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Fellow Drammers!
On January 17th starting at 3pm EST, we’re excited to welcome Davin de Kergommeaux, who is widely acknowledged as the most prominent author on Canadian whiskey, having written several books on the subject. We’ll be starting with his seminal overview work Canadian Whiskey, and in his honor we’ve assembled an extraordinary lineup of exciting Canadian whiskies, many of which are not available.
Please note that the optional whisky sample sets do not include the book — instead, members are encouraged to purchase the book on their own in their preferred format and can otherwise join the event for free (for our overseas members, note that it is available in ebook format). For those who do sign up for the sample set, check out our lineup - 10 expressions, many of which are not available in the US or only regionally (3 are only available at Binnys in Chicago):
43yo Canadian Club Chronicles Issue #3. We had at the pleasure of trying their 41 and 42 year old Canadian Club releases with their Brand Manager Tish Harcus last summer as part of our Save Our Whiskey Bars! benefit event for Travel Bar, and as soon as she mentioned a 43 year old was on the way, we were dying to try it. A few of these are still available in the US market in the $350 to $400 range. 45% abv.
Old Canada 8yo - Imported Canadian Whisky. This is a fun old dusty we secured at auction from the McGuinness Distillers Limited in Toronto. Davin writes a little bit about them in the book, and apparently they excelled at selling whisky to whisky smugglers during Prohibition in America. This bottle was exported to Europe, and while we don’t know the exact date of the bottle, judging from the time that McGuinness was active, it promises to be quite old. We’ll have to ask Davin to take a guess at when it may have been bottled. 40% abv.
J.P. Wiser 35yo. Hard to believe this isn’t our headliner! It’s drawn from some of the oldest stocks in Canada and can be very hard to find. Luckily it is available at Binny’s, and Sean Crain, who heads up our Indianapolis chapter, was kind enough to make the drive to pick it up along with a couple others below (thanks Sean!). You always hear rumors that many of the best Canadian whiskies aren’t making it outside of Canada, and these elite JP Wiser releases, which seem to wrack up so many awards, are a great example. 50% abv.
Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve. Davin talks about this one so much in the book, it was number one on our list of the must-have whiskies to taste for this event. It is partially matured in Canadian Oak casks, and our understanding is that (at least as of the time of the 2nd edition of the book) it was the only major whisky producer to release whisky in Canadian casks. We’ll have to ask Davin for his take on where things stand today. We read that the casks are made with thicker staves than normal (1.5”), which apparently will enable them to be used longer STR style. 40% abv.
Caribou Crossing. Although it went under the radar, this release was clearly a big deal. The first in a series of special releases from our friends at Sazerac, released with the express intention of upping the premium Canadian whisky game, in this case with the world's first single barrel Canadian whiskyand as our guest speaker Davin de Kergommeaux writes in Canadian Whiskey, this release "puts Canadian producers on notice" and that they have "certainly delivered, raising the bar for flavor as well as for packaging". 40% abv.
10yo White Owl. This is an unusual one, and very specific to Canada, so specific in fact, that it is not available anywhere else, and we had to call in a favor to one of our Canadian friends to get our hands on a bottle. Made by Highwood Distillers, Davin writes in his book that it is a huge hit in Canada, that it "revived a long-lost Canadian whisky style called whisky blanc" and they can’t keep up with demand. Apparently the old style of whisky blanc was aged in a copper barrel to avoid coloring. It is a "blend of fully matured rye and wheat whiskies that have been filtered through powdered charcoal to remove any trace of color. Of course, this process also removes some of the flavor, which is why the blend is quite rich in rye flavoring whiskey." 40% abv.
Crown Royal Noble Collection 16yo Rye. This is the 5th release in their Noble Collection line, made from a mash bill of 90% rye. 45% abv
Pendleton 1910 12yo. This is 100% rye, sourced from Canada, but the brand is centered in Oregon, part of a growing range of American brands sourcing Canadian whisky (like Masterson's, WhistlePig, etc.). The name comes from the Pendleton Round Up, a major rodeo in Oregon, which was first held in 1910, hence the name, and this is intended as an older version of their standard core range release. 40% abv.
Wayne Gretzky No. 99 Ice Cask. Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky continues to impress, having turned his attention to making his own Canadian whiskey in later years (along with wine, both in Niagara-on-the-lake, Ontario. This is an Icewine cask-finished variant using casks from his own winery (finished for 4 months). Reportedly their master distiller Joshua Beach increased the amount of sourced rye for this release. 41.5% abv.
Lot 40 Cask Strength. We love normal Lot 40, and since this is the first cask strength version of this excellent whisky to escape to the United States (Binnys again), we had to try it. 114 proof, thank you again to Sean for securing this for us.
That’s our lineup, or at least we think that’s our lineup, ha. With a couple coming through customs, if one doesn’t arrive in time, we’ll swap it out with something else fun, maybe the one that was just named in Whisky Advocate’s Top 20. We hope you can join us, and again the sample set above is optional and does not include the book — members are encouraged to get the book on their own, and for our international members, it is available in e-format (likely in addition to being available locally at Amazon).
We just finished reading our copy, and it only took a few hours, the opening sections (as usual) provide a detailed breakdown of how whisky is made, some of which is specific to Canadian whisky, but much of it is about general distillation, so some members may want to skim the first 50 pages or so. But the rest of the book dives into the history of Canadian whisky, the major producers, the up and coming producer, and ends with some analysis of where Canadian whisky is going in the future, all of which is excellent and very informative. Please let us know if you have any questions!
- $65/person for Drammers Members
- $90/person for Drammers Observers
BIO ON OUR GUEST SPEAKER:
DAVIN DE KERGOMMEAUX is a drinks writer, public speaker and spirits judge, recognized as the world expert on Canadian whisky. He has travelled to four continents to visit spirits producers and distilleries, and make presentations about Canadian spirits. In 2016 the Globe and Mail named him one of the 50 most influential Canadians in food and drink, then in 2018 the New York Times said his significance in the revival of Canadian whisky could not be overstated.