Review

Colkegan Single Malt

Colkegan Single Malt

Santa Fe Spirits was founded in 2010 by Englishman Colin Keegan. An architect by trade, Colin and his family built their home on an old apple orchard in the American Southwest in the early 90s. Colin decided to look at the Recession of 2008/09 as an opportunity and founded Santa Fe Spirits. After a decade and more in production, Santa Fe Spirits offer vodka, gin, apple brandy (from the orchards) and liqueurs. Their flagship product, however, is the Colkegan Single Malt. A portmanteau of the distillery’s founder, the Colkegan line uses local mesquite wood to dry a portion of the barley used in the whiskey, with other versions using various proofage and cask finishes.

Wayne Gretzky No 99 Red

Wayne Gretzky No 99 Red

What to do when you’ve finished a legendary hockey career with the moniker The Great One? You could rest on your laurels, but you could also start a winery followed by a distillery. Wayne Gretzky Estates opened in 2017 in southern Ontario and boasts a wide array of offerings from both areas, including some beer. Taking a cue from recent trends, one of the brand offerings is the Wayne Gretzky No 99 Red, a rye whisky finished in casks taken from the estate’s winery – specifically the red one. While the details on which specific red wine casks are not specified, the winery offers Merlot, Shiraz Cabernet, along with multiple mixed reds.

Westland Peated

Westland Peated

Westland Distillery opened in 2010, started by head distiller Matt Hoffman and Emerson Lamb. The core line of the distillery is made up of three single malts. This Westland Peated was first released in 2014 and is unusual because as experimental as American whiskey generally is, one element that’s almost never seen is peat. One of the more practical reasons for this is because peat is generally harvested from wetlands, and wetlands have been federally protected under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Thus, Westland imported peated barley from Scotland to add to their regular five-malt spirit to make this peated single malt. A fortunate loophole allowed them to recently start harvesting local Washington peat for future projects, but it will be a few more years before the results of that local element are released.