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

Forty Creek Resolve

Melissa Bernais is back with another guest review of a 2020 Forty Creek limited release. A fellow Niagara College distilling grad and experienced Forty Creek-er, she also contributed a review of Three Grain. I haven't tried either of these bottles yet (tragically), so no scores for now but I'll be sure to add them when I finally get my hands on some.

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Tasting Resolve alongside Three Grain, the line from then to now is impossible to miss! Fruit forward, lush spice...it's all here, but is also absolutely a unique thing unto itself.

Resolve is the 14th annual limited edition release for Forty Creek, and the final installment in Master Distiller Bill Ashburn's triptych exploring the effects of barrel finishes. Unity (2018) was finished with mocha-forward staves, Victory (2019) showcased the effects of vanilla-toned oak, while Resolve absolutely doubles down on spice. Like Unity and Victory, Resolve also includes a small measure of aged starboard wine - a fortified red, similar to port - that Bill made back in 1999, tying the three bottles together in an unmistakable way. 

Hands down, this bottle is my fav Forty Creek limited release (sorry, Confederation Oak!). While showcasing spice, the baking spice and pepper-heat are in no way overwhelming - they're complex and assertive, showcased and tempered by sweet, lush elements that make this bottle intensely sippable. I seriously would've sold a butt tonne of this to anyone walking through the door - and it's probably better that I'm not there anymore, because this is where all my tip money would go!

Forty Creek Resolve

43% alc./vol.

$80 at LCBO

Nose: Barley and barley.  Did I say barley? There's a lot of sweet cereal on that first sniff. It's quickly followed by a tonne of gorgeous, complex notes: Raisin and ripe plum. Vanilla, a little bit of cocoa, and caramelized sugar. Nutmeg and cinnamon. And more delightfully, a complex undernote of barrel char. 

Palate: Following its nose, the first expression here is a lush sweet cereal grain, followed quickly by peppery heat and baking spices. A deep, red wine lives in the heart of this sip, bringing lovely round, jammy notes. Vanilla asserts itself, with a nice little explosion of cinnamon, and a hot, complex spiciness that lingers, and swings back to say HELLO! again, just so you don't forget it (how could you, really, though?)

Yep, these two bottles. They're very, very good. You need them. Trust.

Characteristic: Spicy and Fruity

Man, I need to try this one! -Robbie

Wayne Gretzky Red Cask

Amidst the vines and pastoral vistas of Niagara-on-the-Lake sits a new distillery that has really made a name for itself. Or rather, has been bestowed a name befitting it's aspirations of greatness. A collaboration between the Great One himself and Niagara wine tycoon Andrew Peller, Wayne Gretzky Distillery shows what a startup can be with massive financial backing. 

The sister to the successful Gretzky wine brand, this distillery quickly became a buzzy tourist attraction with an outdoor rink in the vineyard and year-round outdoor whisky bar. During my time living in Niagara, I could often be found with my skates and a half finished bottle of rye at the bus stop outside the distillery. Now, there is also a brewery as part of the trifecta of alcoholic pleasures to be found onsite. It's truly a fantastic addition to an incredible part of Ontario and we'll worth a visit. 

Though Gretzky himself is involved more in name than in day to day operations, the whiskies take his story into account. The grain, for example, is sourced from near his hometown of Brantford, Ontario. 

The base offering is Red Cask which features malted and unmalted rye as well as corn. The distillates are aged three years in ex-Bourbon casks and finished in red wine casks from Gretzky's wine brand. The aging process is undertaken at the massive Peller facility in Grimsby, visible from the Queen Elizabeth Way when driving into Niagara Region. Other Gretzky whiskies include an Icewine finish and "99 Proof," a gimmicky but really good bottling. They also put out a whisky cream that is, I must say, the best of any I've tried anywhere. 

^The gleaming column still at Wayne Gretzky Distillery

Wayne Gretzky No.99 Red Cask

40% alc./vol.

$40 at The Wine Shop

On the nose, a bright honey sweetness opens. There is a definite heat, reminiscent of young spirit, but not overwhelmingly so. Slight spice and a subtle tart berry note take over, no doubt the wine cask showing its hand. Some dry grain notes and light powdered sugar sweetness follow; the effect is quite strongly reminiscent of Cheerios.  

The palate brings an orderly, if slightly belligerent, procession of caramel, bitter grapefruit, and rye spice. By belligerent, I mean the youthful heat and intensity has not been tamed very much by time spent in oak. That can be a positive or negative depending on your personal tastes. 

After the caramel, there is a wholesale transition to the bitter citrus pith. Next, a sharp whack of spice; a clean, grainy heat I find common in lots of column still rye. The heat is intense but quite welcome, offset by an oily viscosity. Earthy, dark bread and lots of grain tag off with the flaming rye. Tart cranberry flies just under the heat for those who can tease it out.

That spike of rye and a resumption of the bitter note constitute the medium length finish.There is some more berry and tannic oak - more of the wine cask - but even as these fade, a rising smoky note takes over. The finish is actually quite nice and, I'd say, the biggest strength of this bottle.

This is definitely young whisky, more raw than refined. But sometimes that's a good thing; personally I welcome that vivacity in winter sipping. This dram lurches more than slides from the sweet corn portion into the hot rye but there's no dearth of flavour. Definitely an eye-opener and something I'd love in coffee.

So, though it may not be refined, it's definitely interesting. At $40, Red Cask starts to invite some competition from some good Canadian bottles. Niagara neighbour Forty Creek's Double Barrel Select is similarly priced but more polished. However, it doesn't punch nearly as hard with the rye spice, which is what some whisky drinkers look for. Gretzky's higher-end bottlings (which we will be reviewing in the near future) tend to better contain the flavour swings. And though I think more care went into the crafting of this whisky, the flavour profile compares with Liquormen's Ol' Dirty, and not just because of similar celebrity collaborations. The rye in this bottle is more complex and the finish is superior, though the cost is also higher.

Along with the other Gretzky whiskies, this whisky seems priced a little higher than what it ought to be, no doubt because of the celebrity name. I'm sure sales figures are exceptional on strength of brand, but I find this bottle and its siblings to be rare instances of poor value in Canadian whisky.

Still, sometimes you want an assertive whisky, and Red Cask delivers with big caramel and big heat alike. Though precocious, the full-on flavours of this whisky will appeal to those who don't care much for subtlety, and it will do well as a mixer. And of course, it comes from perhaps the best distillery to visit anywhere.

Heatseeker Score: 82

Category Score: 79

Characteristic: Hot