On November 9, 2019, we “The NWS” got together in the heart of Niagara wine country to experience and celebrate the release of a Niagara Wine Barrel finished limited edition. This bottle was released in limited numbers to the LCBO at the end of October, so we were pleased as punch to receive it as a gift directly from the Ontario contact for Central City Brewers & Distillers (located in Surrey, B.C.) This particular bottle joins a range of already well awarded Lohin McKinnon Single Malts.
The evening kicked off at an earlier start time of 7:00pm to support some of our NWS attendees who were playing a concert downtown St. Catharines. Those of us who could not go send our well wishes to Lunipeer and look forward to the next one!
Special thanks to Wes Wiens for allowing us to gather at the VineTech facility! We are so grateful for the gracious hospitality we felt throughout the evening! As a collective, of course, these types of events would not be the same without the generosity of each member, and we can all agree, this turned out to be the perfect venue for this event!
With fifteen people present, we jumped into the tasting. Pouring in the sequence shown above at approx. 20 minute intervals, we gave each dram it’s due time in the spotlight, but this allowed for comparison as well. Noteworthy, was the fact that each spirit, being similar in age, abv, and grain type, brought distinct differences to the table! Everyone expected quite a difference from the Peated but what surprised us was the differences in character among the first three! What a difference casking makes! Some of the comments at our table were centred around the “standard” Single Malt being no slouch at all, and that it would be a viable choice as a daily-drinker to more expensive Scottish single malts. Meanwhile, the wine finished whiskies were more better suited to being “special occasion” pours. But everyone had a different favourite, what more can you ask for!?! For more tasting notes specifically on the Niagara Wine Barrel release, look for it under the “Reviews” tab on our site.
After the flight was complete, we had an address from our President, followed by the opening of “the vault”. Some partook in another treat produced by the same brewery/distillery: Red Racer IPA. As always, the night pleasantly devolved into discussion, reminiscing, and plenty of good natured ball-busting! It was a truly great way to conclude the 2019 season…here’s to 2020! Sláinte!
