ADAM - NEW BRUNSWICK Whisky is a whole new world to me and whether it’s sipping it on the rocks in an airport to a neat selection at our local cocktail bars, I’ve always liked the romanticized idea of the distilled liquor. Perhaps it was the cultural phenomenon that was Don Draper in Mad Men that started to pique my interest but only in recent years have I started exploring the world of whisky. I can’t really recall the first whisky I tried but I can definitely remember the one I first enjoyed: Signal Hill Whisky. It’s an enjoyable Canadian whisky blended with the pristine waters of Newfoundland that is simple, clean tasting with a softer finish. I often have it stocked in my liquor cabinet.
My tasting notes also include what type of cocktail the non-peated whisky might be good in.
Sample 1, Non-peated
Sample 2, Peated
Appearance: Warm and richly coloured
Appearance: Quite light
Nose: Fruity, fresh like grapefruit/citrus. There’s a bit of almond in there too.
Nose: Other than a slightly peated note, I wasn’t finding much at first. With time, I detected buttery and nutty notes.
Palate: It tasted like it smelled, a bit fruity and nicely sweet.
Palate: Quite strong, peat, peat peat…
Finish: Nice with quite an enjoyable warming experience.
Finish: Immediately felt the warmth flow through me down to my stomach. With water: Water took away a lot of the flavours and made it extremely light in nature. This one gets a 40 only because I’m not a peated whisky fan, but if some readers out there are like this style – it’s definitely worth trying.
With water: After I added water, I found it much lighter and even more enjoyable. If I were to give this a “score”, it would be a 75 and I feel like this whisky would be quite tasty in some form of a spiced whisky sour concoction.
Overall: The blind tasting was definitely a very interesting experience for me and although I was drawn to the non peated version mostly, I’m glad that I went beyond my comfort zone and tried (even though I wasn’t a fan) the peated whisky too.
GRAND REVEAL #1 Waterproof Blended Malt Scotch , 45.8% ABV ($60 apx.)
#2 Islay Mist Blended Scotch 8 Year Old , 40% ABV ($40 apx.)
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the whisky explorer magazine
WINTER 2024
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