Due north of Glacier National Park (and basically due south of Calgary) sits High River, Alberta. Wikipedia tells me that it’s a town of about 13,000 people. So roughly six times the size of the town I grew up in. In the whisky world it’s best known for being the home of Highwood Distillers. Who, outside of Canada is best know for losing some of their bottled whisky when the Highwood River (and other area rivers) flooded and the town was evacuated.
Before tonight I only dimly remembered all of that. What I did remember was that my friend Rick thought enough of this whisky to send it to me as an alternative to the Canadian Club Rye in that massive whisky box he sent me.
My research tells me this is 100% corn and the bottle tells me that it is aged for 20 years.
Highwood Ninety 20 year old
Purchase Info: Another gift from a friend. (Available at LCBO for $50 Canadian for 750 mL)
Details: 45% ABV. 20 years old.
Nose: Thick, rich butterscotch. Corn silage, dried orange peal, maple
Mouth: Werther’s Original candy, cloves, orange and a nice peppery tingle.
Finish: Long and warm with lingering sweetness and cloves.
Thoughts: This is a very sweet whisky. But it has a really nice tingle to go along with it. And it’s a tingle, not a burn. This feels sophisticated. It knows what it is and doesn’t need to punch you in the mouth. It’s just darn good.