Review: Alberta Premium 20 Year Old Canadian Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on April 4, 2020

Alberta Premium is a brand of Canadian Whisky made in Calgary, by Alberta Distillers Ltd. (owned by Beam-Suntory). The Whisky was released in the fall of 2019 along with a companion release Alberta Premium Cask Strength (reviewed here). Alberta Distillers own the oldest distillery in Western Canada. The distillery is famous for its rich 100 % rye grain whiskies which are bottled under the Alberta Premium label. They also sell bulk 100 % rye whisky to other brand owners.

As indicated Alberta Premium is famous for its 100% rye grain whisky, although it should be pointed out that the brand has also featured releases such as Dark Horse which were not made from 100% rye grain. In the case of the Alberta Premium 20 Year Old, the grain blend is not disclosed on the label. Rather than stating unequivocally that the whisky is a 100 % rye grain whisky, the label instead makes the statement that the whisky is Canadian Rye Whisky, and the display box the whisky arrives in states that it is 100 % Canadian Rye Whisky. I might be splitting hairs here, but terminology is important. All Canadian whisky which features a rye forward flavour profile can properly be called Canadian Rye Whisky whether or not rye grain is the dominant grain, and stating that a whisky is 100 % Canadian Rye Whisky is not the same thing as stating that the whisky is 100% Rye Grain Canadian Whisky.

Unless it is specifically indicated in an unequivocal manner, I think it is best to assume that Alberta Premium 20 Year Old is a blended grain whisky.

Here is a link to my full review: