It’s ODR Season Baby!
Making lemonade from lemons. Making hay while the sun shines. Get it while the gettin’ is good. Whatever turn of phrase you prefer; it’s all about capitalising on the positives.
So when the weather turns and old man winter decides to descend upon us in the northern hemisphere, us crazy Canucks decide to spend more time outside in the freezing conditions. You see, for us its outdoor rink (ODR) season! It’s the time where families put effort into building the skating rink boards up, create a foundation of packed snow and ice, and grab the water hoses to begin building up layer after layer of ice. Sometimes neighbours take their fences down, combining their yard spaces to create much bigger and longer ODRs as well!
It’s not all smooth sailing though. It’s a constant battle of maintaining water containment (depending if you use a liner or not), keeping the ice surface flat when you’re limited by the water volume you can pump out versus the potential quick freezing from low temperatures and blowing snow, and dealing with frozen and stiff hoses that were meant to be used in +20 Celcius weather and not -20 Celcius weather.
Hauling the stiff as a board hose back into the house after watering the ice surface for any amount of time is like wrangling an anaconda. Plus there’s the time involved. For most of us, we aren’t watering during the day as we are working. And we aren’t doing it at twilight either as it’s supper time, driving the kids around for activities, and bedtime for most sane people in the household. So we are out there spraying water around when it’s 8-11 pm at night, often just using streetlights, flashlights, torches, or whatever light source we’ve rigged up to check progress of our work.
It often takes me 5-10 nights of 1-2 hours each of watering to get my rink all setup for the initial skate. Factor in several floods or surfacing treatments to keep your ice surface hard and free of grooves or debris, and it's a labour of love. Once the rink is setup, its game on! I know my 5yo is vibrating in anticipation of lacing up his skates and slapping some one-timers with me after school.
Regardless of everyone’s musical preferences, it’s almost a certainty that the Canadian classic from Stompin’ Tom Connors will be blasting from someone’s phone, likely shoved into a red solo cup creating a makeshift megaphone, at least once during an ODR skating session. In addition to the personal ODR’s, community rinks pop up everywhere as well. What once was a pond, soccer/football field, or flat spot of grass is flooded and turned into a community rink, catching kids, teens, and adults alike in its frozen web during the day.
Some are designated for casual skating, others have hockey nets and nets strung up for games of shinny or pickup hockey games for anyone who wants a non-competitive game against friends and strangers. Thermos’s of coffee, hot chocolate, and spare and dry clothes are swapped out on the sidelines or on the back of your vehicle, recharging and revitalising for another round or the drive home.
And you know what, these Two Stacks Dram in a Can’s are effing perfect for ODR season. They sit perfectly on the rink boards or jammed in a snow bank while watering the rink or watching your kid skate. They’re also small enough that they can be shoved into your skates or skate bag while heading to the rink. There’s enough liquid inside that you’ll get your fill without wishing for more, or getting too fuzzy when consumed at an appropriate rate. I’ve previously reviewed the green-canned Two Stacks Irish whiskey; a malt, Irish pot still, and grain blend and found it enjoyable.
It took some searching, but I eventually found its blue-skinned brethren, a single malt Irish whiskey. Let’s dive in.
Palate
Smooth and full. The vanilla and red apples follow through from the nose. Fruit gummies. There’s toasted wood and barrel spices on the latter half of the medium length and very pleasant, albeit somewhat generic, finish.
The peat phenols are not coming across as anything ‘peaty’ but rather helps aid in providing a fuller mouthfeel and improving the finish quality. I would wager that dropping the 10% peated malt from the equation would hurt this blend considerably.
The Dregs
The flavour density and length of finish belies the 43 %ABV. Bravo. For those that say chill filtration doesn’t make much of a difference, I’ll pit your 40-43% chill-filtered and neutered swill against these fully-natural gems any day. Two Stacks is doing it right.
In comparison to the green-can Dram in a Can, I much prefer the blue-can version. The influence of sherry is reduced and it is less ‘abrasive’, coming across as fruitier and smoother. Delicious.
And then there’s the price. For 400ml of very delicious whiskey in a unique and portable package, it’s practically a bargain. Go ahead, give these lovely little gems a go!
