, has been making "small batch, artisinal," blended whisky since 2000 and has evolved a core product range of 5 different blends. 

Asyla is the lightest tasting offering in the range and is a 50/50 blend of malt and grain whiskies married up to 24 months in first-fill American oak casks reportedly from bourbon-maker Buffalo Trace. The natural coloured and non-chillfiltered blend is made up of 40% malt whisky from Diageo's Teaninich distillery,10% from Glen Elgin with the remainder of the recipe coming from the Fife mega-distillery, Cameronbridge.

Marketed as "the ideal Sunday afternoon-in-the-garden whisky," the aperitif styled Asyla is bottled at 40% ABV and is Mr. Glaser's proverbial "desert island dram." Playing on the plural for "asylum," the whiskymaker presents Asyla to the drinker with series questions to ponder while enjoying his dram: "Is whisky an asylum? A refuge from the vagaries of the day? A sanctuary? Can it transport us from one to the other?" 

The act of enjoying whisky as a gateway to relaxation and contemplation is a familiar trope among enthusiasts and the marketing departments of distilleries alike; yet I think Mr. Glaser, by way of his label, is providing us with some instruction on how to approach Asyla. A mindset hewing to a sort of reflection or "engaged" relaxation rather than a passive drinking experience is necessary to contemplate Asyla. There's no doubt that whisky can offer refuge, or mental escape but the shuttle to sanctuary and tranquility is not one fueled by alcohol alone. 

Since 1849 W.L. Weller's "original" wheated bourbon has been prized by critics and conoisseurs alike. Now produced by Buffalo Trace Distillery, the new owners have remained faithful to the Weller recipe and the classic slogan, "Honest Whiskey at an Honest Price." Highly-awarded, the 12 year old expression has often been thought-of as "poor man's Pappy" among bourbon enthusiasts as it offers a similar hit of quality wheater at a significant savings thanks to the similar mash bill both product lines share. Bottled at 45% A.B.V., it's back on LCBO shelves for a limited time. 

Perusing the shelves at the LCBO my eye was caught by a new bottle tucked in among the wall of blended Scotch whiskies bearing the name "Royal Challenge." My curiosity piqued, I read the label, "Royal Challenge Finest Premium Whisky. A blend of rare Scotch, select grain and matured Indian malts." Turning the bottle over confirmed that it was actually made in India and that the 42.8% ABV spirit contained "permitted natural colour." Intrigued, I purchased the bottle to share with the club. After all, "what's life without a Royal Challenge!" 

Visiting the website on the label of the importer, AA Impex Ltd, affixed to the side of the bottle; I would later learn that Royal Challenge is a very popular blended whisky enjoyed primarily in India and in a few ex-pat communities around the globe. In fact, as soon as I opened the bottle and saw the speed pour cap, I got the picture: this is India's go-to bar rail whisky.

Produced by United Spirits Ltd. RC (as it's colloquially known) lead the Indian "premium whisky" segment, by volume of sales, throughout India, during the 1980s and 90s; it's domestic popularity rivaled by a Seagram's / Pernod Ricard whisky, "Blender's Pride." There's no question that RC continues to maintain a large market share in India and part of it's fame is due in no small part to the brand's relationship as a title sponsor of the Royal Challengers cricket team.

Indian whisky, while loved by the domestic populace, has drawn criticism from the global whisky connoisseur community as the blended product is commonly based on neutral spirits that are distilled from fermented molasses with only a small portion (around 12% of this blend is estimated to be malt) consisting of traditional malt whiskey. The criticism being, that anywhere outside of India, their "whisky" would be considered rum with malt flavouring.

Already feeling a little suspicious about the quality of the blend from the speed pour cap I decided to investigate what does "permitted natural colour" mean? A few minutes of searching led me to a product description of RC for the domestic market asserting that "varying proportions of selected Indian Malt Spirit, Clean Extra Neutral Alcohol, Plain Caramel, FDA and State Exercise approved flavours and essences are blended under close supervision and strict quality control so as to get overall roundness and typical organoleptic characteristics to the blend." I had no luck finding out what those "approved flavours and essences" might include but I figured it must be safe to drink, right?

Although the term "pure malt" was discarded from the Scotch whisky lexicon in 2009 by the SWA in favour of the term "blended malt whisky," the meaning is the same: a blend of single malts from more than one distillery.  The age statement refers not to the age of the blend, rather it tells you the age of the youngest whisky in the blend; in this case, 12 years. The Taketsuru Pure Malt 12 year old is a blend of single malt whiskies from Nikka's Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries. 

Named after the company's founder and Master Distiller, Masataka Taketsuru, the 12 year old Taketsuru bottling is a perfect introduction to Nikka's two malt whisky distilleries in a single bottle. Yoichi, with its coal-fired pot stills, produces spirit known for its rich, smokey and peaty flavours. Miyagikyo, with its taller stills, by contrast produces spirit that's lighter, fruitier, and softer than Yoichi. Blended to showcase the features of both spirits and bottled at 40% ABV, this highly awarded pure malt is guaranteed to please both newcomers to Japanese single malt whisky and conoisseurs alike. 

Acquired as part of a sample trade, I have decided to offer my thoughts on this whisky so that others may not suffer the fate of labouring through it the way I have. Altogether disappointing, the most interesting thing about this whisky is that it does so in such a surprising number of ways.