First in our “out of the ordinary” North American evening was a whisky I’ve been impatiently waiting to try – Shelter Point‘s Single Malt.

Shelter Point is a new distillery based in Campbell, British Columbia, Canada. They consider themselves an artisan distillery with a local-first philosophy – growing and distilling their own barley on-site.

We sampled their inaugural batch of Single Malt, courtesy of Patrick Evans, founder of Shelter Point.

Shelter Point Single Malt 46% (2016 inaugural batch)

Here is what we found:

• Nose – Honey maple, fresh hay, lots of cereals, subtle flowers, crisp green apple then shifted and became less sweet, dash more spice, slightly musty, grass morphing into malt, then chestnuts, flirting back to light florals
• Palate – Light, cereals, heat at the back then so so soooo smooth, flirtatious spice, salty peanuts, hint of chocolate
• Finish – Light spice, subtle bitterness

We loved how it started so fresh, bright, and sweet then became a bit spicy and nutty, shifting back and forth between lightness and substance.

Overall, it is most enjoyable. Exceedingly easy to drink. And quite impressive for a 1st foray into the world of single malt whisky.

There are too many new distilleries impatient to put out their single malts before they are ready. In this case, though young, it had none of the harsh, raw elements often found. Instead it had a subtle approach with enough interesting going on to keep us engaged. What a delightful dram to kick-off our evening!

One of whisky ladies shared her memories touring their distillery before this whisky was launched and sampling their many experiments. We both were quite pleased with the results and had a proud Canadian in India moment.

I only read the inaugural batch tasting notes after our sampling and would agree:

Experts tell us that the inaugural batch of Shelter Point Single Malt Whisky has a very nice spice with good barrel sweetness, fruit and floral notes and some chocolate on the nose. It’s nicely finessed with a good balance of complexity and delicateness. Translation? It goes down very, very smoothly.

PS Many thanks Patrick Evans, founder of Shelter Point, for sharing a bottle from your inaugural batch – it is a privelege to have it in Mumbai!

What else did we try in our “out of ordinary” American evening?

• Westland Single Malt 46% (~2016)
• AD Laws Triticum Straight Wheat 2 year (Batch #1B) 50%
• AD Laws Hordeum Straight Malt 2 year (Batch #1B) 42.5%

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