[Review] Wiser's Northern Border Collection 2018

So I'm here at my first Spirit of Toronto which is a whisky gala held every May in Toronto at Roy Thompson Hall. One of the big pulls of events like these are masterclasses where you can go in depth into some newly released whisky and learn very important knowledge about the industry and about what goes into making a good spirit. So I was very excited for this masterclass to finally meet Dr. Don Livermore from Hiram Walker Distillery who is a PhD of brewing and distilling and serves as Hiram Walker's master blender. We were all presented copies of his whisky wheel detailing the individual chemical compounds coming from each building block of the spirit (yeast, wood and grain) and showing how certain practices are maintained in order to understand what processes need to happen to get an ideal flavor profile for any whisky.

So during this talk we delved into this year's collection which is 6 Canadian whiskies including special editions of Pike Creek, Gooderham and Worts and Lot No. 40. So let's see how these whiskies fare compared to last years stuff.

J.P. Wiser's Seasoned Oak

This is a new edition of Wiser's coming out for Father's Day. It is aged for 19 years and finished in barrels with heat seasoned staves. It is bottled at 48% ABV.

* Colour: Light amber

* Nose: Vanilla, aniseed, rye spice, temperate fruits, maple syrup

* Palate: Molasses, Vanilla, apple, rye spice, light oak, tobacco leaf

* Finish: Medium-long with spiced leather

Very much a father's day dram. Really well composed and my surprise of the tasting

 

81 pts

 

J.P. Wiser's Canada 2018

This is what Dr. Livermore calls a "traditional" style of Canadian whisky. Its aged in new American oak, bourbon cask and ex-Canadian whisky cask. I'm not too sure what the proof was on this so I'll need to update that information later on.

* Colour: Light amber

* Nose: Vanilla, caramel, rye spice, cereals, apple

* Palate: Vanilla, toffee, candied apple, rye spice, cinnamon

* Finish: Medium with vanilla and oak

Very nice stuff, well composed definitely as full bodied as Dissertation but not as complex sadly.

 

77 pts

 

Pike Creek 21 Year Old European Oak Finish

This Pike Creek was an aging and blending experiment using three different oak types: American oak, French oak and Haungarian oak. 50% of the blend aged in French oak while the Hungarian oak is much less then the French or American oak. Im not sure if this is bottled at 45% or a new proof but I will update that information later.

* Colour: Light amber

* Nose: Clove, vanilla, allspice, caramel, cocoa, red fruits, honey

* Palate: Honeydew, sweet nuts, apple, creamy vanilla, wood tannins, rye spice

* Finish: Medium with spicy fruit and nuts

Very nice but id say its equal to the 21 Speyside but if you like your modest spice and woodsmoke you might consider trying before you buy! 

83 pts

 

Gooderham and Worts Eleven Souls

This whisky uses 11 variants of grain column distilled and pot distilled in what the ol' whisky doc calls the most complicated whisky ever designed. It is named after the 11 orphans Mr. Gooderham brought to Toronto when he came over from Europe and it is bottled at 49.0%.

* Colour: Amber

* Nose: Potent straw, vanilla, citrus, apple, grass, woodspice

* Palate: Apple, woodspice, vanilla cream, toffee, woodsmoke, building rye spice and cereal

* Finish: Medium with woodsmoke and apple

Much better then the Little Trinity but this will be retailing for $99 which might be a hard buy so try this beforehand!

 

80 pts

 

J.P. Wiser's 35 Year Old Cask Strength

This is a cask strength version of Wiser's 35 Year Old that won Canadian whisky of the year last year. It is bottled at 60% ABV.

* Colour: Light copper

* Nose: Pepper, vanilla, salted toffee, light woodsmoke, allspice

* Palate: White pepper, apple, vanilla, caramel, orange marmalade, wood tannins, some raisin in the back

* Finish: Long with spiced fruit, wood and raisin

Wow what an improvement from Wiser's 35 from 2017! At $199 for this age its amazing, definitely worth a buy if you love your rye spice!

 

87 pts

 

Lot No. 40 11 Year Old Cask Strength

An 11 year old version of Lot No. 40 Cask Strength. This batch we tried was a single barrel version bottled at 54.3% ABV.

* Colour: Amber

* Nose: Rye spice, pepper, vanilla, apple, candied fruit, cereal, floral

* Palate: Anise, rye spice, baked bread, strong cinnamon, apple, cherry, wood tannin

* Finish: Long with oak and spiced fruit

While this likely wont be too representative of the 2018 release I'm very happy to try this one. Very good stuff and always worth a buy!

 

90 pts

Thanks to Spirit of Toronto and Dr. Livermore for hosting this great tasting! The collection is growing and developing well and i cant wait to see what the good doctor has for Canadian whisky lovers in the future! 

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

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