Review: Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky

The Glenfarclas Distillery is located on the Recherlich Farm at Ballindalloch in the heart of Speyside. The Distillery was purchased by the Grant Family in 1865 for a total sum of £511.19sd. It has remained in the control of the Grant Family for six generations up to the present day. In fact, Glenfarclas is one of only a few distilleries remaining in Scotland which is independently family owned and managed.

All of the Glenfarclas whisky is matured in two styles of oak barrels, plain oak barrels which have previously contained Bourbon or Scotch whisky, and Spanish oak which has previously contained Oloroso or Fino Sherry from Seville. The whisky is stored in traditional ‘dunnage’ warehouses that date from the late 1800s. These warehouses have thick stone walls and earthen floors. The Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength has no age statement on the bottle. However, I note that on the Glenfarclas website it is mentioned that all of their whisky is aged at least eight years. Glenfarclas blends this whisky from mature barrels to be a consistent 60 % alcohol by volume with no added water.

I was provided with a 375 ml sample of the Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength by Pacific Wine & Spirits Inc. who is the importer/distributor of Glenfarclas Highland Single Malt Whisky in Alberta. Here is an excerpt from my review:

“… The initial aroma from the glass is cloaked by an alcohol push which results from the 60 % bottling strength, However if you let the glass breathe, and allow the initial astringency to evaporate, the scents and smells left in the breezes are rich and assertive. I smell caramelized toffee, dark fruity sherry, and some hints of organic peat… “

Here is a link to my full review:

Please enjoy the review of this ‘Cask Strength’ Whisky!

Review: Highwood Premium Vodka

Highwood Vodka is a triple distilled wheat Vodka produced at the Highwood Distillery in High River, Alberta, situated near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains just 30 minutes south of Calgary. This vodka follows the recent trend of low-priced premium vodkas which take up the lion’s share of the market here in Alberta, Canada.

I used my Vodka Review Methodology, putting this spirit through the same paces as I have done for the higher priced spirits which I have reviewed. It turns out that the Highwood Vodka stands up to its higher priced competitors quite well.

Here is an excerpt from the resulting review:

“… There was very little aroma apparent as we raised our shot-glasses to our noses, light wispy bits of starch and grain perhaps, and maybe a touch a citrus zest in the air. As the vodka covered my tongue, my first impression was that this is a rather soft vodka which carries a nice bit of rye-like spice forward. I also seemed to be able taste just a hint of that lime citrus which I had noticed in the aroma…”

Here is a link to the full review:

I have included a a nice cocktail with this review, The Kamikaze.

Please enjoy the review and the accompanying cocktail!

Review: Citadelle Reserve Gin (2011 Edition)

Citadelle Gin has a history which stretches by to 1775 when King Loius XVI authorized two Frenchmen, Carpeau and Stival, to open a genievre distillery at the Citadelle in Dunkirk, which would serve as the Royal Distillery with an exclusive 20 year privilege. The Citadelle Distillery produced about 1000 litres of genievre per day which was predominantly shipped in small casks for sale in England, where gin was very popular.

About 200 years later in 1989,  Alexandre Gabriel of Cognac Ferrand, recognized that in France, gin had become more of an industrial spirit with much of the heritage and refinement lessened by time. He decided to create a handcrafted gin using small copper pots in the style and tradition of the Citadelle Distillery of old.

The Citadelle Reserve Gin (the most premium version of Citadelle Gin) is matured in oak casks for several months to add an extra dimension of flavour. I was given a sample bottle of Citadelle Reserve by Cognac Ferrand, for the purpose of a review here on my website.

Here is an excerpt:

“… Once poured into the glass, I am quite happy that I have opened this particular gin for a review. The aroma which drifts upwards is light and elegant, and very appealing. Mild piny notes of juniper seem to lead into the breezes with scents of lemon and balsam arriving almost as quickly. The oak manifests itself as sandalwood with light rye spices which build up as the glass sits… “

You may read the full review here:

Please enjoy the review and the cocktail suggestion which follows!

The 2011 Canadian Whisky Awards

Last year, Davin de Kergommeaux (Canadian Whisky) hit upon an idea which I thought was long overdue, the first ever fully independent Canadian Whisky Awards! These awards highlighted not only the best tasting whiskies made in Canada, but they also awarded special achievements by Canadian Whisky Distillers in areas of innovation, brand extension, and media/advertising. I supported Davin in his efforts to raise the public profile of Canadian Whisky, because like Davin, I believe Canadian whisky deserves to be recognized as a World-Class spirit.

The profile of the Canadian Whisky Awards has grown considerably over the past year. So this past fall when I was asked to participate with Davin and five other North American judges to evaluate the state of Canadian Whisky in 2011, I jumped at the chance to be involved. So it was that with Davin De Kergommeaux acting as Chairman of the Judges (and Lead Organizer), and with six more of us helping out as best we could, we set ourselves to the task of evaluating and judging Canadian Whisky for the year ending in 2011. Blind samples were sent out across Canada and into the United States for judging. We all sipped and sampled and marked down our scores. The scores were checked closely and then tallied, and of course the winners were selected.

The results were unveiled yesterday (January 19, 2012) at the Victoria Whisky Festival in Victoria, British Columbia. Here are those results:

Results for the 2011 Canadian Whisky Awards

Review: Glayva (Scotch Whisky Liqueur)

Glayva (a Scotch Whisky Liqueur) was created by Edinburgh whisky merchant Ronald Morrison in 1947, and (according to the Glayva website) the recipe has remained unchanged since the day it was first crafted. It is a blend of aged Scotch malt whiskies and a carefully selected range of spices which include Mediterranean tangerines, cinnamon, almonds and honey.

The folks at Authentic Wine and Spirits,  recently provided with two 350 ml sample bottles of Glayva to share with my Rum Chums during our tasting events tasting this past fall. I decided that a review on my website would be quite fun as well. Here is an excerpt from the review:

“…The aroma from the glass is honeyed. With the candied sweetness I also sense strong herbal scents and a firm citrus flair. I sense a little cinnamon in the breezes as well as a bit of mandarin orange. ..”

You may read the full review here:

I have included a recipe which I found quite delicious! please enjoy the review!

Review: Plantation Trinidad 2000 (Old Reserve) Rum

The Plantation Trinidad Rum Old Reserve Rum is another unique rum from Cognac Ferrand’s  Plantation line-up. It is a well aged rum of Trinidadian origin which has been produced using the column still and a short fermentation period. The rum has been aged a minimum of nine years in used bourbon casks, and after this initial maturation, the rum was transported from Trinidad to France where it was finished for a short time in used Cognac casks to enhance the flavour.

Last May I was given eight sample bottles, each 200 ml in size, which represent a good portion of the Plantation Rum line-up. The Plantation Trinidad is the sixth of these sample bottles which I have chosen to review here on my blog.

Here is an excerpt from that review:

“…That herbaceous impression I received above the glass while nosing the rum has intensified as I taste it. This sensation softens the rum taking the edge off of the orange peel and oak spices. It also seems to dampen the sweetness a little. The result is a different sort of rum which carries flavours of orange peel, butterscotch, vanilla, marzipan, toasted coconut and oak spice…”

You may read the full review here:

Although my sample was fairly small, I did try one cocktail which I enjoyed immensely, The Sloe Lime Daiquiri which I included in they review.

Please enjoy the review and the cocktail!

Comparative Review: Schweppes Tonic VS Q Tonic

I was visiting one of my favourite Liquor Stores this past August, (Lacombe Park Spirits in St. Albert if you want to know), when Karim, who is one of the owners, asked me to try a Gin and Tonic with a new Tonic Water he had started to carry called Q Tonic. Up to this point, pickings were mighty slim in my neck of the woods for Tonic Water and Schweppes Tonic was pretty much the standard choice amongst my friends and I.

So I let him make me a small sample cocktail, and I have to say, it was pretty good. In fact, I was intrigued enough to make contact with Jordan Silbert, the founder of Q Drinks and asked him if he would like to send me a sample and some information, especially as I had recently began to receive a few gin samples for review. My thought was that it would be fun to make some side by side cocktails with Q Tonic and Schweppes Tonic to see if I preferred one over the other consistently.

Jordan agreed, and I received a few small bottles of Q Tonic in the mail shortly before Christmas. This was good because the gin samples were beginning to pile up, and I wanted to get at them.

So with four different gins in my review queue,  Beefeater 24, Citadelle Reserve, Port of Barcelona and Broker’s Gin, I set out over the next couple of weeks to test the Gin and Tonic Cocktail with both Q Tonic and Schweppes Tonic Water.

You may read the results of this exercise by following the provided link:

Enjoy!

Review: Alberta Springs Canadian Whisky

I saw my first bottle of Alberta Springs in the fall of 1988 when I was gifted a bottle on my birthday. It came in a funky wooden box, and it proudly proclaimed its ‘Alberta’ heritage. It was also, back in those days, a pure 100 % rye whisky. My love for rye whisky was cemented, and for years the Alberta Springs was my favourite whisky. Of course things change over time, and in the early to mid 90s Alberta Distillers Limited (ADL) began to distill some corn as well as rye in the blend. They still blended to the same taste profile, but, when I look back at my whisky preferences, it was a remarkable coincidence that during this period of the brand’s development I fell out of love with the whisky.

Years and years later when I started to write about whisky, one of the perks I received was a private tour of the ADL Distillery where I met Rick Murphy, the Production Superintendent. He explained the heritage of Alberta Springs to me, how it started as a pure rye whisky, and how economics dictated a move to rye and corn in the 90s. But, he also steadfastly maintained the whisky is currently (and has always been) very much a rye based whisky. He then explained how his computerized dials and gauges in the distillery, and his quality assurance tasting panel, ensure that the flavour does not change as the mash bill may change slightly over time. He even made it clear to me that the Alberta Springs is one of his most favourite whiskies. (I think he was trying to tell me that I had better give the brand a second try.)

Here is an excerpt from my review:

“…The initial mouth-feel is slightly dryish as the whisky begins with flavours of dusty rye and light flavours of caramel toffee. The oak is present and brings forward some light orange peel and vanilla as well as hints of tobacco which are not as firm in the flavour as they were in the aroma. I taste a light mustiness and a hint of honey sweetness which never build, they just sit back content to accent the other flavours without trying to steal the show…”

Here is a link to the full review:

I have included a nice sipping recipe which although not entirely original is nevertheless a great way to enjoy the Alberta Premium. It is called the Canadian Whisky Splash.

Please enjoy the review and the recipe that follows!

Revisiting Cockspur 12 Bajan Crafted Rum

Cockspur 12 Bajan Crafted Rum has undergone an important change recently which I think is worthy to speak of. The rum is of course, still produced from molasses and aged in American Oak at the Cockspur facilities in Barbados as it has been in the past. However, unlike before, all of the Cockspur Rum is now brought to bottling strength with Barbados’ own coral filtered water.

Previously the Cockspur 12 Rum sold in Canada (and parts of the U.S.) was shipped in bulk at cask strength to Hood River Distillers in Oregon and brought to bottling strength using water from the Hood River. This difference in water source was immediately apparent to me last spring when I sampled the new Cockspur 12 Rum in Miami at a luncheon sponsored by Cockspur. The rum tasted sweeter and smoother than I remembered from my previous review and much more to my liking. I decided that it was time to revisit the Cockspur 12 and provide a review based upon the current bottling made with 100 % Bajan coral filtered water.

Here is an excerpt from my review:

“… As I indicated in my preamble, the Cockspur 12 Rum tastes a little bit sweeter and smoother this time around. Dark cocoa and rich caramel lead out with a delicate nuance of bourbon riding in the coattails. Rich pipe smoking tobacco and toasted walnuts lie underneath, and the flavour is very inviting with little of the bitterness which I had noticed in my initial review …”

Here is a link to the new review:

Please enjoy the review!

Review: Beefeater 24 (London Dry Gin)

The new Beefeater 24  is advertised as being handcrafted with 12 botanicals which include grapefruit, bitter almond, orris root, Seville orange peel, rare Japanese Sencha tea and Chinese green tea. This makes the new Beefeater 24 gin more complex in construction than the previously reviewed Beefeater London Dry Gin which listed 9 ingredients. There are other differences as well, The new Beefeater 24 is bottled at a higher proof (45 % alcohol by volume) which to me seems most welcome, and all of the ingredients are apparently steeped in grain alcohol for 24 hours prior to a 7 hour distillation where the master distiller makes an artisan cut by hand from the heart of the distillation run.

This product has been brought into my local market by Corby, and I  was delighted when the local rep arranged for me to receive a bottle of the new Beefeater 24 to review on my website. Here is an excerpt:

“… There is a ‘freshness’ rising out of the glass and I liken it to the scent of an alpine forest on a warm spring day with the snow is melt just beginning. The aroma of evergreen boughs and juniper jumps out of the glass pushed ahead by a crisp citrus-like aroma…”

Here is a link to my full review:

As I usually do, I have provided a delicious cocktail after the review. in this case I stuck to tradition and recommended a Gin and Tonic.