Tawse Pinot Noir Finish

 Over the past week we've been looking at whiskies made from Ontario's Niagara wine country. We've featured two Forty Creek bottles guest reviewed by Melissa Bernais. Today, we have a guest tasting from Niagara College artisan distiller Lokesh Khismatrao. The writeup is mine, tasting notes are his but, until I have a taste myself, I've withheld the scores. Today's review is the first whisky release from the excellent Tawse Winery.

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When travelling through Niagara's luscious Beamsville Bench sub-appelation, one of the standout wineries is Tawse. Perched on the side of the Niagara Escarpment, the winery offers stunning architecture, views, and high end wines of global renown. In 2018, they began turning out spirits made from their Italian copper pot still. 

At the winery, though, you have to look a bit to find the still. The winery, which uses gravity flow, placed their still way up on the sixth floor - essentially the attic. Up there, they've churned out good grape spirits in the style of grappa, a lovely sweet vermouth, gin, and vodka, and they've been putting whisky to rest. Some years on, we see the first fruits of their labour with a blended appropriately finished in Pinot Noir casks. 

The cask finishing in this first batch was done for fifteen months on top of three years in ex-Bourbon barrels. After a day traipsing through wine country, or a visit to Dillon's distillery just down the hill, this scenic new spot for whisky is a welcome addition to the Bench. 

Tawse Canadian Whisky

40% alc./vol.

$40 at the winery

Tasting notes by Lokesh Khismatrao

Nose: Vanilla leads with dark chocolate, berries, and allspice. 

Palate: The allspice continues as does the vanilla. The berry note takes on a candied character before earthy notes move in. Rich cloves round it out. 

Finish: A warming spice on the medium finish with a smooth, not bitter departure. 

Characteristic: Baking spices

The Wild North

For perhaps the first time, this blog gets to blaze a trail as the first to review a new release. Which is great, but also means your humble correspondent must do all the digging on his own. No matter, there's a glass of whisky to help with that. 

That whisky, it turns out, is a bottle that's recently hit Québec shelves called The Wild North. Suffused with lumberjack iconography and an attractive bottle, this prominently-labelled rye carries an age statement of 5 years. The description on the back states that the liquid is actually a blend of 5 and 7 year whiskies. An educated guess is that the whiskies are corn - probably from Valleyfield Distillery - and rye. The label mentions these whiskies are aged onsite in "our own cellars."

Determining where exactly these cellars are requires a little digging and, as is usual with whisky, more educated guesstimations. If I find out more information, I'll be sure to update the review, but for now, let's trace back the origins of The Wild North through its distributor to its producer. According to the SAQ website, Wild North is produced by Mondia Alliance, which actually doesn't exist as a brand anymore. That's because, as part of a merger, it is now called Station 22.  Who, it turns out, are behind some well known labels including Spicebox spiced whiskies and the iconic Sortilège whisky liqueurs. 

Right then. We can assume Wild North is aged alongside the component whiskies in those blended products. Where exactly is it distilled and in which barrels is it aged? I have a pretty good guess based on taste but I'll have to get back to you on that. 

Either way, this whisky was released in Québec's SAQ a couple weeks ago, in mid-August. So as possibly the first Ontarian get his hands on this bottle, I'm keen to pour myself a dram or two and see what comes out.

The Wild North Rye 5 Years Old

43% alc./vol.

$39 at SAQ

The nose brings fruit and sweetness quite prominently. Actually, this reminds a lot of another Montréal product, Seagram's VO Gold. There's a citrus-y florality and linalool (Fruit Loops), with the overall sweet profile of corn whisky distillate. There's also a musty note that comes through early on. 

The palate brings much of the sweetness with a pronounced citrus character. Some butterscotch continues the dessert whisky taste until it's met by a rising, warm rye. Throughout, a full mouthfeel is the result of the elevated bottling strength. That 43% also gives a warming heft which nicely offsets the light citrus notes.

The finish is where the rye component really comes into its own. The whisky turns warming here, with white pepper and bitter grapefruit pith. There is some drying and oak, and the effect is sort of like Tabasco sauce. But it all wraps up on lingering maple.

Well, I was intrigued by the lumberjack branding and the reasonable midrange price point (as well as the forbidden fruit of a bottle you can't get in Ontario). And I wasn't disappointed, with a solid rye that runs to sweet and then spicy. It initially follows VO Gold, but takes the turn toward spice into the finish, and brings the warming 43% body. 

A solid all-rounder, let's say, and a whisky that should do quite well with consumers and mixologists. Simplistic but enjoyable, the sweet moves easily into the spicy and on a wintry Montréal day, one dram could quickly move into a lengthy session. I'm glad I find myself with a bottle of this and would certainly keep one on hand as a crowdpleasing warmer.

Heatseeker Score: 85

Category Score: 88

Characteristic: Sweet and Warming