12 Nights of Whiskey

Garrison Brothers Straight Bourbon - Texas, USA

While tensions may be a little high with our neighbours to the south, there's no doubt that the USA is an important player in the world of whisk(e)y. While Kentucky and Tennessee have traditionally received most of the attention, there are some amazing whiskies now being produced thoroughout the USA, including this beauty from Texas.

After losing his job in software marketing, founder Dan Garrison took a leap of faith and built a small distillery in a barn on his ranch in Texas Hill Country. After a lot of hard work to dial in his recipe, Dan released his first experimental batch in 2007 and soon started catching the attention of Bourbon drinkers in Texas and beyond. The distillery has slowly expanded over the years and is now producing an incredible range of whiskies.

The Garrison Brothers Small Batch is a straight Bourbon whiskey bottled at 47% alcohol. It uses a mashbill of locally grown corn, wheat and barley, and is aged in heavy char American white oak barrels. Garrison's tasting notes for this whisky include tart orange hard candy and lemon gumpdrops. Yellow pound cake, sugar cookies and smoky baking spices with a finish of smoky tobacco turning to sweet county fair caramel apple sprinkled with walnuts and cinnamon. Just typing this is making me thirsty!

Garrison claims that given the extreme climate at the distillery that 4 Texas summers are equivalent to 20 summers in Kentucky. This hot climate allows the whiskey to mature at a more rapid pace than cooler climates. We'll see if you can taste the difference!

Rock Island 14 Year Sherry Edition - Scotland

This is a boutique blend from one of the world's top whisky bottlers, Douglas Laing. They use their incredible connections to source whiskies from top distilleries, in this case purchasing casks from the islands of Orkney, Arran, Jura and Islay (amongst others). They wanted to capture the escence of these rugged Islands, and for this limited edition release they used primarily whiskies aged in Sherry casks. They call this whisky a "sublte, smoky and sweet celebration of the sea". Looks for notes of porridge with honey, figs, fresh sea air, star anise and a whisper of smoke. A great example of a well crafted blend.

Morris Single Malt Whisky - Australia

Morris is a family run distillery located in Rutherglen in the province of Victoria, Australia. For any wine lovers out there you might recognize Rutherglen as the most iconic region in Australia for fortified wine. In fact the Morris family also makes wine, and they use their high quality barrels that have previously held their fortified wine to age this whisky. These casks add an extra layer of complexity and lovely notes of fresh fruit, raisins, marzipan and more. This is a high quality bottling from one of Australia's top whisky distilleries. Enjoy!

Hirsch "The Horizon" Straight Bourbon - Indiana

Horizon is a lovely Bourbon made using a high rye mashbill, with casks purchased from the MGP distillery in Indiana (America's largest distillery). Altough MGP is a large producer, some of the most beloved Bourbons in the USA have been sourced from here.

Hirsch takes its name from A.H. Hirsch, an financier who invested in the Schaefferstown Disitllery in Pennsylvania. The distillery produced a Bourbon in his honor - the 1976 A.H. Hirsch Reserve 16 Year old, which is widely considered one of the greatest Bourbons of all time (if you can find old bottles, they can set you back up to $12,000 CAD). That distillery eventually became Michter's, but the Hirsch brand was revived in more recent years by other owners again using purchased whiskey from Indiana.

The Hirsch Horizon is named for the dedication of Hirsch to always be looking forward and continuing to improve and grow. The high rye mashbill of the Horizon adds a lovely spice note to accompany the classic notes of vanilla, caramel and toasted oak. The Horizon is easier going as far as Bourbons are concerned, and perfect to sip after a long day.

That Boutique-y Whisky Company 10 Year Canadian Corn Whisky - Canada

That Boutique-y Whisky Company is an independent bottler knowning for sourcing unique spirits from around the world, and also for their quirky labelling (this bottle features a South Park inspired drawing of head of whisky Sam "Dr. Whisky" Simmons' head on a dart board).

This is a 10 year old Canadian Corn Whisky sourced from an undisclosed distillery. Only 142 bottles were produced, making this a rare drop. The whisky was aged in a combination of ex-peated and PX Sherry octave casks. These much smaller casks have a big impact, which you can see immediately by the dark colour from the PX Sherry octaves. Although the whisky itself is not peated, the peated whisky casks it is aged in add a lovely touch of smoke. Look for notes of black cherry, caramel chews, roasted walnuts and a touch of smoldering campfire on the finish.

Ichiro's Malt Mizunara Wood Reserve - Japan

This is a special treat from one of the world's most famous distillers - Ichiro Akuto, founder of Chichibu Distillery. Ichiro comes from a long line of whisky makers - his grandfather owned the famed Hanyu distillery which sadly closed some time ago, but Ichiro inherited some of the hold stocks from that distillery. The Ichiro's Malt whiskies are blends, generally from some of Ichiro's own stock but also purchased casks from distilleries around the world.

The Mizunara Wood Reserve (MWR) showcases whiskies finished in casks made from the famous Mizunara Oak, a species local to Japan that is rare and often quite expensive. These Mizunara casks often impart a unique, almost incense like spice. In additional to this exotic spice, look for notes of baked apple, pepper, honey, citrus and much more. This is the first time to my knownledge that the Mizunara Cask has come to Alberta, and we only received one case but wanted to shave off a few bottles as a treat in the sampler pack = )

Bearface Wilderness Release 03 - Ontario, Canada

We had to have some more Canadian content, and it doesn't get much more Canadian than the Bearface Wilderness Release 03.

This limited release is entitled "Wild Air", and according to Bearface this whisky is "crafted to evoke the sensation of taking a deep breath atop a rugged peak, surrounded by untouched Canadian wilderness". That is indeed a lofty goal, but they go to great lengths to make it happen. Thi srelease is a blend of whiskies crafted in 3 different ways. A portion is aged in Hungarian oak barrels in a modified shipping container placed deep in the wilderness in northern BC. The extreme temperature swings are intended to help the whisky mature and gather a unique profile.

The second set of barrels were lined with shed birch bark foraged from northern forests, and use to finish their Bearface single grain whisky, which was already seasonally aged in the woods for 5 years in ex-Pinot Noir casks. Wild stuff.

Lastly, a portion of the whisky is aged in maple syrup "brûlee" barrels, and then the whisky is proofed down with "vertical water" harvested from maple trees within 24 hours of taping them. As mentioned, it's quite the process.

Does all of this work create a more exceptional whisky? You'll have to be the one to judge, but rest assured there isn't another Canadian whisky quite like this gem so we hope you enjoy.

Ardnamurchan "Wee Midgie" Single Malt - Scotland

My first instinct was to despise this whisky, only for the fact it features the much feared Midge on the label. The midge is like a small version of a mosquito, and they took an extra liking to me on a trip to Scotland this past summer. My legs were completely covered in midge bites, and I cursed their name several times a day.

Once I got over that initial resistence and tasted this whisky, I was sold. Ardnamurchan is one of the newest distilleries in Scotland, founded by the owners of top independent whisky bottler Adelphi. The MIdgie is a limit release of only 16,500 bottles for the world. It contains a blend of 75% unpeated whisky and 25% peated single malt. This blend was aged in 50% Bourbon barrels, 48% Port barriques and 2% Sherry casks. The whisky is bottled unchill filtered with natural colour at 48% ABV.

The end result is a delicious single malt that I felt opened up nicely with a touch of water, although it was also great off the hop. Ardnamurchan's tasting notes include salt-baked pear, wildflowers, lemon thym, Sultanas, cherrywood embers, cocoa powder and pink peppercorns. The gentle smoke comes through on the finish along with red fruit notes and a sweet/salty edge.

New Harbour Bushveld Whisky - South Africa

We went across the globe for this beauty hailing all the way from South Africa! New Harbour Distillery is located in Woodstock, one of the first suburbs of Capetown and a former fishing village. New Harbour has a full range of craft spirits, and their whisky is inspired by the Bushveld - a sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of South Africa. The base of the whisky is a smoked single grain which is double distilled. The whisky ages ex-Bourbon casks, and near the end of maturation finishes in casks smoked with Kameeldoring, a local species of tree also known as camel thorn, the mokala tree, etc.

This whisky is a love letter to South Africa and definitely unique. The distillery's tasting notes include notes of light smouldering embers, vegetal honey, butterscotch and toffee. An intriguing dram that will please the fans of a little peat smoke without being too overpowering.

Cadenhead's Macduff 13 Year SIngle Malt - Scotland

WM Cadenhead's is Scotland's oldest independent bottler with a history dating back to 1842 with the founding of William Cadenhead Limited, Wine and Spirit Merchants in Aberdeen. William Cadenhead passed away in 1904, and was succeeded by his nephew Robert W. Duthie. Duthie worked to develop what Cadenhead's is best known for today - bottling single malt Scotch Whisky and Demerera Rum.

After the unfortunate passing of Robert Duthie in the 1970's (he was run over by a tram car), the company was taken over by the J & A MItchell & Co, who are the owners of the famed Springbank distillery. Today Cadenhead's is one of the most prolific bottlers in Scotland, finding unique and intriguing whiskies & rums to bottle.

This bottling is a 13 year old Single Malt Scotch Whisky from the Macduff distillery. Macduff is a lesser known distillery known for producing a lighter, fruity, clean style of whisky. The majority of their production goes into blends such as Dewar's, while they do also release some of their own single malts under the name Glen Deveron. Independ bottlers, including Cadenhead's, also track down casks of Macduff from time to time and it is always an interesting one to try. The colour is the first hint that this is indeed a lighter style of single malt, with notes of apples, pears and lemons along with some grassy notes, licorice and more. While it's a lighter style, it's also a bit rustic, and I find it changes a bit every time I go back for a sip. A classic single malt from a lesser known distillery - a fun addition as we near the end of the whisk(e)y sampler.

Kavalan Triple Sherry - Taiwan

For the last bottle in our calendar we have a punchy, Sherry driven whisky from one of the world's most unique distilleries - Kavalan. Locating in Yilan County, Taiwan, Kavalan has been crafting outstanding single malt whiskies since the first spirit left the stills in 2008 (construction began in 2005). The distillery has a great setting for making whisky, sourcing mineral-rich meltwaters from Snow Mountain. The climate here is hot and humid, providing a great climate for aging whisky.

Kavalan is a part of the King Car group of companies, and no expense was spared in building this distillery. Crafting world class whisky in Taiwan was a dream of the founder, who brought in the legendary whisky consultant Dr. Jim Swan to help dial in their style. Sadly Dr. Swan passed away in 2017, but Kavalan continued their drive for perfection under the guidance talented distillers including current head of R&D Zerose Yang, who was named Master Distiller of the Year at the 2025 International Whisky Competition. Kavalan was also named the Distillery of the Year, and they have built a reputation as one of the world's great whisky producers.

The Triple Sherry Cask uses, as the name suggests, a combination of 3 different types of Sherry cask to build this bold whisky. The three cask types are Oloroso, Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel. While some of Kavalan's whiskies are bottled at very high strength, the Triple Sherry sits at a moderate 40% alcohol allowing all of the rich Sherry character to shine through. This has a beautiful rich colour and notes of ripe berries, figs, toasted walnuts, carmelized sugar, vanilla, raisins and a hint of leather. I love a heavily Sherried whisky on a cold evening, and this should be a great dram to sip during the holidays.

Thanks for playing along with our 12 Nights of Whisk(e)y sampler. We hope you've enjoyed the journey and found at least a few new favourites along the way. Cheers!