Forty Creek Double Barrel

Product Description
This is a limited or reserve whisky released by John Hall at Forty Creek. What makes this unique is that he took his regular Forty Creek whisky, already aged in oak, and age it a second time in first run bourbon barrels. His thought process was to compliment / enhance the flavour of Forty Creek. To do this he need some good barrels that had the harsher tannins removed, which is what bourbon does perfectly.

I think this is a great idea, since it would amplify the oak flavour, which is what you are looking for in most great whiskies. It also ages the whisky for an additional period, refining the flavour.

Label Text
The bottle is pretty sparse on text, but the style of the bottles is appealing. It is rare in Canada for a whisky bottler to select a nice looking bottle. They are getting better, but this Forty cReek Double Barrel Reserve bottle is a step in the right direction.

Tasting Notes

Colour:
A deep golden brown whisky. Similar to bourbon.

Aroma:
The nose has pleanty of vanilla and oak. Very smooth and there is no harshness to be found.

Palate:
Very smooth with lots of oak. Fairly complex in flavour and definatley a unique in the realm of Canadian whiskies. Fairly dry for a Canadian whisky too. There is a smooth, refined spiciness in the finish.

Notes:
It is a fine whisky and has a lot more flavour than your standard Canadian. The double barrel aging obviously pumps more of the good stuff into the whisky. It comes closer to a bourbon, while still retaining the Canadian characteristic.

Serving Suggestions :
For the price you might want to keep this as a solo whisky i.e. not for mixing. Sure you could, and I'm all for using fine whiskies in cocktails, but I don't see this particular whisky adding anything that a $40 Wiser's 18 or Gibson's 18 year whisky wouldn't. Basically, you'd just save some money.

Having said that, it would make a wonderful Manhattan.

Relavent Links
Forty Creek Barrel Select