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Archive for the ‘Whisky Review’ Category

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#Top100CanadianWhisky #10: Forty Creek Heritage

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 14, 2017

Forty Creek Whisky has a very nice annual tradition of producing a special limited release whisky which is built upon the foundation of the company’s flagship whisky, Forty Creek Barrel Select. These annual special releases each seek to bring new character to the Forty Creek family. This year Forty Creek sought to go back to their roots with the release of Heritage.

According to the press release issued this past Spring when Forty Creek Heritage was announced, this year’s special limited edition whisky was crafted selected barrels of Forty Creek corn, rye, and barley whiskies. The blended whiskies were then married (or finished) in toasted American Oak barrels to release elegant vanilla flavours and to highlight the bold wood spices of the toasted oak. The whisky was released in the fall of 2017 just in time for the Christmas buying season.

Here is a link to the Rum Howler #10 Canadian Whisky in my list of the 100 Best of 2017:

Review: Forty Creek Heritage

“… Oak and cedar with honeycomb maple and corn syrup. Vanilla and baking spices evolve as do impressions of canned apricots, hints of marmalade and walnut. Yumm! …”

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Note: To follow the countdown list of the Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017, you should follow me on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100CanadianWhisky.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows by viewing my Reveal Page here on this website:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017

The Reveal Page will be updated at as frequently as possible throughout the month of December.

Posted in Awards, Canadian Whisky, Extras, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100CanadianWhisky #10: Forty Creek Heritage

#Top100CanadianWhisky #11: Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 13, 2017

Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel is the first production Canadian Whisky ever to sold in the single barrel format. It drawn from a single oak cask and bottled a full 51.5 % alcohol by volume bottling proof. For this whisky, Crown Royal Master Blender, Andrew MacKay, hand selected the barrels to be used for this expression. Because each barrel will have different characteristics there will be differences in each individual barrel bottled. However, the casks chosen share common characteristic flavour profiles which gives the brand a general consistency of flavour and maturation.

Here is a link to the Rum Howler #11 Canadian Whisky in my list of the 100 Best of 2017:

Review: Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel

“… The spirit is soft in the mouth with corn and rye playing with firm oak and cedar spices along with rich butterscotch/maple and vanilla. I can taste some nutty barley notes which remind me of burlap and almond. With the sweetness of the butterscotch/maple the nutty barley soon turns to marzipan. The whisky carries a bevy of spiciness which in turn leads to impressions of cinnamon and peppery cloves …”

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Note: To follow the countdown list of the Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017, you should follow me on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100CanadianWhisky.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows by viewing my Reveal Page here on this website:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017

The Reveal Page will be updated at as frequently as possible throughout the month of December.

Posted in Awards, Canadian Whisky, Extras, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100CanadianWhisky #11: Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel

#Top100CanadianWhisky #12: Forty Creek Double Barrel (Lot 263)

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 12, 2017

John Hall opened the Kittling Ridge Winery & Distillery in 1992. The whisky he developed, named Forty Creek, is like none other on the landscape of Canadian Whisky. John chose three grains as the base of his Whisky. He distilled a corn whisky and aged it in heavily charred white oak barrels; he distilled a rye grain whisky and chose to age it in a lightly charred white oak; and he distilled a barley grain whisky to age in medium charred white oak. Interestingly, Mr. Hall chose to distill each grain only once, as by distilling only once, he believes the distillation captures the best that each grain has to offer in terms of flavour. The blend is then married in John’s own sherry casks to create what he calls his meritage. This serves as the base for the family of Forty Creek  Whiskies.

For the whisky which is the subject of this review, Forty Creek Double Barrel Reserve, one more step is taken. The final blend is set down in first run bourbon barrels for a final period of aging before it is bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume.

Here is a link to the Rum Howler #12 Canadian Whisky in my list of the 100 Best of 2017:

Review: Forty Creek Double Barrel Reserve Canadian Whisky (Lot 263)

“… The flavour includes maple and corn carried by rye spice, firm oak tannins, tobacco and wood spices which dry the mouth. Honeycomb, orange peel spice, and marzipan also seem to bobble within the oakiness adding complexity to each spirit …”

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Note: To follow the countdown list of the Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017, you should follow me on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100CanadianWhisky.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows by viewing my Reveal Page here on this website:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017

The Reveal Page will be updated at as frequently as possible throughout the month of December.

Posted in Awards, Canadian Whisky, Extras, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100CanadianWhisky #12: Forty Creek Double Barrel (Lot 263)

#Top100CanadianWhisky #13: Review: J.P. Wiser’s Legacy Canadian Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 11, 2017

Wiser’s Legacy Canadian Whisky (a Corby Brand) was released in early 2010 as a new entry into the fledgling “Super Premium” category of Canadian Whisky. At the time, a few other Super Premium Whiskies already existed in the market-place (Wiser’s own Red Letter, and Crown Royal’s, Cask No. 16 and Crown Royal XR); but the category hadn’t really caught the buying public’s imagination. In fact the Super Premium category had seen more failures than successes to that point (at least as far as Canadian Whisky was concerned). However the tipping point for the category seems to have been the year 2010, and the brand which (in my opinion) which helped the most to bring about a this change was Wiser’s Legacy.

The Legacy is produced from a rye forward mash bill (Canadian rye, rye malt and barley malt) using a slow copper pot distillation technique which was ‘fine-tuned’ to capture the very specific flavours and aromas during distillation. The new oak barrels used to age the resulting distillate were lightly toasted rather than heavily charred to help bring more of these specific flavours forward.

Wiser’s Legacy was recently re-branded (as was the entire Wiser’s range) by adding the first two initials of the founder (J.P. Wiser) to the brand name. This means the spirit is now properly called, J.P. Wiser’s Legacy.

Here is a link to the Rum Howler #13 Canadian Whisky in my list of the 100 Best of 2017:

Review:  Review: J.P. Wiser’s Legacy Canadian Whisky

“… Fresh oak and sap are at the forefront of the flavour which is also heavy with butterscotch, rye and bourbon-like corn notes. I catch hints of maple and cedar, as well as a light herbaceous quality that reminds me of menthol. There is so much more, rich pipe tobacco, vanilla and baking spices …”

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Note: To follow the countdown list of the Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017, you should follow me on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100CanadianWhisky.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows by viewing my Reveal Page here on this website:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017

The Reveal Page will be updated at as frequently as possible throughout the month of December.

Posted in Awards, Canadian Whisky, Extras, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100CanadianWhisky #13: Review: J.P. Wiser’s Legacy Canadian Whisky

#Top100CanadianWhisky #14: Lot No. 40 Cask Strength Rye Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 10, 2017

Lot No. 40 has received a bit of a makeover recently as the spirit which was previously branded, Lot No. 40 Single Copper Pot Still Canadian Whisky received a new label, and the whisky is now known simply as Lot No. 40 Rye Whisky. Lot No. 40 is of course the Corby branded whisky which was first released in the 1990’s as an upscale connoisseur’s whisky for the North American market. Alas, timing is everything, and according to Don Livermore (Master Blender for Corby and J.P. Wiser’s branded whiskies), the whisky never really caught on as the market wasn’t quite ready for such a new style of Canadian Whisky. However, with the new upsurge of interest in Canadian Whisky across North America (and in particular at the premium end of the market), Corby (the owner of the Wiser’s Brand), relaunched the whisky in 2012.

This year, as part of Corby’s  Northern Border Collection, a cask strength version of Lot No. 40 was released across Canada labeled simply as Lot No. 40 Cask Strength. It is a brute of a whisky bottled at 55 % alcohol by volume. According to the label on the bottle, the whisky is crafted in small batches using rye grain in a single copper pot still and aged for 12 years in oak barrels.

Here is a link to the Rum Howler #14 Canadian Whisky in my list of the 100 Best of 2017:

Review:  Lot No. 40 Cask Strength Rye Whisky

“… The flavour hits like a sledge-hammer with rough oak and cedar spice pushed by alcohol heat, dark chocolate and heavy rye bread. Add in Christmas fruitcake, and lots of peppery spice including black pepper and cloves and we are still only part way into describing the sheer volume of flavour …”

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Note: To follow the countdown list of the Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017, you should follow me on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100CanadianWhisky.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows by viewing my Reveal Page here on this website:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017

The Reveal Page will be updated at as frequently as possible throughout the month of December.

Posted in Awards, Canadian Whisky, Extras, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100CanadianWhisky #14: Lot No. 40 Cask Strength Rye Whisky

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