Here is how the Highwood Ninety whiskies compare to other higher-end and\/or aged Canadian whiskies in my Meta-Critic database:<\/p>\n
Canadian Club 20yo: 8.69 \u00b1 0.33 on 9 reviews ($$$) As you can see, for the price (~$50 CAD at the LCBO), the Highwood Ninety 20yo scores very well for a Canadian whisky.\u00a0 I received two samples of this whisky from\u00a0 Canadian Reddit users Devoz and wuhantang.<\/p>\n Here’s what I find in the glass:<\/p>\n Nose:<\/strong> Slightly sweet, but my main impression is that of a dry dustiness. There is grassiness and definite floral suggestion – very “earthy” overall.\u00a0 Little fruit to speak of.\u00a0 Unapologetic organic solvent smell, mainly acetone (with a touch of glue). You can sense the higher ABV. A classic grain-forward Alberta nose.<\/p>\n Palate:<\/strong>\u00a0 Definite sweetness up front, with a strong toffee\/butterscotch flavour. Gives me a creamy Caramilk bar sensation.\u00a0 Dusty rye-like spices pop up quickly (cloves and nutmeg), and there is a spicy, peppery kick to it – with distinctive peppermint. The earthy notes from the nose continue (leather? tobacco?).\u00a0 Maybe even a touch of anise now. This is a complex body, and the flavours come in waves. Definitely one you want to keep exploring. Very nice.<\/p>\n Finish:\u00a0<\/strong> Fairly long finish, well balanced overall (although the solvent aroma may linger). The light sweetness persists, along with a somewhat earthy\/grassy feel.\u00a0 Makes you want to go back and explore the palate further, though. A bit of dry heat builds up over repeated sips, due the higher ABV.<\/p>\n Looking over my tasting notes, I can see how this 20yo expression fits in well with the Ninety line. The evolution of the flavours from the 5yo<\/a> makes sense, with the extended barrel aging. I particularly like the rich caramel\/toffee notes now.<\/p>\n I’m not a fan of solventy smells myself, so I would rate this whisky just a touch lower than the Meta-Critic average.\u00a0 I’m actually a bit surprised that the extended aging hasn’t attenuated this characteristic further. It was of course more pronounced on the Highwood Ninety 5yo.<\/p>\n For additional reviews, David de Kergommeaux of Canadian Whisky<\/a> and Jason Hambrey of In Search of Elegance<\/a> provide comparable ratings of this 20yo expression. The four lead reviewers at Quebec Whisky<\/a> provide a nicely balanced set of views and commentaries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Highwood Ninety 20yo is one of the higher-end expressions from the Alberta distiller Highwood – better known for the Centennial and Century Reserve lines of Canadian whiskies. And note that while this is marketed as a “rye whisky” (like all Canadian whisky), I believe the Ninety 20yo is actually a pure corn whisky. I previously reviewed the more entry-level<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[70,37,21,64],"class_list":["post-1631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whiskies","tag-20yo","tag-alberta","tag-canadian","tag-highwood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1631"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1653,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1631\/revisions\/1653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nCrown Royal Monarch 75th Anniversary: 8.89 \u00b1 0.52 on 7 reviews ($$$)
\nDanfield’s 21yo: 8.68 \u00b1 0.51 on 11 reviews ($$)
\nForty Creek Confederation Oak: 8.98 \u00b1 0.33 on 16 reviews ($$$)
\nGibson’s Finest 18yo: 9.11 \u00b1 0.37 on 10 reviews ($$$$)
\nHighwood Century Reserve 21yo: 8.78 \u00b1 0.21 on 9 reviews ($$)
\n Highwood Ninety 20yo: 8.94 \u00b1 0.23 on 9 reviews ($$)<\/strong>
\nHighwood Ninety 5yo: 8.39 \u00b1 0.56 on 5 reviews ($)
\nLot 40: 8.90 \u00b1 0.42 on 16 reviews ($$)
\nWiser\u2019s 18yo: 8.71 \u00b1 0.42 on 14 reviews ($$$)
\nWiser’s Legacy: 9.07 \u00b1 0.24 on 13 reviews ($$)
\nWiser\u2019s Red Letter: 8.95 \u00b1 0.4 on 10 reviews ($$$$)<\/p>\n![\"Highwood.Ninety.20\"](\"http:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Highwood.Ninety.20.jpg\")
I would think this one is fine as is (i.e., neat). A splash of water helps dampen the acetone on the nose slightly, and further accentuates the creamy butterscotch\/caramel in the mouth. Also seems to soften the “earthiness” in the finish, without affecting the grassiness.<\/p>\n