Wiser's fans (you smart people) might be alarmed by the name of this whisky. Thankfully, it does not mean the inventory's drying up at the entire company. The reference is to the last distillate (132 barrels' worth) left behind by distiller Jim Stanski before he moved on to another position with the company. It was an experimental batch that relied on the sour-mash technique associated with American bourbon as well as Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey.
Typically, fermentation of sour-mash whiskies is induced with a portion of spent mash (the grain, malt and water mixture) from an older batch, which already contains live yeast. The process is sort of analogous to sourdough bread, where a yeast "starter" is used to produce new loaves. In Stanski's case, he used – wait for it – not old mash but milk that had been left on a counter to sour. (Heck, the milk inside my fridge would constantly go sour if I could instead be drinking all that Wiser's whisky with Stanski's old warehouse key, but I digress.)
Distilled in 2001, the little experiment had been maturing in wood for 14 years until the Liquor Control Board of Ontario called to tap Wiser's for a special-edition whisky that could be distributed exclusively in the province. Rather than blending the stock into other, higher-volume products, as might have happened with some or all of the barrels, Wiser's kept the batch separate and created Last Barrels.
Full-bodied and thick in texture, bottled at 45-per-cent alcohol, it's a mélange of flavours redolent of toffee, green apples, brown sugar, tobacco, vanilla, spices and, intriguingly, pine resin (think retsina wine from Greece). It may be a tip of the hat to bourbon, but don't expect the heavily charred profile of America's signature whisky. Think of it as kinder, gentler sour mash.