Shelter Point The Forbidden Wheat Whisky

Tasting Notes

Andrew's Tasting Note

Nose: sweet, oily and fruity with a gravelly minerality; window putty, linseed oil and fresh cut green grass; rather honeyed, corn syrup too; nutty with citrus, almonds, dried apricots and ripe peaches.

Palate: round, very round, oily and coating; the mouthfeel on this is lovely; green grass, more gravel minerality and a salty backbone; bags of honey and agave nectar before moving in to French pastries and butterscotch pudding; toasty with crisp building spices: cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg; more citrus and stone fruits.

Finish: light, fresh and warming with decadence and spice; honey, spices, stone fruits and toasty oak; cooling and minty.

Comment: curious and lovely stuff; decadent, oily, fruity and balanced with no rough edges… only 5 years old… wow!

Producer Description

“Shelter Point’s first Single Malt Wheat Whisky release has finally arrived. This whisky is the third different grain whisky that we have bottled. Named after our local landmark “Forbidden Plateau”, this small mountain and our whisky are similar as both shrouded in mystery. By using wheat as the base this whisky is truly unique and unlike anything we have ever produced. This whisky was double distilled and aged exclusively in American oak ex-bourbon barrels for 5 and a half years. The Forbidden was a small batch (only 667 Bottles) so get yours while you can.”

Distillery

Originally written by Evan for blog posts relating to our 2019 KWM Whisky Calendar.

Located on a farm halfway between Comox and Campbell River on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Shelter point has been laying down spirit in casks to eventually become whisky since June of 2011. They grow and harvest much of the barley used from their own farm.

Patrick Evans is a third-generation farmer whose family has been farming in the Comox Valley of British Columbia since the turn of the 20th Century. He is now joined in the business by at least one of his three daughters and his son-in-law Jacob. Patrick purchased the land that is now Shelter Point Farm and Distillery in 2005. Situated along the coast of Vancouver Island where the Oyster River meets the sea, it was formerly a University of British Columbia research farm with a large dairy barn. That dairy barn now serves as cask warehousing and barley storage.

Construction on the distillery began in 2009, with the first spirit running in 2011. As with many other new and small-scale distilleries, white spirits provided some cash flow until the first whiskies were ready for sale. The first single malt, a 5-year-old, was released late in 2016. It was a big hit.

In a somewhat backwards move compared to other craft distilleries that have popped up in the time since Shelter Point began making whisky, the distillery just started releasing their own Shelter Point Gin in the summer of 2019.

Consistent distillation and constant experimentation are to be the name of the game for Shelter Point Distillery. They have been releasing very good single malt whisky since 2016, and the lineup has grown to include limited batches in different styles since then including both wine cask finishes and peated cask finishes among others. There always seems to be something exciting going on at Shelter Point, and we feel very fortunate to get as many of their releases as we do at Kensington Wine Market.