02 FEB 2021: We are pleased to announce that this tasting has been rescheduled as our final tasting of the 2020/21 season for March 22nd, 2021. Unfortunately, it’s still highly unlikely that the public health situation will improve with respect to the resumption of live tastings, but we hope to see you for one final (fingers crossed) virtual tasting to celebrate some of the amazing whiskies available from North American distilleries, small and large.
17 MAR 2020: Unfortunately, due to the rapidly unfolding global and local situation with respect to COVID-19, and in keeping with the spirit of social distancing guidelines and recommendations from Interior Health and PHAC, we have had to postpone this event. We will be looking to reschedule this tasting either later this season or next season as circumstances dictate. We wish our best to our friends at BNA and we hope to see you all there with us once again in the very near future. For any who have already purchased tickets, please contact us at your convenience to arrange for a refund or credit toward a future tasting.
We had such a great response to last years Canadian whisky tasting, we decided to incorporate some more Canadian products into our regular lineups, and what better place to face them off than with American whiskey! But not everything is as it seems with this lineup…
Rather than our usual collection of straight bourbons from the heart of America, we’ve got some interesting fringe cases here. There’s an American whiskey from Indiana that’s been finished in Pinot Noir casks by a feisty craft distillery in Oregon alongside a heavily aged American rye being spearheaded by the next generation of the Russell family at Wild Turkey. And there’s the next chapter of the Little Book series, featuring a blend of the Beam signature series flavour profiles, so if you’re a fan of Booker’s, Knob Creek, Baker’s or Basil Hayden’s there’s a little something for everyone in this bottle.
In the Canadian corner, we’ve got another member of the Northern Border collection from Corby/Hiram Walker, this time from the 2019 release, the 19 year old Gooderham & Worts 49 Wellington, featuring a four-grain blend highlighting red winter wheat. Bringing us home to BC and providing a fiery counterpoint to this party, we’re happy to have Campbell River’s Shelter Point bottling of Smoke Point, a single malt whisky finished in ex-Laphroaig casks, and last but not at all least, we have a whisky that has made its way home after a storied past. If you were with us for our September tasting of 2018, you’ll remember a curious Cadenhead bottling of 26 year old corn whisky distilled by (the now defunct) Potter’s of Kelowna, that Claude found all the way over in Scotland. This bottling by the Great Plains company of Calgary, Alberta provides us with its cousin. 17 year old corn whisky held over from Potter’s Distillery of Kelowna is blended with a small amount of Albertan rye whiskey and then finished in Spanish brandy casks for an additional year.
So join us as we venture off the beaten path! It’s certain to be an enlightening evening, and as usual I’ll be on hand to try to give you even more details about this eccentric collection of whiskies. This tasting will be hosted by our friends at BNA. Head over to the event page to purchase tickets. See you there!
Andrew
The whisk[e]y (left to right):
Bull Run American Whiskey Pinot Noir Finish
Wild Turkey Cornerstone Rye
Little Book Chapter III: The Road Home
Gooderham & Worts 49 Wellington
Great Plains 18 Year Brandy Finish
Shelter Point Smoke Point