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Canada's Best Whisky ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saying 'Canada's Best Whisky' is of course
subjective but I do believe that John K. Hall of Forty Creek makes the best, cleanest
spirit in Canada and probably one of the cleanest spirits in the world of
whisky. He hails from Grimsby, a small town in the Niagara Region (near
Toronto) and he is a whisky fanatic. Although he first made his name making
wines he eventually followed the call to whisky making. His Forty Creek
Barrel Select had been on the market for years and it's superb. Bottled
at 40% a/v (and I generally don't like 40% whiskies, much prefer cask
strength) it exhibits a plethora of aromas lead by coffee with a wisp of
cream. Once on the palate it is mouth-filling, slightly oily with flavours of
freshly baked almond croissants, fresh buttered toast, crème caramel and
apricots, underpinned by pineapple and rosehip. This is a superb drop and
it's worth leaning on your friends coming back from Canada to bring you some.
He's just released the Forty Creek Double Barrel Reserve and it's
another beauty, although very different. Beautiful bottle aside this is a
serious, dry whisky exhibiting a fair whack of oak and apart from using the
usual oak barrels he also uses virgin Canadian oak, something that (to the
best of my knowledge) no one else has done. The resulting whisky is much
drier and tighter although the aromas are quite sweet with vanilla, figs and Demerara sugar on the nose. On the palate it dries your
senses and it takes a few seconds before it gives up its secrets. Beyond the
first tight oak flavours there are fruit flavours akin to Christmas pudding
with dried figs, sultanas, orange peel and dates. It finishes relatively
short with an orange-sweet flavour left as much in your mind as on your
tongue. This is a great whisky, although not a 'beginners' dram. For more information go to the Forty Creek Web Site
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A Pig Worth Whistling For! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WhistlePig is a 100% Straight Rye
and it's a doozy! It hails from one of the oldest farms in Vermont in a tiny
hamlet that used to go by the name of Shaksboro.
Steam engines replaced the lifeblood of the town - a grist and lumber mill
powered by the Lemon Fair River - which still meanders straight through farm
- and the town slowly dissipated until vanishing entirely in the 1930's. The
farm remained in operation until 2006 when it was purchased and renamed by WhistlePig's founder Raj Peter Bhakta.
He hired Dave Pickerell as his master distiller (ex
Makers Mark) who concentrates on making rye whiskey. WhistlePig
Straight Rye Whiskey is 10 years old, bottled at 100 Proof (50% a/v) and
it's in very limited suppliy. It is not obvious
where the whisky is made as the micro stills in Vermont are not set up as yet
and the whiskey is sourced from Canada; my guess would be Alberta
Distilleries. I scored a bottle bought in the USA by a
friend but even that bottle was first exported to Canada then re-imported to
the USA. So it's a whiskey worth spending some 'internet hours' on. WhistlePig has to rate as the best 100% Rye I have had
the joy to taste. On the nose it exhibits yeast, freshly sliced pumpernickel
and candied clementines. Ont
he palate the pumpernickel is confirmed with a wonderful, mouth-filling
texture that immediately fills every nook and cranny of your palate. Layered
citrus fruit is slowly surfacing concentrating on over-ripe peach at the
finish. This is one of the world's great whiskeys and it deserves a place in
the sun! For more information go to the WhistlePig Web Site
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Whisky Bible Shoot Off ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jim Murray's Whisky Bible is a book whisky
aficionados world-wide look forward to, each and every year and it's been a
little while (1998) since Wallace Milroy published a Malt Whisky Almanac. Jim
Murray's Whisky Bible 2011 just hit the shelves around the world and Wallace
Milroy teamed up with Neil Wilson to release the 'Whisky in Your Pocket', a
guide aimed to do a similar job. On the surface they both look alike, similar
format, easy reference and something you can take along while visiting
distilleries. Here, however is where the similarity ends. Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2011 is a guide
for the serious whisky-head who already knows a large number of distilleries
and their various expressions. It is not as easy to read and understand for
the novice as you have to familiarize yourself with abbreviations and symbols
to get the most our of the guide, whereas the Whisky in your Pocket guide is
full of pretty pictures making it easy to follow but, in my opinion, lacks
the depth of the other guide. If you are relatively new to whisky you might
want to take the Whisky in your Pocket on your first journey to distilleries
but invariably, as your knowledge increases, you will need Jim Murray's
guidance. Jim Murray does one thing right: He's
consistent! It's now up to you to get 'into his head' and learn how he
thinks. Once you do, you'll get immense satisfaction from his book as you
know what you agree with and what information does not apply to the way you
perceive whisky. I compared a few entries in the two guides and I'm afraid
that to my palate, experience and sensory appreciation mostly agree with what
Jim Murray says and I simply don't find that depth of critical observation in
the other guide. In short for me: Jim Murray wins. Go and get
yoruself a Whisky Bible 2011 now!
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Moonshine Drama Time ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This article was sent to me by one of AGP's long and loyal
subscribers, Karolyn Wrightson from the USA. She
shares my love of a dram or two and she probably knows more about Australia
than many locals. Thank you Karolyn! According to Karolyn, Popcorn Sutton, the local moonshiner par excellence,
hung himself a year or so ago when he heard the cops were going to thrown him
in jail once again. His funeral was a Day of Mourning... front page
stuff. The latest in this drama is attached, and I thought you'd enjoy
it. Popcorn would have made a good Aussie, a fair dinkum
was he! From Asheville Citizen-Times, Nov. 13th 2010 Popcorn Sutton's whiskey goes legit with Hank
Williams Jr.'s stamp of approval By Jason Sandford ·
November 13, 2010 Marvin Popcorn Sutton and his legendary mountain moonshine
may be gone, but a country music superstar and a former professional
motorcycle racer plan to carry on the rebel's cause - one Mason jar at a
time. Hank Williams Jr. this week introduced a line of
whiskey honoring Sutton that's made in Nashville and follows Sutton's own
recipe. In stark contrast to Sutton's secretive manufacture of untaxed
liquor, the launch of "Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee Whiskey" arrived
with government taxes paid in full, a flashy party and marquee music stars,
including Williams, Kid Rock, Tanya Tucker and Travis Tritt.
The liquor will be distributed in Tennessee initially, and has already been
delivered to some Nashville bars. And yes, it's packaged in Mason jars. Sutton, who lived in Maggie Valley and had a cabin
in Cocke County, Tenn. near the state line,
committed suicide in March 2009, just a week before he was set to begin
serving an 18-month federal prison sentence. The skinny, bearded 62-year-old
had pleaded guilty to charges that he produced untaxed liquor after federal
agents caught him with hundreds of gallons of his famous hooch. Williams never met Sutton, but he attended the
moonshiner's memorial service in October 2009, saying he was a long-time
admirer. Williams hinted then that he planned to do something to honor
Sutton's legacy. "He was the last of the real mountain
moonshiners that went back," Williams said in a press release
accompanying the liquor launch. "Popcorn was part of the real 'Thunder
Road' legend, and that is a real part of country music history." Some of Sutton's supporters have greeted the new
booze with mixed reactions. Orion Berdick ,of
Asheville, who signed a petition asking the federal court to show Sutton
leniency, said Friday he liked "the idea of someone bringing attention
to Popcorn's story because he embodied a certain rebellious mentality about
this region." But Berdick said he wished
the legal whiskey was manufactured in Western North Carolina, and felt it odd
that a mainstream music star would be making a profit off Sutton's legacy. It seems like some proceeds should go back to a
cause in his honor," Berdick said. Cooking up the whiskey will be a down-home process
that's as close to Sutton as it can be, said Jamey Grosser, a former
professional Supercross motorcycle racer who is a
partner with Williams and Sutton's widow, Pam Sutton. Grosser, who had endorsement deals with beer and
liquor companies as a professional athlete, retired from racing and began
thinking about getting into the spirits business. He consulted with friends
about three years ago and decided selling moonshine was a niche he could
fill, so he set out to find someone to teach him tricks of the trade. "Someone told me I needed to talk to Popcorn
Sutton. I typed him into the computer and couldn't believe it," Grosser
said. "So I got on a plane and literally tracked him down through his
probation officer." Sutton and Grosser hit it off and formed a company
to make Sutton's famed liquor, Grosser said. The two designed stills and
Sutton wrote down his recipe for Grosser. "He said he didn't want me to mess this up when
he was gone," he said. Sutton also only wanted one celebrity to help
tell his story, Grosser said, and that was Williams. Grosser's now making Sutton's whiskey in an
1880s-era brick building in Nashville, with plans to eventually move
distribution into Georgia and the Carolinas. The product has tequila, rum and
bourbon notes in taste, but is smoother than traditional whiskey, Grosser
said. The plan is to keep the company close to its
rebellious mountain roots, Grosser added, noting that he's turned down buyout
offers from "every major liquor company out there." Grosser also
said he's hoping one day to open a distillery in Sutton's old Cocke County stomping grounds. "I'm not doing anything special," Grosser
said. "I'm just not (expletive) up what Popcorn did. This is what he
wanted." |
