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 disappointments 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.
At that time, what the Super Premium category needed as far as Canadian Whisky was concerned was a spirit which would be worth the hype. And in a nutshell, Wiser’s Legacy was. This whisky 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.
When I was tasting all of my Canadian Whisky spirits side by side as part of my deliberations for this countdown series, I noted that Wiser’s Legacy seemed to be appealing to me much more than it had in the past. For this reason I rescored the whisky and updated my tasting notes.
Here is my updated review for the number 9 Canadian Whisky in my countdown:
Review: Wiser’s Legacy Canadian Whisky
The Legacy is extremely interesting because it is such a departure from a regular Canadian whisky. There is a great deal of complexity introduced by the young oak and this is definitely a giant step towards a more defined bourbon taste profile. It seems that this taste profile has grown on me over the past four years. I suspect it will grow on you as well!
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Note: You may follow my Countdown list of the 25 Best Canadian Whiskies here: The Rum Howler – Top 25 Canadian Whiskies of 2014
According to the company website, the whisky is crafted from 100 % rye, distilled and oak-aged in Canada for 12 years. (I was able to confirm that the whisky is distilled by Alberta Distillers Limited (ADL) in Calgary, Alberta. ADL is the largest distiller of rye whisky in the world.)
In 2002, the Gibson’s Finest brand was purchased by William Grant & Sons who acquired the brand to strengthen their position in the Canadian spirits marketplace.
We have reached the point where we are crossing into the second half of my 2014 Top 25 Canadian Whisky Countdown. And Gibson’s Finest 12 Year Old checks in as the number 12 Canadian Whisky in the world today!
Here is a link to my review of the #13 Canadian Whisky in my countdown of the best that Canada has to offer:
The Forty Creek Copper Pot Reserve, (like all 
John Hall’s flagship whisky, the 
The Rum Howler Blog 