Gooderham & Worts Eleven Souls

On May 5th I was at Spirit of Toronto with @Nozinan and @Paddockjudge, we attended the Wiser's Masterclass that was given by Dr. Don Livermore. We were presented with the 6 new expressions that would be released by the distillery in 2018, with only an hour to take the whole experience in, I concentrated my notes on the whiskys that we're the most striking to me, it also means I might be missing some of the particulars.

The 2018 release of Gooderham & Worts will be called "11 souls", originally was to be called "11 orphans" to have another historical tie-in to another of William Gooderham's known deeds. I am not sure why they decided to change the name but perhaps the Marketing folks felt it wasn't catchy?

They indicate that this whisky is a blend of "11 grains" but one must clarify it is actually blended from 11 different whisky components or permutations of the following. 5 grain types (wheat, rye, barley, corn, Brasetto rye), two different distilling methods (double column or column/pot still) and two different barrel types (virgin or re-used casks). I do not remember if there was an age statement mentioned for this

Nose: At first a bit floral like apple blossoms, marzipan, waxy oranges/citrus, toasted almonds, really good integration of the spices throughout. The nose really grabs you right away and keeps unfolding in the most complex way.

Palate: Chewy toffee, jasmine, vanilla, a hint of tobacco, boiled honey, nice cereal notes. It has a slightly vegetal side (celery?) not unpleasant, it just provides the right nuance. Then it finishes on cloves, green apple and a a firm oak backbone.

This was very surprising, you can feel the work that went into this blend, yet it doesn't feel contrived.The palate was a good match to the nose, lots of both overt and subtle flavors.

The 2017 release of G&W the 17 year old Little Trinity failed to really capture my attention, it was technically a great whisky but I felt it lacked a bit of personality. This is definitely a step in the right direction, again it's not the instant gratification of Lot 40 CS but it has plenty happening. This was my favorite of the session.

*My score reflects some of the haste of sampling at such an event, I would probably bump it up if I could have spent more time with it.