I’ve been writing about whisky now for nearly 10 years, and I’ve been reviewing and following the Canadian whisky scene very closely for a bit more than a decade. In that time, I’ve been able to taste most Canadian whisky on the market - I reviewed and rated over 600 unique Canadian whisky labels (e.g. discounting re-reviews of brands) since 2013. Here are my all-time favourites. 1. Lock, Stock & Barrel 16 Year Old 100% Rye I’ve never had a whisky that so deftly combined fruit, spice, oak, earth and endless complexity so well. This is my favourite whisky of all time - one ..read more

ABV 47% Aging >4 yrs Recipe 51% rye, 35% Corn, 14% Malted Barley Distiller Heaven Hill (Bardstown, Kentucky) This was released a few years ago from Heaven Hill - who already produce the well-known rittenhouse and pikesville ryes. It is a corn-heavy rye mashbill, with only 51% rye - but this has come to the market with much acclaim and represents another high-quality, reasonably priced rye. Review (2022) Batch: N/A Bottling Code: N/A Bottling Date: ~2022 The “first to char oak” on the label gave me a good eye-roll before I jumped in to this. The nose is rich, and full of o ..read more

ABV 54% Aging ~4 years; Virgin Charred Oak Recipe N/A Distiller Willett (Bardstown, Kentucky) Willett is making their own rye whiskey now, after a very successful run with purchasing some very nice rye and bourbon barrels which were previously bottled under their “family estate” brand. Review (2017) Batch: N.A, 54% Bottling Code: N/A Bottling date: N/A The nose is woody – vanilla, beeswax, coconut, and with youthful rye tones that are slightly herbal and quite earthy. The earthy character is quite remarkable – it reminds me of fields of grain in the fall, dried up and a bit ..read more

ABV 50% Aging 10 Yrs; Charred Virgin Oak Recipe 100% Unmalted Rye Distiller Alberta (Calgary, Alberta) This whisky is somewhat notorious for trying to disguise both the source of its origin (Canada), and the fact that they don’t actually distill any of their product (yet). If you go hunting on the label, on the back, in the corner, is a small little statement “imported from Canada”. I should note, however, that not all of Whistlepig is sourced from Alberta - some of their recent rye bottlings are sourced elsewhere in the States. Dave Pickerell, the former master distiller at Maker’s ..read more

ABV 46% Aging See below Recipe 100% Malt Whisky (see below) Distiller Multiple (Scotland) This is a relatively new compass box whisky, an addition to their core lineup that generally offer great value for money (as opposed to the very highly priced limited editions). The conception of the whisky is to blend together a very fruit-forward malt that is fragrant and balanced. It’s nice to see another one - these “core” compass box whiskies are very good. The batches vary slightly, but this batch is a mix of: 30.6% clynelish single malt scotch (to contribute apple, wax, honey), matured ..read more

ABV 45% Aging N/A Recipe Blend of barley, corn, and rye whiskies infused with grapes Distiller Forty Creek (Grimsby, Ontario) This is the 2022 limited edition whisky from Forty Creek. Very little is actually communicated about the blend, other than that it is made with whisky “infused with grapes harvested in the darkest hours of winter from the Niagara region.“ I assume that means icewine grapes macerated in whisky, rather than maturation in an icewine barrel. I suppose this moves them closer to their “Niagara” rebranding recently. Other than that, not a lot is said about how this ..read more

A bottle of bearface beside one of the many shipping containers used to age bearface whisky in various locations. Image courtesy of Bearface Spirits. ABV 42.5% Aging Red wine cask, sherry cask, matsutake mushroom cask Recipe N/A Producer Bearface (British Columbia) Bearface is one of the most interesting brands in Canada to follow – in large part because of their innovative and interesting outlook. It’s impossible to resist trying Bearface if you ever get to hear Andres Faustinelli break down one of his whiskies, component by component, then build it up again and show you how it wor ..read more

ABV 63.61% Aging N/A Recipe Blend of Whiskies from around the world Producer Barrell Whiskey (Lousiville, Kentucky) This is an interesting product - it is a blend of whiskies from around the world - America, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, Poland, and probably elsewhere over time. After every batch, 10% of the blend is held back and added to the next batch - resutling in an ever-evolving blend that retains a portion of all the whiskeys ever added to it. Review (2022) Batch: April 7, 2022 Bottling Code: N/A Bottling Date: 2022 I’d only had the cask strength bourbons from Barrell ..read more

ABV 45% Aging 5 Years; Ex-Four Grain North of 7 cask Recipe 100% Malted Barley Distiller North Of 7 (Ottawa, Ontario) It has been a pleasure of mine to follow this particular cask of single malt now for 3 years. I tasted it when it was just over 3 years of age in 2020, again at 4 years of age in 2021, and now at 5 years of age. This is North of 7’s first barrel of single malt, matured in an ex-four grain barrel (indeed, matured in their first cask of mature whisky, a four-grain cask 1). While still young for a single malt, it has changed in some very dynamic ways over the years – be ..read more

ABV 46% Aging 12 years Recipe 100% Malted Barley Distiller Glengyle (Campbeltown, Scotland) The Glengyle distillery, in Campbeltown, is owned by the Mitchell family who also own the very highly regarded Springbank distilery. It was an old distillery that produced whisky from 1872-1925 and was restarted in 2004. They use the malt from Springbank (floor malted) and only operate 3 months of the year! Thus, pretty limited stock - yet still not very expensive, relatively. Well, anything Springbank-related fixes my interest. Review (2022) Batch: N/A Bottling Code: 12 YR KILCHOMAN 25.0 ..read more