Lot No. 40 Reviewed - Canada's Most Awarded Whisky
/Lot No. 40 is, by far, the most celebrated Canadian whisky among whisky enthusiasts. It’s won more awards than any other Canadian whisky, setting the bar in the Canadian whisky scene.
Read MoreLot No. 40 is, by far, the most celebrated Canadian whisky among whisky enthusiasts. It’s won more awards than any other Canadian whisky, setting the bar in the Canadian whisky scene.
Read MoreMaker’s Mark 46 tastes great in a Glencairn glass, in a plastic cup, on ice, with some water, or from the bottle (I haven’t actually tried this!). It’s the whisky that’s most likely to make an appearance when I’m hosting a party with a mix of wine, beer, and whisky drinkers. It pops nicely with flavour, it doesn’t require fancy glassware, and it's a whisky that stirs conversation.
Read MoreWhile I was attending a friend's bachelor party, we had all of a few minutes to make a "traveller" drink before we boarded the private bus (thanks Mint Julep Tours). I ended up mixing whatever ingredients we had left in the house. This recreation with Jamie didn't go quite as well. As Jamie calls this, it's the "This drink is disgusting and I'm disappointed in you Mark Bylok" cocktail.
Read MoreMark and Jamie recap episode 55, where Mark and Glenford go to Kentucky and forget to invite Jamie. Mark talks about some of the distilleries he visited, including Hartfield and Co and New Riff and brags about how he drank Rare Breed all week.
Read MoreFrom removing the cork, to tipping the bottle, to the pour, Mortlach Rare Old is a fine experience. The bottle screams “expensive whisky.” That being said, the marketing is likely to enrage many. Bragging that your whisky is "rare” and “old" has the same stereotypes associated with driving an embellished large car. Maybe there are some insecurities there?
Read MoreLaphroaig 18 is a favourite of mine. It wasn’t long ago that you could find this release for around $75 in the United States. At that price point, it’s an insanely great buy, and quite frankly we’ll likely not ever see it sold so cheaply. While the product is largely discontinued, you might still find supplies of it in 2016 before it’s officially gone.
Read MoreFreddie Johnson is a legend in Kentucky, and a third generation employee of Buffalo Trace. In this video, he shows how to properly pour high-proof, barrel proof, and unfiltered whiskies.
Read MoreI sometimes avoid defining “Single Malt Scotch” during whisky tastings because I get the inevitable questions that cause more confusion than clarity. Single malt scotch is a single distillery whisky made in Scotland of 100% malted barley. It's most often blend of hundreds of barrels, and so long as those barrels contain 100% malted barley whisky that was distilled in the same distillery, it's defined as single malt scotch.
Read MoreThe summarized story of whisky goes something like this—In the 60s onward the rise of vodka made edgier spirits like whisky unpopular. Whisky producers started watering their whisky down and adding age statements to popularize their spirits as being of higher quality. It worked. Scotch sales were up, and soon modern cocktail culture (based heavily on an interpretation of traditional cocktail culture) brought spirit-forward drinks to the market. The whisky boom reached new heights when the premium whisky market exploded to a much broader audience. Pappy became a "thing" and the demand far outstripped supply.
Read MoreWhen I was in my twenties, I attempted a sugar detox for a month. At the time I worked at a software lab, and sugar was a regular part of my diet. The headaches from fully detoxing from sugar were horrendous. While I couldn’t stay sugar-free for the entirety of that month, I learned a great deal about myself.
Read MoreIn almost every legal definition of whisky, there are two factors—the first is a strict control on what one can and can’t do to the whisky from fermentation to bottling. Secondly, there’s the soul of what makes whisky: the law simply states “it must taste like the attributes generally associated with whisky.”
Read MoreIn 1900, Gooderham & Worts was the largest distillery in the world. It was located in what is now Toronto’s historic Distillery District. The company was started by James Worts, a Englishman that opened up a prominent windmill in Canada. He went into business with his brother-in-law, William Gooderham.
Read MoreThese days, I’m far less likely to be asked the question of what my favourite whisky might be. Instead, people ask me what I think of their favourite (or least favourite) whisky. It’s an excellent question because it instantly establishes a challenge—do you like what I like?
Read MoreMost media outlets got it wrong. The Internet, in its outrage, got it right. Jim Murray named Crown Royal North Harvest Rye as the best whisky he’s tasted in 2015. Everyone went: What?
Read MoreSazerac 18 rye, one of the five Buffalo Trace Antique Collection releases this year, failed LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) lab testing. The rumour is the levels of ethyl carbamate were above the LCBO’s limit. This was the probable reason given to me, and others, when calling the helloLCBO number. However, an LCBO spokesperson told me that the results are proprietary and would not confirm the reason behind the failed results.
Read MoreThere’s an easy joy I find when writing about whisky. I’ve often said that while there might be disagreements in the whisky community (NAS vs age statements, labeling, etc..), our debates are not profoundly important—they’re the definition of first-world problems. On the other hand, many of the whisky people I know are well adjusted intelligent contributors to society that take that same zest for their careers and place it into their passion for whisky. As I said in my book, if someone wants to get drunk, there are lots of cheap options. Whisky drinkers are in it for the experience. While it’s rare that whisky drinking brings me greater clarity in life, the whisky community certainly does.
Read MoreI sat down with Shane Bahng, the COO of Norlan Glass, the newly funded Kickstarter project. Their glass was developed using 3D printers and a select group of Scotland’s whisky industry experts that offered feedback on the 90 or so design choices they started with. The design selected is intended to be a beautiful tumbler-style glass that offers a better nosing experience.
Read MoreWith murder, theft, and bribery highjacking the whisky news, this year’s headlines have read like they were ripped straight out of the latest Netflix crime drama. Just last week, there was a fatal stabbing over a box of bourbon. Earlier in this year trucks carrying Pappy Van Winkle were stalked as they left wholesalers with drivers being offered bribes for cases of whisky.
Read More"We found that comet Lovejoy was releasing as much alcohol as in at least 500 bottles of wine every second during its peak activity," said Nicolas Biver, of Paris. If a scientist from Scotland or Kentucky had made this discovery, it would have been quoted in whisky. That’s probably about 125 bottles of spirit every second.
Read MoreBalvenie announced the release of the David Charles Stewart Compendium of whiskies. Five chapters, each with five single cask selections from five decades honouring David’s 50 years in the whisky business. That’s a total of 25 whiskies, and they’re priced at over £125,000 for the set. Individual bottles range from £400 to £19,000. At these prices, the question to ask is, what is the whisky worth?
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