Glenora was until recently Canada’s only single malt whisky (and the second, Shelter Point, doesn’t begin offering product until mid-2015). There’s been a great deal of buzz around this malt in the 15 years or so it’s been on the market. Part of this is from the praise given it by luminous whisky writers like Jim Murray and Ian Buxton. The other part is the nine-year legal battle Glenora fought with the Scotch Whisky Association, where the SWA sought to prevent the use of the word “Glen” in the whisky’s name. Eventually, the case was settled for Glenora (maybe the maple leaf helped differentiate) and to celebrate, they released a special bottling called – appropriately enough – “Battle of the Glen.” Glen Breton Rare also deserves special mention as the one Scotchology has gone the greatest lengths to obtain, an eight-hour round trip due to limited U.S. distribution.
Balvenie 14 Year Caribbean Cask
One of the things Balvenie likes to do in its standard offerings besides various age statements is experiment with different cask finishes. Unlike other whiskys, who often use a cask finish for their NAS releases, Balvenie displays both age and finish. Unlike some distillers, who buy their ex-wine or spirit barrels from around the world, Balvenie takes American oak casks and chooses the West Indian rums (i.e. Cuba, but renamed to get past picky U.S. import law) that fill them. The master distiller chooses when these barrels are ready to empty and be filled with the 14 year old whisky for finishing. How does the smoothness of the base whisky mix with the rum casks?
Edradour 10 Year
Edradour is from the Scots Gaelic Eadar Dhà Dhobhar, meaning “between two rivers.” This is an old distillery that makes the claim of being the smallest in Scotland, producing only eighteen casks per week (trust us – it sounds like a lot but isn’t, comparatively). They also claim to have the smallest stills and traditionally employ just three men. Somehow, they offer an extremely broad collection of drinks, likely meaning that the vast majority are of limited release and rarer than a hot day in the Orkneys. Fun fact: their current owner, Andrew Symington, is a Master of the Quaich.