Clean dry wood, vanilla, luscious crème brulée, sweet dried fruit, hot rye spices, creamy corn and enticing barrel tones. ★★★★★

Walk about three minutes north from the historic Gooderham & Worts Distillery District in Toronto and you’ll find “Little Trinity” the red brick Gothic Revival Anglican church that Willam Gooderham built in 1843 for his workers. Other places of worship required churchgoers to pay pew fees. Little Trinity did not put such demands on its faithful. That was typical Gooderham altruism.

This new limited edition Gooderham & Worts whisky pays homage to that history. It is a robust 17-year-old whisky made from three grains rather than the four typically used for that brand, and it is named Gooderham & Worts Little Trinity. It is also bottled at 45% abv, slightly higher than the 44.4% Gooderham & Worts core expression. Gooderham & Worts is one of four whiskies in the Northern Border Collection and this special edition comes to us as part of the 2017 Rare Releases series.

A blend of five spirits, each at least 17 years old, Little Trinity includes three different double-distilled corn base whiskies. One was matured in brand new virgin oak barrels, a second spent 18 years in once-used ex-bourbon barrels, and the third matured in barrels that had already been used several times to mature other whiskies. Add to this, once-distilled rye whisky matured in ex-bourbon barrels and once-distilled wheat whisky matured in virgin oak.

The array of flavours is just splendid: Old tinder-dry boards, white creamy clover honey, dried Christmas cake fruits, golden sultanas, hard rye spices, clean lumber, a lovely subtle and long-lasting glow on the tongue, soft crème brulée and sweet vanilla. Oak tannins from virgin wood are restrained, tasting and feeling more like walnuts. Rye spices sit front and centre without overpowering the creamy sweetness of the corn and delicate oaky tones from used barrel wood.

★★★★★ Very highly recommended.

$79.95 at LCBO Price to be verified when the whisky is released in October 2017.