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Posts Tagged ‘Canadian Club’

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Review: Canadian Club Chronicles 41 Year Old

Posted by Arctic Wolf on January 12, 2020

A couple of years ago Canadian Club released what was possibly possibly the oldest bottling of Canadian whisky to date. After 40 years of resting in American oak barrels in Windsor, Ontario, Canadian Club released Canadian Club 40 Year Old

According to my sources, the whisky was produced from a selection of American Oak barrels which contained 100% corn whisky. These barrels had been consolidated many times over the course of 40 years to minimize the oxidation of the spirit during its lengthy maturation period. The whisky has been released in part to commemorate Canada’s 150 Anniversary, and was available with full distribution across Canada as of Mid November in limited quantities.

Fortunately for all of us not all of that wonderful whisky was bottled in 2017. Some of the whisky was allowed to continue to rest. In the fall of 2018, Canadian Club released more of this spirit as Canadian Club Chronicles 41 Year Old and this time it was blended with a small amount of cognac, rye and sherry.

This is the review for the 41 year old whisky which was bottled at 45 % alcohol by volume.

Review: Canadian Club Chronicles 41 Year Old

“… The aroma in the breezes above the glass offers seem to entice me. The whisky brings a waft oak sappy oak into the air followed by a combination of butterscotch toffee, almond syrup, oak and vanilla which were all melded wonderfully together. There are hints of mustiness and scents of fresh corn, light baking spices, and orange peel moving towards marmalade …”

Please enjoy my review and stay tuned for the upcoming review of the 42 Year Old Spirit which I will be sampling over the next few weeks.

Chimo!

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2019 Rum Howler Favourite 20 Canadian Whiskies: #10 – Canadian Club 20 Yr Old Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 13, 2019

Canadian Club was, as advertised, my father’s favourite whisky. He loved the brand, and whenever we had some sort of important occasion he insisted that the only whisky we could serve was Canadian Club. So when I began to review spirits, and began to earn my reputation, the one person I could never win over with my reviews was my Dad. He didn’t care what I wrote, or how popular my reviews were, if I didn’t say that Canadian Club was the best whisky in Canada, then I obviously didn’t know what I was talking about.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Canadian Club Whisky, In fact I like their entire range. But, I just didn’t share my Dad’s passion for the brand. Fortunately though, we did manage find some common ground. I brought him a bottle of the Canadian Club 20 Year Old. He loved it, and I loved it too. When we would have a glass together, he would mix his dram with ginger ale, and, just to make sure he didn’t think that I was trying to put on airs, I mixed my dram with ginger-ale too.

That summer, whenever I would pop over, we would share a glass together in the evening, mixed with ginger-ale of course. The memories I have of sharing that bottle with my Dad has placed the Canadian Club 20 Year Old well into my list of favourite Canadian Whiskies. And although Dad passed away several yeas ago, I still keep a bottle on hand. When the occasion suits me I have a small dram in the evening, sometimes neat, but usually mixed with ginger-ale to honour my Dad.

Here is a link to my review:

Review: Canadian Club 20 Year Old Whisky

The whisky is smooth with oak spice and hints of sap melded nicely into the other flavours. There is also a smoky quality with dry fruit flavours of raisins and prunes holding the whisky together. A peppery rye note bobs up to the surface, and somewhere in the mix, and I taste dabs of nutmeg and cinnamon as well as a dash of Apricot Brandy. 

Chimo!

 

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Review: Canadian Club Barley Batch Limited Edition Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on September 13, 2019

Barley Batch Highball

In the fall of 2018 Canadian Club released a special Limited Edition Whisky which celebrated Canadian Club’s 160th anniversary in the fall of 2018, the Canadian Club Barely Edition. Just as the name implies this is a whisky which relies heavily upon the influence of barley grain as the whisky is a blending of six-year-old barley malt whisky (produced in Calgary by Alberta Distillers) with Canadian Club’s flagship Canadian Club Whisky (produced in Windsor Ontario  at the Hiram Walker Distillery.

This Canadian Only release recently became available in my home Province of Alberta, and I manged to secure a bottle for tasting. I found it interesting that Canadian Club has chosen to bottle this expression at 42 % alcohol by volume rather than the traditional 40 % abv. which is more typical of the Canadian Club Family.

Here is a link to my full review:

Review: Canadian Club Barley Batch Limited Edition Whisky

“… The initial aroma is filled with herbal grass and menthol accented by butterscotch, almond and vanilla. I begin to notice scents of burlap and barley pushing their way through with some wood spices in the background. The herbal nature of the spirit is intriguing; this is quite a departure for the Canadian Club brand …”

Please enjoy my latest Canadian Whisky Review which concludes with a nice highball recipe for you to enjoy, the Barley Batch Highball.

Chimo!

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Review: Canadian Club Premium Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on October 10, 2018

Today Canadian Club Premium is the flagship brand for the company. Although it was previously aged for a minimum of 6 years in white oak barrels, the brand carries no longer carries an age statement. The aforementioned Canadian Club website now reports:

” … Our best-selling, flagship whisky is where most folks begin their whisky journey. This is the one that started the legend. A giant of Canadian whisky since 1858, it’s aged longer than the 3 years required by law in oak barrels before bottling for the smoothest possible flavour. …” 

If you have been paying attention to the new television ads, you will have noticed that Canadian Club has been touting their flagship whisky with a new advertisement featuring the outstanding score (92/100) which Jim Murray (revered whisky critic) recently gave the spirit. This high score is quite a bit north of the last score I published two years ago. However when I learned of Jim Murray’s high score, I couldn’t resist checking my recent private score when I served as a juror for the 2018 Canadian Whisky Awards. Indeed, I found that I also had scored the whisky somewhat higher for those awards than I had in my past review.

So I decided to revisit Canadian Club Premium to see if these observations held up when I tasted the spirit in isolation.

Here is a link to my new review:

Review: Canadian Club Premium Whisky 

“… The initial aroma brings fine wood spice, light vanilla butterscotch and almond scents with a mild grassy/herbal impression. As the glass sits, I notice a slight thickening of the aroma. Spicy fine oak permeates the breezes with caramel toffee beginning to develop from the wood spice, the butterscotch and the vanilla …”

Please enjoy my latest look at Canadian Club Premium.

Chimo!

 

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Canadian Club Premium Whisky

Review: Canadian Club 40 Year Canadian Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on June 3, 2018

This past holiday season, a new Canadian whisky was on the wish lists of Canadian Club fans. After 40 years of resting in American oak barrels in Windsor, Ontario, Canadian Club released Canadian Club 40 Year Old, its oldest age expression released to date, and possibly the oldest in Canadian whisky history.

According to Rob Tucker, Senior Brand Manager, Canadian & American Whiskies at Beam Suntory:

“With 160 years of great whisky making, Canadian Club’s numerous gold medal awards won in recent spirit competitions, and with our storied past as the preeminent club whisky in speakeasies which were known for stylish, stirring times, and a little mischief in mixed company, it only makes sense that a historic brand like Canadian Club gets to treat Canadians with such a delicious one-of-a-kind whisky like Canadian Club 40 Year Old,”

 

According to my sources, Canadian Club 40 Year Old was produced from a selection of American Oak barrels which contained 100% corn whisky. These barrels had been consolidated many times over the course of 40 years to minimize the oxidation of the spirit during its lengthy maturation period. The whisky has been released in part to commemorate Canada’s 150 Anniversary, and was available with full distribution across Canada as of Mid November in limited quantities.

According to my sources, the whisky is still available at select locations across Canada.

Here is a link to my recent review:

Review: Canadian Club 40 Year Canadian Whisky 

” … The aroma in the breezes above the glass offers no disappointment. My immediate reaction was Yumm! The breezes brought forth a combination of butterscotch, oak and vanilla which was melded into a luscious toffee. After a few minutes I began to notice a welling up of fresh corn underlain with firm impressions of tobacco and hints of burlap …”

Please enjoy the review, Chimo!

 

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Canadian Club 40 Year Canadian Whisky

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