Still Waters New Make Single Malt

Review by: TOModera

It’s pretty cool to have a distillery within 30 minutes of my house, and if you don’t hear from me for awhile, that means I’ve found a way to just live there. I’m looking forward to not just trying their original makes, but also the independent bottling of Scotch (that doesn’t count as Scotch, since it’s not bottled in Scotland).

I took a day off this last week, took a drive and badgered the poor guy who was there with questions. The first batch of single malt should be out in April, so I’d better be ready by reviewing the Still Waters New Make Single Malt. I’ve never actually tried a New Make before, so I was a little worried, however Still Water also sells your own small 1L cask to age it afterward. I may go that route, and if I do, I’ll post some reviews.

And let’s be honest; you buy a new make to support a place that you want to make cool stuff in the future. So I give them money today, and maybe some day I can go there and buy a 20 year old Cask Strength (hey, I can dream that maybe Ontario institutes better liquor laws).

Distillery: Still Waters Distillery.

Bottler: Distillery Bottling.

Region: Vaughn, Ontario, Canuckatstan Free State.

ABV: 50%

Age: 0 years.

Cask type: N/A

Price: $39.95 (CAD)

Color: A Window

Nose: Alcohol, cabbage, floral, grapes, mushrooms, wheat grass

Let’s not mince words here; this is harsh as heck when drinking by itself. It reminds me of when I used to drink vodka straight. You have to let it breathe quite a bit, and by the end of my reviews, my sails were dipping the wrong way, if you get my suBtle comment. My wife helped me out with this one, though we could only come upon a wheat grass flavour in the end. It’ll be interesting to see how this matures in the casks.

Taste: Burning, cinnamon, moss, anise

So much burning. I’m torn about the Abv; on the one hand, I wish that Ontario didn’t have ridiculous increase their prices slightly based on the Abv, which can cause some people to shy away from higher Abv. Canadian whisky, which in turn causes Canadian manufacturers to shy away from higher Abv and that they could start with a higher Abv., as they wanted to, however to sell the higher Abv and keep it under $40, they had to lower it to 50%. On the other, Golum was burnt less at the end of Lord of the Rings. It eventually mellows out, kind like a brawler coming down from a fight. Still gets it’s swings in.

Finish: Pepper, dry, alcohol, coconut, toffee, perfume

Nice finish on this. There’s that typical Canuck sweetness that lingers and that everyone loves /sarcasm, however there’s more going on here than the typical maple. I hope they develop more of the coconut and perfume.

Conclusion: So it’s hard to determine where I’m at on this one. First off, I want to say that it’s a great start, and there’s some different and unique flavours going on with this one. It’s close to a Lowland in it’s profile. Second, it’s almost hard to review this versus other ones, because other whiskeys are fully crafted and worked on. That all being said, I did pay for a bottle of this, and it was sold with the knowledge that I’d probably age it myself, so I’m going to give this a score. If you ever have extra money and you’re waiting on a new distillery to bring something out, this will give you an interesting view into what they may make in the future.

Final Score: 67.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

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