Whisky Advent Calendar - Day 3 - ⁠deVine Ancient Grains Wine Cask

deVine Distillery
Canada
57.4%
Mash bill: BC barley, spelt, emmer, khorasan, & einkorn
Barrels used: Brand new American oak quarter-casks, finished in a European oak wine cask

deVine Distillery started out as a Vineyard! My personal favourite wine was their foch with flavours of black cherry & soft tannins. Over the years their spirits started taking the limelight, and for good reason! Ken Winchester had been creating an incredible line up of varying spirits & eventually whiskies. Thus Ancient Grains was born, a spirit aged up to about 15 months but made of such a blend of grains a brand new experience arrived. I have long said it’s one of my favourite whiskies, & it’s not even old enough to be labelled a whisky!

What we have as our dram today is a taste of legacy, heritage, and evolution. One of the very same barrels that aged their last vintage of Foch have been used again to finish a small batch of their Ancient Grains. Since deVine cancelled their wine licence last year to focus entirely on spirits, this is a beautiful nod to a full circle moment in the distillery's story.

Tasting notes: The original Ancient Grains has a spicy sweetness to it that always brings new notes to the palate. This version extends that even further by adding in juicy ripe grape notes, some rich blackberries, with a kiss of dark raisins. Our first cask strength too!

Adding water: Here’s my take in a not very scientific but still scientific way, once alcohol reaches 50%, the flavour molecules are essentially taken over by the alcohol molecules, resulting in less flavour. When we add a few drops of water to our dram, we are freeing the flavour molecules allowing us to literally taste it more intensely. Thus we often hear people say a dram “really opens up”.

Always taste your whisky without adding water first, so you can taste & decide where to go. After that, feel free to add water, ice, or whatever you want because it’s your whisky! If you’re drinking & enjoying it, you’re doing it right. My job is to share the tips & tricks to help you enjoy it the best way possible!