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Celebration of the Cask I: April 29 2020 @ Winnipeg Whisky Club

SOLD OUT! Thanks Winnipeg!

Cheers………..(6 feet away)……….CHEERS!

From the lower bunker level of the Burton family residence, where the whisky could possibly last a quarantine or two, I write to you all, in quarantine, having a nice dram of Benromach Wood Finish. This particular Benromach, is finished in Sassicaia wine casks. For the first 7 of its 9 years in wood, this malt has aged in first fill bourbon barrels, followed by 2 years in a Sassicaia wine cask. The nose has a wonderful vanilla smokiness to it, with milk chocolate and sweet fruits. The palate is more of the same, with a nice oily texture. I think that the chocolate notes I’m getting are directly related to the wine cask finishing, as I’ve never really gotten that note from a bourbon matured whisky. It has a nice young aggression to it, but has matured nicely in its casks. The finish I find is a nice sweet smoke that lingers until I’m just about ready to finish this senteeeeence…sip.    Yum. I like writing and drinking about whisky.


So, the club! Who forgot about the club? I assume no one, as this club is for whisky freaks one and all, and whisky is constantly running through our brains right?Well I’m sorry if you may have forgot about us. I did neglect to write about last months meeting “The Luck of the Irish” night. I blame the pandemic!


But, the show went on! And with at least 28 members participating on Zoom out of 31 total for the month, we happened to have an incredible time, all from the comfort of our own homes. 7 Irish whiskies were sampled, with one being donated by an elite member, Victor N. A bottle of 12 yo Jameson straight from the distillery shelves, and one being donated by Corby Spirit and Wine via District Manager Blake Lelyk, Jameson Black Barrel. Thank you very much Victor and Blake/Corby for your generous donations to the night.


If you didn’t join in on the fun, all our members logged into a program called “ZOOM” and had nice little setups at home where we could video chat about our whiskies.There was certainly a small learning curve, but the event went very smoothly, everyone had a chance to participate if they wished, and our good ol Pres even muted the entire crowd while our speakers were talking about details on each specific whisky we were sampling. I know Mark enjoyed that power.We drank. We laughed. We came and went as we pleased. We didn’t have to go far because we were all at home, and we all determined, we should do it again this month.

THIS MONTH!  
A CELEBRATION OF THE CASKS I

7:00 p.m. April 29th 2020 on Zoom
$53.00 non – members (incl. $8 for sample vials)
$8.00 sample vial fee for Elite & Enthusiast members https://winnipegwhiskyclub.com/membership/

When you think about flavours in your whisky, do you ever wonder where they came from? There are a number of possibilities. The water the distillate was made from, the malt, the peat used to dry the malt, the size and shape of the copper stills, casks, char level of the casks, the things that were held in the casks before whisky was laid to rest in them, and even the warehouse by the sea that these casks aged in for all their years.
All of these steps in the whisky making process add to the flavour profile of each whisky. It is argued and lost to anyone who doubts it, that the cask, is the main contributor to the flavour and attitude of your whisky. So of course we are going to celebrate it!

Our goal is to show you how a cask can effect the profile of a whisky. There are qualities in every style of maturation. Whether its virgin oak or ex-bourbon barrels. Matured entirely in Oloroso sherry casks, or only “finished” in them. These all contribute to what we love about our whiskies. But we can get into more of that on Zoom!
Featured this month:

Deanston Virgin Oak

Arran Sauternes Cask Finish NEW!
(donated by club member Victor Wang)

Arran Amarone Cask Finish

The Balvenie 14 Year Caribbean Cask

Tullibardine 20 year First-fill Bourbon

Glenfarclas 25 Year Old (Oloroso)

Singleton of Glen Ord 14 Year Cask Strength NEW! added due to highest attendance ever!

The tasting will start at 7pm, so please contact myself, Mark, or the group’s facebook page on how to attend.
Stay safe and see you online!
James

jburtondrums@gmail.com

mark@winnipegwhiskyclub.com

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