BLACKSTRAP

I love how the blackstrap flavour pushes through the rum, and I am extremely enthusiastic about Cask Two and beyond. I hope that the guys at the Last Straw Distillery continue to blaze their own path in the rum and spirits world.

"Caramel, butter cookie dough, icing sugar and orchard fruits such as apple, peach and pear blend into a nose that freshens up the room. The apples are colossal. The firm palate melts like butter with clean corn spirit and an outpouring of black pepper. This tight package transitions into a heart warming glow for a proper moonshine finish that warms the chest. Darker Side of the Moonshine is life affirming for the philosophical who question existence."

Last Straw Distillery is a brand new entrant to the ever growing list of distilleries here in Toronto. Along with Yonghurst and Toronto Distillery Co they are helping to bring craft distilling back to our great city. I’ll do a proper overview of the entire company soon enough but for now I am reviewing one of their first products: Gin 21. As you could probably guess, Gin 21 is the 21st iteration of the blend used to make the Gin. According to owner Don DiMonte, the final recipe was chosen by “the people”, average gin drinkers who were asked what they like. He calls it the first “crowd sourced” gin in Ontario. Cheesy marketing speak aside, lets see if the taste holds up! Appearance: Completely clear as expected. Quick moving tears. Aroma: Obvious smells of juniper joined by lemon peel and pepper. Taste: Light mouth feel with alcohol burn. Very citrussy with tangerine joining the lemon peel. Aftertaste: Long and slow burn. Overall: Very tasty, light and easy drinking. Loses a bit of complexity with the hardcore citrus flavours but I can see why most would enjoy that.

I really enjoy drinking this. This reviewed sample is only three months into the aging - though the released product will have another month of wood in it.

Rich toffee and oak, with walnut, roasted hazelnut, icing sugar, buttercream, nutmeg, and clove, with the confectionary quality on the nose growing even bigger with time. On the palate, quite confectionary yet with some good spice backing. Easy to drink and oaky with light smoke, rich toffee, caramel, banana, and some lighter apple notes. The finish is full of caramel, oak, toffee, and dried corn.

It doesn’t taste immature, even though it is so young – in part because the distillate is quite clean and combined with bracing oak influence. This has come along in just a few months...I think this is a bit too smooth to be called moonshine!