The Niagara Peninsula, with its mild microclimate and unique soil, has been a hotbed of fruit and wine production for decades. And where there's wine, distilleries have soon blossomed alongside. Like the nearby Forty Creek Distillery, Dillon's made their name working with local fruit to create high quality liqueurs, aperitifs, gin, bitters, and whatever else they can experiment with. Since its genesis 2012, the growth of the distillery has been impressive and they now earn high praise worldwide. Industrious and focused, Dillon's is consistently among the most innovative distilleries in Canada, and they retain a local feel in all they produce.
And on this blog, they are certainly kindred spirits with their loving focus on 100% rye whisky. They churn out their Three Grain standard bottling, found throughout the province, but for a true taste of what Dillon's can distill, fans need to act quickly to get one of their single cask bottlings.
Once a year, usually in early winter, Dillon's will release a cask strength look at their whisky. This review, Cask No. 114, was the exceptional 2019 release. It features a pot-distilled blend of 90% unmalted and 10% malted rye. It's aged in new oak for a little under 4 years and bottled in 200mL glass, ensuring everyone can get a taste without breaking the bank. It's really, really good whisky! I can't wait for the next release.
Dillon's Rye Whisky - Single Cask (#114)
57.2% alc./vol.
200mL bottle for $19.25 at LCBO
Something different for today's tasting, we have a guest review from Lokesh Khismatrao. Lokesh is a friend of mine and fellow graduate of Niagara College's Artisan Distilling programme. The tasting notes are his but the scoring is mine, from my own tasting notes, along the same scoring standard as the other reviews on this blog.
-Robbie
Nose: Sweet fruity, wood, chocolate, nutmeg, slight smoke note.
Palate: Big, quite rich. First vanilla, allspice, a hint of coriander, and then surprisingly a hit of maple. That was a pleasant surprise. Lots of hot rye underneath and a creamy texture.
Finish: Warm, spicy rye and some maple sweetness linger for a good length, finally into wood spices.
Heatseeker Score: 92
Category Score: 89
Characteristic: Baking spice
No comments:
Post a Comment