Glenora – Glen Breton

Glenora – Glen Breton

Like several other malt distilleries around the world which were established in the late 20^th century, Glenora has had a bit of a bumpy ride at first. Things have settled down now and the future of Nova Scotia’s whisky distillery and Glen Breton, its single malt, looks secure. The production process that Glenora uses will be very familiar to anyone familiar with the Scottish way of making malt whisky. A pair of pot stills, lightly-peated (Scottish) barley, and maturation in ex-bourbon casks. Despite the similarity in production method, the people at Glenora have no intention at all to make a clone of a Scottish single malt. Far from it, they aim to make a truly local product, a Canadian single malt, as is made abundantly clear on all their packaging.

The third, and latest, release of Glen Breton is bottled with a black label sporting a red maple leaf instead of the blue label of the earlier two releases. Glen Breton ‘Rare’ is a 9 y.o., bottled at 43%. The nose has hints of leather & wood, giving way to a palate with notes of fruit and chocolate, dark liqueur-filled chocolate. Brittle sweetness with hints of toast and soap. Drier leathery notes come back in the finish. A light whisky overall, but quite enjoyable.