Whisky and mountains? Yes, please. The Banff Whisky Experience gave us the perfect excuse to visit Banff and enjoy amazing landscapes while sipping (and learning about) my favorite beverage. In addition to two nights of tastings, the Banff Whisky Experience offered two days of masterclasses that featured coopering, chocolate pairings, single casks, ryes, bourbons, and the list goes on. Let me tell you about our weekend…
Masterclasses
The whisky nerd that I am, I was stoked about the fun and educational masterclasses. There were a total of fifteen masterclasses offered, and we were able to attend four of them. I only wish we had been able to attend more!
Beyond the Barrel: The Art of Coopering
In whisky-making, the cask used has a massive impact on the flavor of the spirit. Scottish Cooper Kristofer Watson provided a wonderful sneak peek into the art of coopering. He taught us about the different casks, and the tools used to rebuild, rejuvenate, and repair these precious vessels. While technology has modernized a few parts of coopering, many of the tools they use are the same as in decades past. He even demonstrated raising a cask, which is really cool to see if you’ve never had the opportunity to visit a cooperage.
Kris was great about answering our dorky questions from stave sizes to char levels. It was wonderful to hear from someone who produces such a key ingredient to creation of whisky.
Quick Takeaway: Skilled distillers and blenders are imperative to the creation of a good whisky, but we can’t forget about the craftsmanship of a cooper.
A Love of Single Cask & Small Batch Whisky
Single cask whiskies are a fun way to experience an intensity of flavor that is rare in more widely-distributed whisky expressions. Single cask expressions really showcase the impact of a barrel on the flavor of a whisky. Evan Eckersley, from the Kensington Wine Market in Calgary, led the class and introduced the whiskies he hand-picked to share with us.
He explained each of the seven whiskies to us, what was noteworthy about each one, and led a tasting of them all. Evan was very engaging, encouraged us to share our tasting notes, and ask questions about these unique whiskies.
While they were all distinctive in their own way, the one that really stood out to me was a Gordon & MacPhail Caol Ila 2002. Some Caol Ilas give me the impression of licking a lightly-salted campfire, but this one was different. It was still rich and smoky, but was more balanced with some sweetness and graininess shining through. A fine example of the unique flavors of a single cask!
Quick Takeaway: Buying whisky from an independent bottler is a way to get an exceptional whisky that is specifically chosen for its unique flavor.
The Secret Single Malts
This masterclass was a blind tasting hosted by Peter Burns from Craftworks Spirits. He gave us a few small details about each whisky, but really wanted us to focus on the flavors we experienced and not be subconsciously influenced by knowing the distillery.
Then he cheerfully blew our minds by telling us (a room of Scotch lovers) that only one of the six was Scotch! The rest were unexpected gems from France, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands. This was a friendly reminder that excellent single malts can be made outside of Scotland. (Single malt Scotch will always be my first love, don’t you worry.) However, I’ll definitely have to explore more of these new-to-me distilleries!
While they were all wonderfully surprising, the big standout for me was the Spirit of Hven Limited Edition Alioth (Sweden.) It was a balanced dram with vanilla, malty, sweet notes and a good puff of smoke. I now have two favorite Swedish distilleries – who knew? (Since you didn’t ask, the other is Mackmyra.)
Quick Takeaway: Don’t be a snob – great single malts can come from places other than Scotland!
Ardbeg: Peat and Love
Thus far, we hadn’t really tasted too many peat monsters from Islay, so I was looking forward to an Ardbeg peatfest. Ardbeg and Glenmorangie Brand Ambassador Bryan Simpson led us through a solidly smoky tasting.
We were lucky enough to visit the distillery in 2016, and are very familiar with their core range. The first part of the tasting was revisiting these old favorites, and then we tried two special Committee bottlings. They were both wonderful, and of course, a bit more difficult to obtain. Ardbeg can be a delightful smoky smack in the face, but the Committee bottlings were more balanced yet dynamic in flavor. Bryan was an enthusiastic Ardbeg fan before becoming a brand ambassador, and it was apparent how much he enjoyed representing this whisky.
Quick Takeaway: Ardbeg has a distinct and powerful flavor, and tasting them side by side is a great way to discern the subtle changes in flavor.
Grand Tastings
Being educated in some of the finer details of the whisky industry is thirsty work, so we were ready for the evening grand tastings.
North American Whisk(e)y Tasting
The first tasting was focused on whiskies from the United States and Canada. Admittedly, the number of Canadian whiskies I had tried prior to this was… zero. So what a perfect opportunity to become acquainted with them! I loved having the opportunity to also chat with the distillers and representatives to learn their backstory. While we enjoyed all of the whiskies, there were a few standouts.
Eau Claire Distillery (Alberta’s first Single Malt distillery) was a very balanced, drinkable single malt with light and delicate flavors. I had a wonderful chat with their Master Distiller, Caitlin Quinn, about all sorts of geeky details of their process. I can’t wait to try their future expressions.
Shelter Point, on Vancouver Island, had a few very interesting offerings, but their French Oak Double Barreled Whisky was particularly good. Notably, they also had a whisky made with 100% unmalted barley, which is a rare, and certainly an interesting dram to sample.
My last standout was Two Brewers from the Yukon. They offered a few expressions, and I’m always a sucker for a Pedro Ximenez finished single malt. They also had a Peated whisky, which appeared to be a rare offering by Canadian distillers.
It’s unlikely that I would come across these whiskies without this event, and even less likely that I would be able to speak with the people who make it. I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting whiskies, and I’m so happy we found some delightful gems.
International Whisky Tasting
This tasting was the final event of the weekend, and there were so many great options available to sample! Many of the exhibitors either attended or led masterclasses earlier in the day, so it was fun to have another chance to speak with them and try their whiskies. Over the course of the evening, I had a few drams that were particularly notable:
The Kensington Wine Market had a Scotch Malt Whisky Society 10.129 single cask bottling from Islay (Bunnahabhain). It was a little smoky, spicy, and sweet. Another reminder to check into single cask bottlings like this one.
Craftworks had another fine whisky from the Swedish distiller Hven, that caught our fancy. Seriously, I need to explore this distillery!
My absolute favorite of the night, however, was The Balvenie’s Tun 1509, Batch 3 & 4. The Balvenie’s Brand Ambassador, Jamie Johnson, pulled these delicious whiskies from her (magical) backpack after I chatted with her for awhile. I don’t know if I could pick between them because they were both so wonderful, but they both have layers of sweet vanilla, fruits, and some spices. If you have the opportunity to sample one, do it!
Bonus: Hiking in the Canadian Rockies
Of course, we didn’t go to Banff only for the whisky! Despite the seasonally-confused weather, we still had some fantastic hikes with new friends. There are a ridiculous number of options in the area, but some local tips helped us select some great trails for the few days we were in town. Just to give you a taste…
Lake Minnewanka: A beautiful teal lake, surrounded by majestic mountains and golden aspen. We stopped a lot to say “WOW.”
Plain of the Six Glaciers: A fun hike next to the beautiful Lake Louise. Again, there are beautiful mountains all around, and the teahouse at the end was amazing! We thoroughly enjoyed some heavenly tea, soup, and cake, and the company of the staff. Did I mention the cake?
Conclusion
The area was stunning. The masterclasses were fascinating. The whisky was delicious. The people were fun and friendly. The trails were spectacular. We had an incredible trip, and I would absolutely go again. There are so many more trails to hike and whiskies to sample!
