This past December, I noticed that Forty Creek Double Barrel Canadian Whisky had undergone a change. At least the bottle had changed. It was no longer sold in the typical tall sleek bottle which Forty Creek uses for all of their Special Edition Whiskies. It was now sold in the medium tall cylindrical bottle typical of their production whiskies. The change made sense as Forty Creek Double Barrel has for quite a while now been in regular production and probably belongs in the main line-up rather than in a bottle which identifies it as a special release whisky.
There was another more significant change though, the whisky is now almost half the price that it used to be ($39.95 in the new bottle vs. $69.95 in the old bottle). The significant price change begs the question, have the contents changed as well making this a less expensive whisky to produce?
So I reached out to the Campari team here in Alberta and asked them about the changes to the bottle and price. I was told that so far as Alberta team knew the whisky was that same as always, but they had no objection to giving me a sample bottle so I could judge for myself.
Here is a link to my review of the new Double Barrel from Lot 271 with tasting notes:
Review: Forty Creek Double Barrel Reserve (Lot 271)
Please enjoy the review which also includes two serving suggestions, the 1794 Cocktail and The Blinker.
Chimo!
Recently Forty Creek Distillery (owned by the Campari Group) released The Forager Botanical Whisky. It is sort of a Gin meets whisky spirit made with a light, yet complex Canadian whisky which has been infused with wild sourced Canadian Botanicals.
In 2009, the folks at Yukon Brewing decided that it was time to expand their horizons, and so they grabbed a still, formed the Yukon Spirits Company, and began to make whisky. When I first learned about this a few years ago I was a little surprised. The Yukon is quite a ways north and it is not a place where you would naturally think of folks making beer, let alone whisky. Then again it just might have been the perfect place for both the start-up beer and spirits companies. You see up in the North, they like to support one another, and it wasn’t long before Yukon Brewing and Yukon Spirits were doing a nice business supplying northern communities.
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. 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.
In 2009, the folks at Yukon Brewing decided that it was time to expand their horizons, and so they grabbed a still, formed the Yukon Spirits Company, and began to make whisky. When I first learned about this several years ago I was a little surprised. The Yukon is quite a ways north and it is not a place where you would naturally think of folks making beer, let alone whisky. Then again it just might have been the perfect place for both the start-up beer and spirits companies. You see up in the North, they like to support one another, and it wasn’t long before Yukon Brewing and Yukon Spirits were doing a nice business supplying northern communities.
The Rum Howler Blog 