Stalk & Barrel Three Barrel Whisky

It’s been ten years since Still Waters Distillery opened, but feels like just yesterday that lineups snaked through the parking lot to buy the first Stalk & Barrel single malt whisky in 2013. It was a history in the making as Ontario’s first modern-age microdistillery released its premiere single malt.

Rye soon followed, then came their carefully crafted Blue- and Red-labelled blends. When distillers, Barry Bernstein and Barry Stein decided to add blended whisky to their lineup, they planned to release a new whisky every year or two. Stalk & Barrel Three Barrel Whisky is their latest and though it’s not intended as a 10th-anniversary bottling, we’re sipping it in celebration of that milestone.

For Three Barrel, Barry and Barry blended Still Waters’ rye and single malt with a traditional corn whisky, each aged separately in ex-bourbon casks. “The single malt adds complexity and robustness to our blends,” says Bernstein. “And we can now afford to use more of it, given our increased inventory. In terms of our blended lineup, Blue is the top seller, quite likely because of the pricing, but it has a loyal following both in retail and on-premise. However, Red is definitely more complex and interesting and is one of our personal favourites. We thought there was more room to play at this end of the range with bumping up rye and malt components.”

The two make Three Barrels in true small batches of less than 1,000 litres at a time. The whisky’s age polishes those familiar young grassy rye notes into chest-warming spices and cloves. The barley malt shines brightest with creamy vanillas, barley sugar, chocolate covered almonds, cocoa and a splash of citrus.

As Still Waters enters its second decade, Three Barrel Whisky ushers in a new age for the distillery, by building on an already well respected portfolio of whiskies.