Wayne Gretzky launches whisky: No. 99

Thanks for bringing attention to this one. Interesting, he's Canadian enough to create a Canadian whisky but not Canadian enough to vote...

What I would like o know is what the ABV will be. If it's 40%, I expect this to be a marketing thing unworthy of my effort. If it's bottled with some "oomph", I may give it a second look.

@Nozinan It got listed on LCBO over night, and it's 40%:

lcbo.com/lcbo/product/…

I'll likely give it a pass too, but mostly because of the red wine cask finish. It's true that 66 Gilead's Crimson Rye has grown on me, but I'm still not fully on board. I'd love to try No. 99, but I'm not willing to take the chance on a full bottle.

I was thinking, for the next Ontario summit maybe we should make a thread of wishlists or something. Bringing along rare expressions for people to sample is great, but personally I also value getting to try whiskies that I can easily get but haven't been willing to take a chance on.

Granted, this is a recipe for even MORE whiskies being brought than last time, but not everyone has to try everything that's there. People could bring bottles specifically for for the group sampling, and then however many other ones they wanted to satisfy people's wishlists. Or even just small sample pours for specific individual requests.

@Nelom What you are in essence describing is how a whisky club works.

I think the best way for you to get a bottle of 99 is to turn your bottle of crimson rye upside down....

@Nozinan Hehe... yeah, I won't pour out the Crimson Rye. One, that would just be wrong. And two, I do like it well enough. It's just not a favourite that I reach for that often. But, in a way I think you're right. Once I have finished the Crimson Rye, I might just make No. 99 it's replacement, provided reviews and word of mouth hasn't convinced me I shouldn't. Having at least one wine cask finished whisky in my cabinet is probably a good thing. Especially when non-whisky drinking wine loving friends come over.

@Nelom oops...I meant turn it upside down with the cover on. Then the 66 will look like a 99. I didn't mean pour it out. Sorry.

@Nozinan D'oh! I'm an idiot. I should've caught that joke.

@Nozinan and @Nosebleed You may be interested to know that according to Wines in Niagara, there's a 99 proof version now. Here's a quote:

Following the success of Wayne Gretzky No. 99 “Red Cask” Canadian Whisky launched in October last year, the distillery is now launching a new Ice Cask premium whisky and Ninety Nine Proof, a small batch premium whisky that are now available exclusively at the distillery for purchase.

Also, the distillery is now open for visits, but their official grand opening is on June 9th.

More here: winesinniagara.com/2017/05/…

@Nelom what success?

@Nozinan I didn't write that, just quoting it. But I'm assuming he's referring to success in terms of sales. Although, it's currently got an 8.08 in the meta-critic database at WhiskyAnalysis.com. That's not exactly a rip-roaring critical success, but it's not too shabby for a rookie effort, to use a sports metaphor.

@Nelom It won't be winning rookie of the year...

@Nozinan With only 8.08, I suspect you're right. I still haven't tried it myself.