Beaver’s Dram Canadian Whisky – Sherry Wood Finish (46%)
Dunrobin Distilleries was born during the pandemic. Primed to get started on building their operation, the company was waylaid by COVID and instead settled on a hastily arranged collaboration with the folk at Beau’s Brewing in Vankleek Hill. In to the brewery went the still and out came hand sanitizer distilled from ungracefully aging Beau’s beer, followed rapidly by numerous feel-good news stories.
As life returned to normal, the distillery settled in at 10 Terry Fox Drive for the long haul, with plans to relocate to the Ottawa suburb of Stittsville apparently on hold for the time being. In the meantime, initial products included a tasty, citrus-floral-herbal gin broadly in the London Dry style, which I wrote about quite favourably in mid-2021 for the Wines in Niagara website, and a purple Earl Grey Gin, followed eventually by triple grain, triple barrel Dunrobin Canadian Whisky.
The trajectory of the company changed in the summer of 2022 when the Swiss company 7 Seals Innovation purchased a 40% stake in the company, which they subsequently raised to 56% in mid-2023. One of the things that 7 Seals brought to the deal was their patented Stockhausen Method, which in a complicated process uses tannin-reduced wood flakes, which they call ‘ennoblers,’ to speed age the whisky. For whiskies marketed with wood finishes, the ‘ennoblers’ are crafted from the specified wood, as with this whisky treated with flakes derived from used sherry casks. No other method or extra ingredients, are used.
Whether from its original barrels or the finishing wood flakes, the colour is a fairly dark gold, bordering on copper, while the aroma presents an impressive, assertive, and unique mix of vanilla, caramel, clove-studded orange peel, dried stone fruit, stewed raisins, and a touch of nutmeg. The palate entry is mildly sweet and orangey, also a tad floral, before it blossoms on the mid-palate to a rich mix of orange and apricot, dark chocolate and spice cake, marzipan and raisin, with an initially subtle but gradually rising peppery spiciness. The finish is a touch phenolic, quite spicy, and lingers with flavours of orange and lemon zest.
Given the timeline of Dunrobin/7 Seals, I have to guess that this is the same spirit as the Dunrobin Canadian Whisky noted above, but given the Stockhausen treatment. That being the case, it is the same three grain blend of corn, rye, and wheat, with the most assertive of the three being without question the rye, which adds the peppery spice note which grows throughout the course of the tasting experience.
It seems to me that while the Stockhausen Method does not to my palate add age to the spirit the likes of which you’d get out of a conventional maturation, it definitely does alter the whisky in a distinctive and impressive fashion. The closest I can come to is the sensation of rancio found in well-aged Cognacs, something I’ve very rarely noted in whiskies of any origin, even those aged in wood for forty years or more.
(I was also able to try the Port Wood Finish, which is even darker in colour, far fruitier on the nose, and expressive of the port wood in a fresh and vibrant manner, quite different from the Sherry Wood Finish but just as enjoyable.)
While it might not be the ‘Holy Grail’ of fast-aging for whisky, the Stockhausen Method has here produced a Canadian whisky of singular character, assertive yet soft on the palate, expressive of its grain bill without being chewy or overly sweet, and barrel-accented but neither woody nor tannic. If the Dunrobin-7 Seals partnership continues to produce whiskies of this caliber, and ultimately even better, then its future is bound to be bright.
85 ($50)