Hello there, fellow travellers. Just like you, I'm on a grand journey of whisk(e)y too. My name is Z and I'm from Hungary. I welcome you to my site where I explore the vast space of whiskies from all around the world. And let me tell you, it is a great adventure, finding whiskies from places you didn't even know produced this noble nectar of the gods.

Today we take a stroll to the North. Not Europe. America. Canada. I have friends there, that tell me it's an amazing place, except for the very dark and very cold winters. I like the cold, I can manage it much better than the heat in summer. Especially the heat that was this summer here in Hungary. 40c. Crazy thing. It must be awesome having that huge snow and going out to explore in wintertime.

We are taking a look at That Boutique-y Whisky Company's 8 year old Canadian Corn Whisky.

That Boutique-y Whisky Company

That Boutique-y Whisky Company is an award-winning independent whisky bottler of distilleries from around the world, and maker of blends.

Simply put, they bottle distilleries' whisky and slap their funky labels on the bottle.

There's a lot of things that make a Boutique-y Whisky, a boutique-y whisky. A lot of their whisky is unusual, unique and small batch. Usually all of their whiskies are non-chill filtered, natural color and bottled over 45%.

While they are passionate about great whisky, as you can see from their labels, they don't take themselves too seriously. There is a story behind every cartoon-y label, and that's why every label is hand drawn. Sometimes it speaks to the distillery, other times it speaks to something although it might not always make sense at first. Even their unnamed distillery bottle labels hold some clues…so that you can at least guess where the whisky is from.

What they bottled so far

• 79 of the 95 established single malt distilleries of Scotland. (OK some of these have been 'Teaspooned')

• They bottled a couple of the new Scottish distilleries too, there's 45 of them today (Malt Whisky Yearbook 2024)

• 6 of the 7 operational grain distilleries of Scotland.

• A number of Scotland's lost distilleries closed from the early 1980s including Port Ellen, Rosebank, Littlemill, and all seven of the lost grain distilleries.

But it's not all about Scotch Whisky! Alongside their scotch collection They've bottled plenty of whiskies from around the world:

• Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, South Africa, England, Ireland, Wales, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Finland, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Israel, Canada, and American Bourbons, Ryes, and Corn whiskeys.

Overall That Boutique-y Whisky Company is a very versatile and well established independent bottler. I hope someday soon they will bottle Hungarian whisky too.

About the Canadian Whisky

Canadian whisky is a type of whisky produced in Canada. Most Canadian whiskies are blended multi-grain liquors containing a large percentage of corn spirits, and are typically lighter and smoother than other whisky styles.

Historically, in Canada, corn-based whisky that had some rye grain added to the mash bill to give it more flavour came to be called "rye". 

The regulations under Canada's Food and Drugs Act stipulate the minimum conditions that must be met in order to label a product as "Canadian Whisky" or "Canadian Rye Whisky" (or "Rye Whisky")—these are also upheld internationally through geographical indication agreements. These regulations state that whisky must "be mashed, distilled and aged in Canada", "be aged in small wood vessels for not less than three years", "contain not less than 40 per cent alcohol by volume" and "may contain caramel and flavouring". Within these parameters Canadian whiskies can vary considerably, especially with the allowance of "flavouring"—though the additional requirement that they "possess the aroma, taste and character generally attributed to Canadian whisky" can act as a limiting factor. 

Canadian whiskies are most typically blends of whiskies made from a single grain, principally corn and rye, but also sometimes wheat or barley. Mash bills of multiple grains may also be used for some flavouring whiskies. The availability of inexpensive American corn, with its higher proportion of usable starches relative to other cereal grains, has led it to be most typically used to create base whiskies to which flavouring whiskies are blended in. 

There are not many active distilleries in Canada. They are based in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.

TBWC Core Range 8 yo Canadian Corn Whisky - Natural Color, Non-Chill filtered, 45.8%

"Delve into the distinct character of our sherried 8 Year Old Canadian corn whisky.

Matured in 100% Oloroso casks, this is a reminder of the Canadian landscape, a spirited embodiment of the land's rich agricultural heritage.

…and Moose, obviously..

A small batch release of circa 1,000 litres each time

Non chill-filtered, and natural cask matured colour 

ABOUT THE LABEL

In keeping with our 'deer theme' for the labels for this collection we picked the Moose.

Because why wouldn't you?

Boutique-y Whisky artist, Emily Chappell, is a genius. Period.

The colours of the labels reflect the colour palette of the Aurora Borealis, while the 'wave pattern' across all of the labels symbolises the way the Aurora Borealis is always moving in the sky, if you've been lucky enough to see it."

Nose: Sweetness right away. Sweet corn, lots of vanilla and caramel. Buttered french toast and some toasted oak. Fruit cake. Sherry, a lot of it. Dried fruits such as figs, raisins. Cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Very christmas-y. Almonds and milk chocolate. This is a very sweet, very welcoming nose.

Taste: Whew, hefty. Bold. Oily and velvety. Sweet popcorn, vanilla and toffee. Nutella, fruit cake and roasted nuts. There is a black pepper rush with a hint of mint. Then sweet sherry takes over in the form of figs and dates. Again Christmas spices such as cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. A nice underlying oak influence. Canned peaches and pineapple. The alcohol is very well hidden. Very friendly, vefry sweet and very tasty. A huge surprise.

Finish: Long finish with lots of sweetness, spices and oak. The most dominant note is definitely vanilla and dried fruits. Hint of dark chocolate and espresso. Lovely.

Overall this is a very big surprise. I didn't expect much to be fair, but I was very pleasantly surprised. This is a very friendly and very good dram. I'm very surprised as to how nicely this whisky smells and tastes. The Oloroso influence left a very nice mark and I think they used a very good quality cask and not a seasoned one. It gave truly nice dried fruit notes and none of that sour, acidic notes that a bad sherry cask does. I whole-heartedly recommend this whisky. Christmas season is coming soon and this is an amazing whisky for those times. But let me say that this whisky is for those who love a sweet drink. Since this whisky surprised me so much I can do nothing else but to give it 89 / 100. One of the biggest surprises for me this year. Buy it, try it. Drink responsibly.

Some pictures in this article are not owned by me, I tagged their owner and I attached a link of their site. All other pictures that have my logo on them are TAKEN AND OWNED BY ME.

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Check out the points on all the whiskies I've rated and ranked head-to-head over HERE.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. To many more. Sláinte.