Small Talk

We're branching out a little today, with a look at a BC craft single malt. It's not a rye, but playing a little fast and loose with the rules has long been the Canadian way to make whisky, and it might as well apply to this blog as well. Rye or not, this is one of the now many Canadian single malts forging a new tradition for an original whisky style.

Phillips Brewing, on Vancouver Island, joined the British Columbian distilling boom that came about after the province slashed red tape and taxes for craft distillers. Their distillery side operates under the cheeky name 'Fermentorium.' Unsurprisingly, BC now has the most distilleries of any province by far. Using local barley, Phillips' skill in brewing translates to some neat practices in whisky making. For one thing, they malt their barley in house. This entails heating to induce germination, and then arresting that process. The barley then becomes 'malted' and can provide the enzymes to convert starch to sugar in mashing. Most single malt distilleries in Scotland and elsewhere abandoned onsite malting decades ago, so it's refreshing to see a craft producer imparting some more control and customisation into their recipe.

The first whisky release from Fermentorium is Small Talk. It come in at 41% in an attractive bottle.

The artistic label design doesn't contain too much about the aging process but this whisky features a blend from Pinot Noir casks and ex-Bourbon casks that were briefly 'soaked' with Phillips' beer, presumably their cask aged Imperial Stout. The whisky spent five years in these casks according to a description on their website.

In terms of the bottle itself, the whisky comes only as 375mL. This can actually be a good thing as these small batch craft whiskies tend to be expensive. Indeed, the half size bottle is half the price (though a pricing mixup on The Strath's website led me to believe I had obtained a 750mL bottle for under $50 - that would really have been a steal). One thing I've noted is the cork seems to be quite high quality and is snug in the bottle, providing a satisfying pop as it's removed from the neck. 

This small batch release isn't available everywhere, and in fact can only be found on Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland. If you're in BC or (like me) you carefully cultivate friendships in provinces with better alcohol retail regimes than Ontario, this is a bottle that will stand out on your bar. It's a conversation piece for whisky lovers and a fine dram indeed, one that can compare favourably to any midrange single malt. 

Fermentorium Small Talk

41% alc./vol.

~$40 at The Strath bottle shop in Victoria

The nose is compelling, with pronounced sweetness in the form of apricot, fig, and honey. There's also an interesting briney smokiness I associate with Laphroaig 10 and describe as permanent marker. There's bourbon-y sweet oakiness and vanilla, but without the cloying corn sweetness that sometimes accompanies bourbon. A sweet grain note that to me recalls Cheerios takes over after a couple minutes in the Glencairn alongside dill. 

To taste, the youthfulness of this whisky is on display, though not to the detriment of the dram. It's very warming and in this regard is more like a rye than many single malts. The classic Canadian feel continues with caramel and butterscotch sweetness, and more honey, though there are intriguingly bitter citrus, caraway, and aniseeed notes that grow prominent on the palate. Sweet orange is also there in good measure as is some cinnamon heat. The mouthfeel is viscous and oily without much ethanol burn.

On the long finish, a number of flavours burst forward in an orderly procession. First up is a hot spice that gives way to more anise bitterness and a pronounced caraway flavour. This whisky departs very much like an akvavit! Dill and yeasty, malty notes come up alongside some very sweet orange and butterscotch. The Pinot cask now exerts its influence with a distinctive wine note. Finally the whisky leaves a lovely tongue-coating dryness that lingers for ages, just asking for another sip. Wow, this finish is one of the most intriguing and complex I've tried in a long time. It evolves continually, a beneficiary not only of its slightly higher bottling strength but of some thoughtful cask finishing. 

This is a lovely single malt. It gently suggests Speyside but has some of the smokiness of Islay, along with a spicy liveliness that reflects its origin in the land of rye. This whisky pairs well with the mild climate of the Pacific coast but for those of us outside BC who can get some, it is a bottle you'll want to show off. 

I'm excited to see what else Fermentorium will turn out in the future. Hopefully there will be lots more Small Talk in years to come, and some to share with the rest of the country. It's a real winner of a malt and one I definitely recommend!

Heatseeker Score: 86

Category Score: 82

Characteristic: Grain-forward