Here's a recent purchase...

@Nozinan a visit to Ontario would be so cool, let see how things go this year... we'd love to come out and do some filming at some Canadian distilleries.

@jeanluc, I don't drink much coffey these days, only this one and Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrels.

Had a trade bottle to take back to the LCBO, so I grabbed this as it was close to home, unusual that chapter 1(15 years) and chapter 2 (16 years) are the same price here. Both are bottled at 51.9%. Chose this over the Glenfarclas 15 Vimy Ridge Commemorative bottle at 50%. What an un-Canadian thing for me to do the day before Canada Day.

@Astroke, Whaddya bring back?...Danfield's 21? lol

@paddockjudge Never, besides that was $45. Aberlour 16 was the victim.Kept waiting for the inevitable price increase to $109 for the A16 but I got impatient as usual. I opened the GG Chapter 1 and 10 min later realized that the same store had the Vimy Ridge. The Glen Garioch is pretty good though.

@jeanluc, by all means get to Canada, but do it in winter. That is the real Canada, the Canadians' Canada. There is a reason why the Quebec Provincial drapeau is sky blue and white. That is most of what you see half of the year.

@Victor Does it make me a "not real" Canadian if I would gladly move somewhere that didn't have snow 9 1/2 months per year? In all seriousness, we have 2 seasons here: Hockey season and Construction season.

@OdysseusUnbound, I have no good answers for you. I love Canada and Canadians, but you have got to like the cold to really feel comfortable there for the long term. It is a long cold season, to be sure.

@Victor, I suppose we endure it the same way the people of North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Alaska, etc. feel. I have lived in Alberta, Southern Ontario and Nova Scotia in my 60 years. Alberta was the coldest, NS cold/wet gets into your bones, but a Southern Ontario winter is nothing, shoveled the driveway twice I think. Just saying

@Astroke, you folks in Hamilton have the advantage of being on the windward side of the lake. You are still north of Buffalo, New York, which is the snowiest big city in the US. Microclimate is to your advantage.

I know of a young US couple who moved to Leamington, Ontario a week ago. I understand that it has one of the best climates in Canada. It is the southernmost land mass of mainland Canada.

@Victor, that stretch of the 401 hwy (above Leamington) from Windsor through to London has some of the worst wind blown whiteouts this side of HWY 400 to Barrie. I have witnessed it more than once.

@Astroke, anything south of Parry Sound is a crap shoot during winter months...mother nature's cruel joke.

@paddockjudge I seem to remember working on a Laker up there in the late 80's, removing a 50 x 100 lb cylinders, CO2 engine room suppression system in one of the worst blizzards I could remember.

@paddockjudge We get 2 or 3 dumps a year. For this insurance companies want us to use winter tires. For 5 % off our premiums (for 4 months) we pay a lot more. But who can put a price on safety?

My solution... stay home, drink scotch.

@Astroke DID YOU OUTFIT THE EDMOND FITZGERALD AS WELL?

@Nozinan, don't you mean, "stay home, drink Canadian whisky."? I guess that @paddockjudge's conversion of you has not yet fully taken hold.

@Nozinan Was not fire that took the EF, that said I was still in high school in Nova Scotia. Nor did I have anything to do with the SS Mont-Blanc fire.

@Astroke I live near Midland and I work in Barrie. So I'm on that horrible stretch of the Southbound 400 five days per week. Every winter there are days where I need to run the snowblower twice per day. I'm from Sudbury, where it's colder, but there is WAY more snow here in Central Ontario.

@Victor I meant Scotch.

I admit that @paddockjudge has gone a long way toward increasing my appreciation of Canadian whisky, but on a snowy night I think I might go for something cask strength and peated, or sherried, or both. I don't think I would reach for any Canadian I have on hand.

Next winter I will be living in a home with a gas fireplace. I can see myself opening a Tempest and sitting with a glass by the fire... Anyone who wants is invited.

@Nozinan Just don't get that glass of Tempest too close to the fire.

@OdysseusUnbound, I was in Midland on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Drank some AP 25 & 30 YO in Wyevale/Tiny...along with Masterson's French Oak, Canadian Rockies 21 YO and a few other gems.

@paddockjudge You must have some friends who have nice collections. I can't imagine finding those things in the Wyevale (or even Midland) LCBO...

@OdysseusUnbound Some of that may have travelled with him...

@OdysseusUnbound, AP 25 & 30 are long gone from store shelves everywhere.

@paddockjudge I'm only aware of a couple of shelves where they can be found...

So, I recently found myself in Ottawa briefly and unexpectedly, and decided to stop by at North of Seven, a microdistillery whose first whisky reached legal maturity earlier this year. For those unfamiliar with Canadian whisky, that means it's three years old.

The current bottling has a mashbill of purple corn, wheat, rye and barley, and was matured in a first-fill, toasted and charred (#1) American oak barrel. For those familiar with Canadian whisky, you're perhaps scratching your head at my use of the word mashbill there. And it's true, North of Seven use mashbills when creating their distillate instead of distilling and maturing their grain separately, which is traditionally the norm in Canada.

Anyway, they provided a sample of some of the whisky created with the above mashbill and barrel, and I'm happy to report that it's very nice with a somewhat unusual flavour profile. It's a little bourbon-y without fully tasting like bourbon, and while it's only a little over three years old, I really couldn't taste the youth at all.

Naturally I had to buy a bottle, and I was even given a bit of a behind-the-scenes look where I was able to take a picture of the barrel my particular bottle came out of. I'm including a photo of both my bottle and said barrel.

They don't sell their whisky outside of their store, but if you ever find yourself in Ottawa I encourage you to pay them a visit.

@Nelom Very cool acquisition. I've been interested in North of 7's Leatherback Rum, but it hasn't ventured out to any LCBO outside of Ottawa. I grew up in a small town divided by highway 7, with my house being just a few hundred meters "North of 7". The locals often joke about those that live North of 7...

I haven't been on here much lately, but am happy to share a few recent purchases, not all whisky. Del Maguey Chichicapa Mezcal - this is a bottle share between myself and a few friends. Delord 25 year old Bas-Armagnac, someone returned this at an LCBO and I happen to be at the location at the time. The third bottle is Glen Garioch Renaissance Chapter II (16 year old). All very different from one another, but I'm looking forward to enjoying each one of them.

@Mancub I was going to pick up that Mezcal today in Oakville and I did get the Glen Garioch ch. 1 as it was in the LCBO close to me and I had a trade bottle. (or else I would have grabbed the chapter 2) FWIW the GG Chapter 1 is really good and very drinkable at the 51.4% so the 16 should be as good or better.

@Astroke The Del Maguey line has been on my radar for a while, but I have little experience with Mezcal, hence the share with a few friends. I actually saw on the WWW forum that you mentioned it being worth the money, and took your advice ;)

As for the GG, I read many favorable reviews and it just so happened that we were visiting friends in Toronto that live up the street from Summerhill, so I was happy to wait and acquire the older version for the same price. Glad to hear the first rendition is good. From many accounts the two bottles aren't very different, but maybe in slight favor towards the chapter II. The Glenfarclas 15 CS so happened to be at the tasting tower and I tried it, although good, it was not overly special. I also tried the Benromach 15 which I enjoyed a lot more. Good luck picking up the Del Maguey. Cheers!

@Mancub, love love love an on-the-mark bottle of Del Maguey Chichicapa Mezcal. I've tasted from three bottles. Two were wonderful, but one, owned by @numen, was off. Here's hoping you got a representative wonderful bottle! Cheers!