Masterson's 10 Year Straight Rye
$126.99
As with other Rye WhiskEy bottled by Masterson's - this is actually a Rye WhisKY - originally distilled at Alberta Distillers right here in Calgary but then eventually sold and bottled by another company in the USA. This is a 10-year-old Rye finished in Hungarian Oak Casks.
Evan's Tasting Note:
Nose: Dill, pickle juice, dusty Rye grain, cloves, pine sap, lime zest, jujubes, fresh out of the garden carrots, mint leaves and other herbaceous notes with a hint of turpentine.
Palate: Juicy with mint, limes, black pepper, lemon juice, assorted jelly beans, pineapple, dill and eucalyptus.
Finish: Soft spice notes but it remains juicy and approachable in style.
Comments: The Hungarian Oak finish isn't just a gimmick - it does create a set of different nuances I didn't notice in the regular 10 year Masterson's Rye.
Orphan Barrel Entrapment
$204.99
This is the 11th release in the Orphan barrel series, but the first to be made of Canadian whisky. It is from a mash of 97% corn and 3% malted barley. If you were ever wondering how much-malted barley you need to ferment a mash of mostly corn, now you know. The whisky is from Crown Royal's distillery in Gimli Manitoba. It was bottled at 41% after maturing 25 years in American oak.
Canadian Rockies 17 Year Whisky
$69.99
Wayne Gretzky Ice Wine Cask Whisky
$63.99
Not content to just slap his name on wine, The Great One also has his own whisky label. This Canadian Whisky was made from a combination of Rye (both malted and unmalted) and Corn. It was finished in casks that once held Vidal Ice Wine that was bottled under Gretzky's wine label. Symmetry!
Bottled at 41.5%, which is silly since if they bottled it at 49.5% it would have been 99 proof. You missed that shot, Gretz!
Canadian Rockies 17 Year Whisky
$69.99
New for 2018, and in a new bespoke bottle, this 17 year old Canadian whisky has been bottled at 50% abv. The whisky is produced at Highwood Distillery in High River, Alberta, primarily for export to Asia. It is 100% corn whisky!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: toasty, floral and honeyed; Marcona almonds, dried cherry and cranberry, baked apple and cinnamon; lemon and candied corn.
Palate: sweet, corn forward and spicy; floral, ripe fruits, more baked apple, dried cherry and cranberry; toasted oak, more Marcona almonds, olive oils; jujubes and vanilla bean.
Finish: long, toasty and sweet; floral with fading fruits and jujubes.
Comment: classic Canadian whisky, corn forward, very drinkable, juicy and layered; not overly complex, but at this proof it is a fine cocktail whisky!
Crown Royal Blender`s Mash
$47.99
Made from a mashbill of 65% Corn, 32% Rye and 3% Malted Barley. Aged in a combination of ex-bourbon barrels and charred virgin oak barrels. Bottled at 40% ABV.
While the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau or TTB originally the Bourbon Mash Label, upon review they decided it was not appropriate for a non-American Whisky to be called such. All bottles of this Canadian whisky destined to be sold south of the border are now labelled Crown Royal "Blenders' Mash."
Canadian Club 20 Year
$67.99
With a storied history that stretches back more than 150 years, Canadian Club is just as iconic as ever. Tales of bootlegging, speakeasies and the law-skirting hijinks of Al Capone are all wrapped up in the famous CC brand. And if rumours are to be believed (who knows?) even the origin of the phrase 'the real McCoy' are intrinsically linked to the narrative of this Windsor, Ontario distillery.
Forget the CC you know from the sale flyers. This 20 year old will take you deeper into flavour country.
Davin de Kergommeaux's Tasting Note
Nose: The nose opens on cloves, nutmeg and sweet rye spices before a truckload of fresh-cut lumber, cedar, and bond paper rolls in bringing with it some rich oaky notes. Smatterings of toffee, sweet fruits and grape drink balance off dry rye grain and almost meaty autumn smells: dry leaves and a hint of wood smoke. The nose is full and complex and so well-integrated that it smells like nothing so much as its distinctive self.
Palate: What starts out woody with some soft oak tannins, but without their harshness, quickly displays a range of tightly integrated flavours. These spread slowly across the tongue, but you have to pay attention to pick out fleeting individual notes. Sweet rye spices including nutmeg, hints of cloves, and cinnamon soon establish their presence, followed by a muted hot pepper. Patience is rewarded as the spiciness intensifies, with lots of complex interactions over constant rye notes until the whole becomes very hot and peppery with hot ginger in the background. About this time you begin to notice sweet black fruits and prune juice, with a balancing and refreshing bitter citrus zest. The fruity sweetness is underscored by toffee and vanilla notes with hints of burnt sugar. This is a weighty and mouth-filling whisky with a slightly creamy body.
Finish: Medium-long and fading, the finish is warm, sweet and slightly peppery as it disappears into traces of spices, vanilla, fruit, and wood. The flavours remain complex and well-integrated even as they diminish, with no dominant individual notes, but a concluding zing that is sweet and zesty and citric.
750 ml
Shelter Point Rye KWM Cask
$119.99
Our first ever KWM exclusive single cask of 100% rye whisky was selected by our team at Shelter Point Distillery on Vancouver Island, but it was distilled in Calgary at Alberta Distillers... Distilled in 2009 the whisky has been bottled after 9 years at 59.6%. 240 total bottles!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: maple syrup, peanut brittle, cloves just plucked from a honey baked ham and treacle tarts; oily with loads of spice; there was a hint of dill at first but it quickly vanished; dark fruits, licorice root and fig jam; oh and glazed pork belly (seriously).
Palate: big, oily, syrupy and spicy; decadent Demerara and brown sugars before bacon infused dark chocolate and crisp spices: fennel, cloves and licorice root; more cloves plucked from a honey baked ham and sweet and sour pork; silky vanilla with dates and figs are late to the party.
Finish: insanely long, oily, coating and decadent with more dark fruits and soft spices; a touch of glazed pork belly.
Comment: wow... this was a serendipitous discovery on visiting Shelter point with Evan and Curt in September.
Wiser's Lanny McDonald Alumni Edition
$46.99
Described as well-rounded and wheat forward, the Lanny McDonald Alumni Edition from JP Wiser celebrates the Hockey Legend that helped the Calgary Flames win a Stanley Cup (and not the Leafs).
The Whisky is a 9 year old wheat-prominent blend aged partially in virgin oak.