At Glen Breton Whisky we let the quality speak for itself but when Mark Kaufmann at Whisky Whistle gave us the award for Canadian Single Malt Whisky Of The Year 2022 for our Glen Breton Rare 14 Year Old Single Malt Whisky, we were over the moon! It covered a number of key aspects of the whisky, including the color, the quality, the tasting notes, the palate, as well as the additional tasting notes. For anyone looking for a high-quality whisky and with a solid review to back it up, here are some of the highlights as to why this has won the 2022 Canadian Single Malt Whisky of The Year.
The Color and Quality
Mark at Whisky Whistle praised the light 18 to 24 carat color of our whisky and the 43 ABV as a great strength, all at a reasonable price! Focusing on the “legs,” particular attention was paid to the medium speed of the first legs and how it is fairly thick looking. Mark was particularly keen on its “beefy legs,” and how the second legs immediately highlighted a nice mouthfeel.
Tasting Notes
After diving in with the nose, it was immediately praised for its Campbeltown style “funk.” Additional notes included the sweet mushroom notes and a little bit of peat. Other comments included the taste of sweet apples, some fresh wild berries, a potent dose of vanilla, rooibos tea, and some rich cherry dark chocolate. Additional tasting notes also highlighted those Campbeltown-style funky notes being consistently present in the scent,
which you get acclimatized to. But the extra notes of a slight umami mushroom type of scent gave it that extra edge.
The Palate
Upon tasting it, Mark at Whisky Whistle’s tasting highlighted notes of bread pudding with vanilla and raisins, a little bit of fresh hay, and some grassiness. Other comments included the malted barley flavor being similar to a barley tea popular in Korea where you throw some hot water on the barley, giving out this really rich flavor. An additional point made was how the malt, fermentation, and distillation techniques resulted in the overall flavor
much more than the cask, and how the percentage of the malty flavor outcome was much more than many other distilleries today.
He also noted that our Glen Breton Rare 14 Year Old Single Malt Whisky is more like an old-school scotch whisky, with a sweet finish, a little bit of hay, and a bit of something effervescent that is almost fizzy like with a really sweet, slightly dry finish with a good medium to long length.
The Notes
Additional tasting notes focused on sweet malted barley and after an extra sniff, the smell of cooled-down wart came to the fore. The Whisky Whistle review also pointed out the bread pudding or oatmeal with brown sugar and a bit of butter, with the butter adding a little bit of saltiness to that savory note. The finish was deemed a medium and sweet finish, and barely dry and, to cap it all off, Mark at Whisky Whistle said it was “excellent!”
We’ll take that!
The Whisky Whistle Score
For our Glen Breton Rare 14 Year Old Single Malt Whisky, Mark Kaufmann at Whisky Whistle gave us a staggering 91 out of 100. We are absolutely thrilled with the feedback from Whisky Whistle. It just goes to show that we work hard to bring to everybody a flavor that is unparalleled and comes with great depth. He also pointed out our ambitions to be similar to Scottish whisky, and this is something that we like to wear as a little badge of honor. As Canada is second only to Scotland when it comes to the sheer number of distilleries, we appreciate that having a whisky that comes even close to what Scotland creates is amazing feedback. For anybody looking for high-quality single malt whisky, the Glen Breton Rare 14 Year Old Single Malt Whisky has had the seal of approval from Whisky Whistle. We love getting amazing feedback, and it just goes to show that here at our Nova Scotia distillery, we do not leave anything to chance, that we work hard on getting the perfect flavor and the ideal finish. With such a variety of notes, depth, and flavor to match, the award for 2022 Canadian Single Malt Whisky of The Year is an amazing accolade to have. We are more than proud to receive this honor and we look forward to bringing more amazing whisky in the years to come.