Caldera Canadian Whisky - The Maritimes in your glass

You can ask anyone from the #whiskyfabric who has come to stay with Graham and me, our life is wholesome, simple and good. Summer = Fantastic craft beer, fresh lobster and sailing. Winter = Hunkering down during bad storms, feet up by the fire, music/whisky and good food with friends. 

-35C & 7ft banks - Walk in the park!

We are indeed a rugged lot and living in the Maritimes offers us many things the rest of Canada doesn't necessarily get to experience: Spirit of community, life quality and a live and let live mentality. Now this is where people will say: "Now come on Johanne, you can find that anywhere in the world" and I won't argue that you can't. 

What I'm saying is, for most of us, our way of life is passed on from many generations of people who were the 'have not's" and as a result we are genetically inclined to look out for each other, take everything in stride and are built for survival. Just a few examples: After a massive snow storm, we help our neighbours dig out. While Montrealers drive for 3 hours to make their way to cottages in the Laurentides, I take my bicycle and drive about 5 minutes down to our boat on the Kennebecasis river and no I don't care what the color of your skin is, what religion you practise or who you choose as a life partner. 

Maritimers also share a deep love for beer, rum and whisky. The history of rum and beer is a long one but our first whisky distillery didn't take root until 1989 in the highlands of Cap Breton (NS). As we usher in 2016, we now have a few distilleries in each Maritime province making whisky. 

Truth be told there were two recent ones I had my eye on after seeing a few remarks on twitter about them back in October 2015 (thanks Bruce!) but I was immediately skeptical by some of the labels people were posting so went looking for website and product information. I'm not one to mince words - I was not impressed with the marketing "schitck" of either website but when my friend Craig reviewed the Caldera Hurricane 5 Blended Whisky and it gave me a bit more hope... 

http://nsbeerandwhisky.blogspot.ca/2015/10/caldera-hurricane-5-batch-0001.html

Then I saw both would be poured at the Celebrate Whisky Show on March 5th and ensured they were both tasted. The first one tanked. I didn't like it at all I am really sorry to say. So I was a bit nervous as we headed to the next table. I ended up having a quick conversation with the owner/distiller - Jarret Stuart. I was very impressed by his whisky and bought a bottle to take home. Graham and I ended up contacting him later in the week and asked if we could come to visit him in the new location in River John Nova Scotia.  

We arrived shortly after lunch on Saturday March 12th (Graham's birthday). I knew as soon as we walked through the door Jarret was on the same wavelength as a true Maritimer. Dressed in Carhartt pants and Canada's equivalent to his 'wellies' we received warm handshakes followed by some Mortlach served in mason jars. (Man knows how to serve a good whisky!) He and Graham grabbed the old sofa in the corner and carried it over to where the current bottling area is and the three of us spent the afternoon sitting amidst brand new distilling equipment, glass bottles and thousands of boxes destined for market. We discussed whisky, rum making and Jarret's plans for the future. Caldera will be one of the few craft distilleries in Canada that grows its own grains: Corn, barley and rye and then turns them into whisky. First crops are being planted in April 2016 (that explained the website information).

In the meantime, his current whisky in his own words: "It's a whisky recipe I made and perfected here in my small still in Nova Scotia but I've outsourced it to a distillery out west where they make it to my specifications and ship it back to River John where I finish it locally". 

It sells for $33/bottle. Yeah... I was a little bit gobsmacked!?!

He was quite honest in saying he could have upped the ABV or sold it at the recommended $45 price point and would have made more money but that's not what he wanted on the market. This is the Maritimes after all and sometimes it's about having less in the moment to gain more in the long run. I was impressed with his constant honesty and full disclosure at all times. 

I wanted to share my take on his whisky because I often think in "pictures" and as I quietly sipped on my Caldera the very first time at the whisky show this is what came to mind:

It's a Friday night and Graham and I have had a long draining work week. We shed our monkey suits, get into our jeans/t-shirts and flip flops. I prep two nice steaks, yell out to Graham to see if he wants me to pour a whisky while we enjoy some down time and wait for the BBQ to fire up. I pour two glasses of Hurricane 5 and we sit in our deck chairs. Nancy waves from across the street and comes over to ask how my dad is doing. We chat and she leaves to drive Greg to ball hockey. As the sensuous golden liquid slowly disappears from our glasses so does the stress that was weighing us down. Suddenly as we sit listening to distant lawn mowers, birds chirping and the sizzle of the steaks, we are officially 'defragged'. 

Hurricane 5 is a small piece of the slower pace, come what may, relax & put your feet up, you can borrow my ladder, did you need a pie for your fundraiser: 'Maritimes'. That's why this whisky excited me so much at the show and I named it as the top of my five favourite drams that night. I felt like I found a whisky that emulated what we live here on the east coast. Best value for money find of the night, hands down!

I decided to share with Jarret what I had experienced and as I recounted that first glassful he sat back with his mason jar, smiled and said: "That's exactly what I want people to feel when they drink my whisky". 

So then I reminded him the only place you can get Hurricane 5 right now is Nova Scotia which is where he grinned even wider and divulged that Alberta will be the second province to get it, likely before the beginning of May 2016 (price point might be slightly higher due to transportation costs but he's hoping to keep it as low as possible) so of course I pressed on... where next? His answer was: "I was thinking world domination" (also has a great sense of humour) but on a serious note he's looking at the possibility of representation in Ontario, Quebec and as far as Texas by the end of this year. 

Just look at his smile!!! Happy, happy man ;)

Graham and I had a really great afternoon that Saturday. We also had the opportunity to participate in the bottling line. On average 4 men can rinse, fill, seal, label and pack 600 bottles in one hour. And you can't be from here and not know how much fun it is to sit in a brand new tractor! 

Jarret is doing his best to keep as much of the local flare for his spirits: Caldera was the name of one of the ships built in River John back in 1884 that sailed around the world. Hurricane 5 (name of his blended whisky currently on the market) is just that. Back in 1939, before they named storms, the owner of the barn where Jarret currently houses aging spirits, scrawled 'Oct 18/39 - Storm' on one of the large cross beams. Looking at the weather records, I found this was considered the most dangerous of the storms that year and was simply referred to as Hurricane 5. It would have been classified as a class 4 in today's terminology with winds up to 150 - 200 km/h. The whisky label is quite unique in that it's made from local birch wood (yes, it's wooden). 

Jarret wants to grow, make, promote and sell true local whisky/rum. He is committed to making that happen. 

My tasting notes (in case you were wondering):

Caldera Hurricane 5 Blended Whisky, 40% ABV

Nose: Just a spray of rye spices and then huge creamy toffee. Detect some freshly ground cloves but it's in the backdrop after it's been in the glass for a few minutes.

Palate: Smooth, silky and sweet. Nice notes of fresh gingeroot and honeyed citrus flavours.

Finish: Not long, slightly tannic with peppery notes. Lovely, balanced whisky from start to finish.


We will be watching as Jarret continues his journey as one of the east coast's new distilleries. Graham plans to be back when planting season starts and I really look forward to his rum production too!

Again, there's something to be said about the spirit of the east coast and I can't wait for the rest of Canada (and hopefully the world as Jarret says) to sip away at this laid back, enjoyable and very affordable Canadian whisky. 

I'll be there in spirit proudly saying: "Welcome to the Maritimes, put your feet up and stay awhile..."

Lassie

PS -> You will note in the photo taken above that Graham and I have initialed the bottle. Actually we initialled 6 total. They have been packed and are going to market...  Jarret will be posting on his website and social media channels that if anyone finds the bottles in question and posts about it, they may get something special!  Looking forward to seeing if anyone actually finds them!  ;)

Mystery Blogger - Review of Celebrate Whisky 2015, Halifax NS

Sometimes I wonder if I've become a bit 'blazéed' when it comes to attending whisky shows. The faces all start to look alike as do the venues and the products. I aim for the tables where I know there will be whisky I haven't tried yet. But, as many of you know, that can get harder with every passing year. So after going to the Celebrate Whisky event again this year in Halifax Nova Scotia, I thought maybe along with my own review it might be a good idea to get a few opinions from people that were there. What transpired was a bit magical. 

Many people were happy to give me their impressions and one friend in particular said: "Sure I'll write up a little blurb". They ended up surprising themselves as well as me with a full length review. I've known 'Mystery Blogger' for a few years now therefore I'm quite pleased that they wrote this. The only caveat is that they remain faceless/nameless. Done -> Let's do this!

Mystery Blogger reviews Celebrate Whisky 2015:

"After several years of using the Lord Nelson Hotel as a venue, NSLC relocated their annual Celebrate Whisky show to new surroundings at Casino Nova Scotia. In some ways this event came full circle as the former NSLC Ceilidh, a show that began much like the current one before veering into an all-spirits event and eventually being discontinued, was once held in the same room about 10 years ago. The rationale for moving this year seemed to be one of allowing them to sell more tickets to the event by holding it in a larger room. Unfortunately it did not seem to help much as the show sold out in 5 hours, leaving lots of unhappy prospective attendees out in the cold. Word on the show floor was that they are thinking about doing two shows next year to help meet the demand, perhaps an afternoon and evening split like the wine show has. One hopes this sends a message that there is a large untapped demand for access to whisky in Nova Scotia that isn't currently being met unless you travel out of province.

The NSLC also has a pre-show 'panel', which they have done in each of the last couple of years. This year if you purchased a ticket to the panel you also were admitted to the show, eliminating the oddity of previous years where panel tickets were sold separately and at a lower price than show tickets. What happened then was that panel ticket holders could also buy whisky that was available only at the show, causing some tensions when limited-quantity exclusive whisky was sold to customers who bought a cheaper ticket than did those who went to the show itself. This year that problem was solved by tying the two together.

The panel, while a pleasant enough event, has never really worked in my opinion. The ability to use it as a learning experience depends on who is presenting and how well they tell their story. 

Unlike master classes where someone from a distillery is talking about 4 or 5 of their own products, usually with much passion and a common theme, in this format you have 5 people from different companies talking about just one product each, and it can feel disjointed. There can be too many different styles and approaches, and if you have a clinker in the group, you lose interest in a hurry. The other thing missing this year was any attempt to pair food with the whiskies on offer, which was a real eye-opener in previous years. This was the one major step down with the change of venue, as the Lord Nelson food was absolutely incredible and prolific, whereas this year's food was certainly acceptable but not at the same level of either quantity or quality.

PANEL WHISKIES

• In terms of the whiskies, the oft-overlooked Longmorn 16 may have opened some eyes with its well-rounded, herbal and fruity character, although it made me miss the dearly departed 15 year old version that was such an incredible bargain for many years.
• Highland Park Dark Origins was pleasant, offering some rounded HP character, and at $99 was likely decent value given the price of other HP expressions these days, despite it being a NAS whisky that was said to have a lot of 15 year-old liquid blended with some younger stuff. Unlike some other NAS whiskies, with this you could be fooled into thinking it wasn't NAS, though that trend continues to disturb me.
• Talisker Storm, also featured on the panel, was the other side of the coin and for me it was not particularly interesting nor something I would buy for myself. Too bad, as Talisker 10 and the incredible Talisker 18 are among my favorites.
  
• My love-hate relationship with Ardbeg continued with their Auriverdes, which I found  disappointing. Old Ardbeg 10's which I have been fortunate enough to try are excellent and bear little in common with the current 10 year-old, which I find rather rough and extreme. The Auriverdes reminded me of that, in spades, with lots and lots of water needed to tame the overwhelming smoke and phenols. The Corryveckan and Uigeadail have lots of the Ardbeg character too, but in what to me is a more balanced and approachable package.
  
  
  Sorry, Ardbeg, this one isn't for me. 

• We were also able to try the Glen Breton 14, which wood-lovers may like more than I did, though it was certainly a step up from their mainstream Glen Breton 10.
• Oddly, at the very end, we were served a sample of Mackinlay's Shackleton Journey, a rather pricey vatted concoction made by Whyte and MacKay's master blender Richard Paterson to recreate the whisky recovered from Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition of the early 1900s. Very good, with lots going on, but a whisky I found hard to pin down in terms of style. This seemed a bit rushed in presentation and perhaps worthy of a bit more attention. Strangely, it came across almost as a bit of an afterthought in the context of the panel.  

As for the show itself, there were more whiskies on offer than ever before, with some interesting choices available, far too many to discuss here. With so many available there is no way to try them all so you needed to be very selective. 

For me one of the highlights was the ability to sample a whisky priced at a rather stiff $750, a Duncan Taylor Bunnahabhain 34. It was, as you would expect, quite lovely. It is difficult to appreciate the qualities of such a rarefied whisky in the typical show environment, unfortunately. 

Something like that deserves the right ambiance, the ability to sit and savour and think about what you are tasting, and surroundings worthy of the cost. All I can really tell you, given I was in a noisy, crowded room being hustled out of the way by the crowd, was that it was very good indeed. There were lots of other good choices too, and I left very satisfied by the product offerings.

Now, a couple of criticisms. First, the NSLC again failed to establish an on-site store for attendees wishing to purchase product. Instead as they have done in the past they had an order desk where you could order product which would then be available for pickup in a couple of weeks time. The process was slow and time-consuming, as it is every year, and not very satisfying. I understand the issue with setting up an on-site store - you have to actually haul the store fixtures and equipment to the show location, set it all up, then bring down and shelve the product, and at the end knock it all down and haul it back - but the current model is simply painful. Plus, it removes any chance of a customer making an impulse or last-minute purchase, because quite frankly, if you have already gone through that ordering line once earlier in the evening, you are unlikely to want to repeat the experience. I have to think that alone costs them a lot of sales and adds to leftover inventory. It's time for them to get serious about this show and provide a proper store.

Secondly, while I find the show a fun event each year, it never fails to bring home to me the lack of attention paid to the whisky category by the NSLC the other 364 days on the calendar. With all these products available to them, and the demand for show tickets so high, it disappoints me to see so much of the same old product on the shelves with very little change year over year. 

The NSLC seems primarily to focus its attention these days on wine, along with mainstream beer and spirits. I understand that they do need to make the bulk of their profit from those mainstream products, but as the provincial liquor board I feel they do us a disservice by not rotating more of these high-end whiskies over the course of the year the way they somehow seem to do quite easily with wine. Unlike the situation in New Brunswick, where there is a strong relationship between ANBL and the whisky community, here it seems largely dependent upon local agents being able to persuade NSLC to list their product. 

A little more attention by the NSLC to offering customers more of these high-end whiskies on a rotating basis would surely not be that hard, given that they do exactly that with wine, and would greatly improve the NSLC's rather tattered reputation within the whisky community. The show would certainly seem to indicate the demand is there if the NSLC wants to make the effort to meet it."

And with that, ends the mystery blogger's review...

My post will follow in a few days for comparison and I strongly encourage others who were there to leave comments on what you thought as well!

Cheers lovely #whiskyfabric

Lassie