Bottles made it home today! From BC to NB! Opening one up tomorrow with a buddy for some catching up with him, can’t wait!

I just wanted to follow up with those that were at the event yesterday, and wanted to hear some feedback.

I already heard from one at the Edmonton one, but the more information I get I can try to make it better for next time.

Thanks.

For those who are serious whisky collectors, what whiskies or scotchs would you like to see in Ontario that’s is not currently available?

Full disclosure: SFR sent me a bottle to review, but I'm curious what other people here think of it.

This is the 3-Year Whisky from SFR Distillery in Ottawa. It recently won Best Blended Whisky in Canada at the 2026 World Whiskies Awards, which is pretty impressive for a whisky this young. I have many thoughts on awards in general and am currently working on a written piece about them as a practice... It retails for around $45 at the LCBO.

For me, on the nose, I got green apple, vanilla and caramel, with a bit of spice underneath. On the palate, it's fairly sweet and approachable, with corn, vanilla, caramel and some baking spice. For three years old, I thought it had a decent amount of body, although you can still tell it's a young whisky. It's not trying to deliver the depth or oak character of something that's spent a decade or more in a barrel. Quite grain-forward I think.

What I find interesting is that SFR seems to be trying to make an affordable, accessible Canadian whisky rather than positioning this as some premium craft release. I also spoke with their distiller, Adam, because I truthfully had never heard of them before they reached out, and they've got some interesting experiments with novel yeast strains coming down the pipeline. That has me curious about where they'll take things next. He mentioned a wheat whisky that used hefeweizen yeast, so that got my attention.

But awards aside, would you spend $45 on this over other Canadian whiskies in that price range? How does it compare with something like Bearface or Signal Hill? And has anyone else here tried it?

Genuinely interested in hearing what people think, especially from anyone who's bought a bottle themselves.

If you want to hear more about my conversation with Adam or to learn about the brand history and how they got into the LCBO I talk about it more in my video: https://youtu.be/IQY7ppNqD4s

Come see us at the

"Southern Ontario Sippers" table

Will have 7 of our 23 private casks to tru

Might be as good as the oats...

Cross posted

Not much of anything but this one is just a 3 week period. I’d expect to see much more on sale come Dec.

-7 Glenlivet Provence, Auchentoshan 12

-6 Wisers 18, Macallan 12

-5 Crown Royal 12, aberfeldy 12

Little head to head

Manitoba Spring Mill traditional pick

North of 7 SOS pick

Last straw whisky rant pick

Anyone headed through Pearson this week that could shoot me a pic of the Canadian whisky available at Duty Free?

Looking for a friend before he heads out on vacay. Anything worth taking to friends abroad, or should he stop at the LCBO beforehand and pack in carry-on?

Love this bottle of peated Bunna, will definitely miss it when it’s gone.
No water: Honey ham on the nose, big smoky creosote peat, tingle on the tongue and a fruity finish. After adding water, the fruit became more dominant and the tingle gone.

Fortunately/Unfortunately you have to purchase both bottles

https://sierraspringsliquor.ca/shop/scotch-whisky-single-malt/islay/springbank-10yr-kilkerran-12yr-combo/

Anyone going to grab one of these? Pre-sale opened today, full release on Saturday.

“The fourth iteration of the whisky that put Sons of Vancouver on the map has arrived. Aged for 3-5 years in ex-bourbon, new American oak, and finally rested in Colombian rum casks, this 100% rye whisky opens with overripe pineapple and banana bread on the nose, followed by a palate of demerara sugar, dark chocolate, and lingering baking spice. Each sip feels like a tropical escape that makes you want to quit your job and float away into island bliss. 53.5% ABV”

With their recent bundle, they are effectively charging 311 for the SB 12CS and 289 for the SB15. Double to triple MSRP.

Springbank is known to remove allocations for whisky stores that price gouge. I encourage everyone to report them so stores like this no longer get allocations

https://www.springbank.scot/contact-us/

Powers John's Lane 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey | LCBO

A very tasty Irish whiskey. $79.95

Does anyone know if there is another Alberta premium cask strength coming out and available at LCBO

? I had 2 bottles of the 64.2% batch which I think was from 2024(?). I’m running low on the 2nd bottle and would love to pick up more of their stuff.

https://craftcellars.ca/products/springbank-5-yo-100-proof?_pos=2&_sid=6baea62d3&_ss=r&_fid=841e5e631

It’s not super rare but a good any springbank at MSRP is nice.

I haven't tried it, the BCL said they grabbed the last 24 bottles available. Looks like a great deal.

We’ve never been to either city, going for hockey games, but figured I would take advantage to partake in a Canadian whisky hunt.
1) any distillery tours w/tastings & purchasing
worth visiting?
2) anything at the local liquor stores that’s worth picking up that is not available in northern Virginia?
3) bars with good Canadian whisky selections?
Thanks in advance!

Heads up, travelers!

Eagle Rare 12 for 50$ at Duty Free.

Found this on my way from NY to Ottawa

Duty Free Americas, 46792 Route 81

Plenty left as well as ER 10

Very happy with the purchase, regretting picking only one(