In the autumn of 2017, Corby Spirit and Wine Limited announced the Northern Border Collection Rare, a premium range of Canadian whiskies that serves as a big departure from the core brands many international consumers associate with Canada (Canadian Club, Crown Royal, J.P. Wiser’s) by focusing on smaller brands within their portfolio ripe for promotion. The series is essentially among the best offered by Hiram Walker Distillery and cultivated by their Master Blender, Dr. Don Livermore, to showcase a different aspect of Canadian whiskies along with an elevation to the regular Northern Border Collection. The Lot 40 11 Year Cask Strength is their 2018 edition and is made from 100% rye and, if it is treated anything like the regular Lot 40, it is column-distilled and then put through a pot still to smooth out the rough edges.
Caol Ila 15 Year Unpeated
Caol Ila is the largest distillery on the island of Islay, producing over 2 million liters every year. The vast majority of that goes into Diageo-owned blends like Johnnie Walker Black Label, but there still remains some for eventual release as single malts. While the 12 Year is their single malt cornerstone, the distillery has been releasing a yearly series of unpeated whiskies over the past several years, including the 17 Year. The Caol Ila 15 Year is the first of a reported thirteen releases in the series.
SnapShot: Northern Exposure (Whiskies from Sweden)
SnapShot is a new type of feature we’re trying here at Scotchology, specifically geared for sampling groups of whiskies that belong together for some reason or are in small quantities. Eschewing many of the finer details normally found in our standard reviews, this is meant to be our quick reactions instead of a deep dive. Also unlike our normal reviews, we’ll be grouping these impressions together instead of breaking them out by individual. Rapid fire by the dram, if you will, and very unfiltered. In other words, this is as close as you’re likely to get to sitting at the table with us as we venture into the unknown. There are currently no plans to schedule these beyond when the opportunity arises. First up is a Swedish whisky set we put together from Masters of Malt!