Recently in Whisky Category

The recent upswing in popularity of spirits has had good and bad effects. The good part is that there are many more options for the consumer, with the healthy competition producing gads of new products. The bad part is that to fill the demand many companies have cut back on quality, and put it into marketing. At what point does the marketing overshadow the tradition of a product? To some it might leave a hollow feeling to know that the vodka you drink is made in an industrial facility that also makes ethanol for cars. Or that scotch that you drink is mostly contract manufactured and "assembled" and labeled by the company. But, some companies hold on to tradition, one of them being Balvenie.

When it comes to spirits, there are the established brands and the wannabe brands. How a brand becomes established is usually a combination of things, such as marketing, history and product quality. But, I firmly believe that any business, not just the spirits industry, boils down to the people behind the product. Wannabe brands spend gads of money promoting an "image" but usually don't have a solid core of people behind the product. Established brands uphold a reputation. After my brief trip to the Woodford Distillery, my impression is that Woodford has great people and is more than just a bourbon distiller.

Bourbon is a whiskey with a long history of tradition and craftsmanship. Very few spirits, let alone other whiskies, have bourbons well defined production specifications. The laws, on bourbon production, create a very flavourful spirit, but with such well defined specifications some companies loose interest in creativity. Not Woodford Reserve, and their Master Distiller Chris Morris. For the past few years they have been releasing a series of uniquely crafted bourbons, and occasionally stepping slightly outside the bourbon envelope, to produce truly unique products called the Master's Collection. This year, they've release Woodford Reserve 1838 Sweet Mash Bourbon.

Most peoples impression of Canadian whisky is that it is a rather uninteresting spirit with little depth. I think the reason for this is that of the four major whisky groups, Canadian whisky is the friendly, easy going one, and not surprisingly many people see Canadians the same way. There is the casual side to Canadian whisky, with its light flavour, but there are also some great Canadian whiskies. The products I’m going to be looking at are the reserve whiskies that the Canadian distillers produce. Most of these products don’t see much distribution outside of Canada, with the exception of Crown Royal.

Have you ever sat around and wondered what things taste like if you substitute one ingredient? I do all the time, and most low end bartenders substitute stuff without thinking, like that Mai Tai you had made with banana liqueur and pineapple juice. But I’m talking about a calculated attempt at a substitution that would still make a good cocktail, but be contrary to the original drink. Jimmy, over at Jimmy’s Cocktail Hour who came up with the whisk(e)y topic for this Mixology Monday, gave me an opportunity to try subbing in a whisky for a tropical drink.  So what does a classic Mai Tai taste like when you take the rum out and substitute a 10 year old 100% rye whisky?

After the last two post (Malt vs. Blend and Whisky vs Cognac) I think it would be good to tie up some loose ends and discuss some of the good comments that were posted. The one thing that these two simple research papers show is that tasting spirits, at least whisky and brandy, is more difficult than we generally think. But I think this applies to most spirits, including rum, vodka and possibly gin. One great thing about digging up this research was that it forced me to think about my tasting abilities and in the near future I will put them to a thorough test. But for now lets look at what this research really shows.

It seems people are finding lots of old bottles of whisky that are still sealed and are wondering whether they are still good and what the value of the bottle would be. For the most part any bottle of unsealed high proof spirit should be safe, as we’ve seen by the sales of very old scotch whiskies. As for the value of these old bottles it will depend on the type of spirit and the stated age (i.e. how long it was barrel aged) and how old the bottle is. For example a bottle of Glenavon whisky from 1851 sold for about $29,000. The bottles that will attract the most interest would be anything pre-prohibition, or items that are out of production. But there are exceptions to this and even I would be interested in comparing some old Canadian whiskies, like a bottle of Crown Royal from the 1940's.

While I was on an unsupervised trip to the liquor store, I came across an interesting find. First, when it comes to the liquor store, I have a need to try everything, so my wife usually watches over me. But she went away this weekend, so that meant a shopping spree! Well, just a trip to the LCBO and selecting something new. Of course she reads this blog, so consider this my confession. Anyway, it looks like Gibson’s is releasing a couple of new whisky products that are based on different barrels. The first, and the one I picked up, is whisky aged in new oak barrels and the second one is aged in used scotch / bourbon barrels. The reason I selected the “new oak” was to see if it had a bourbon characteristic. The complete name is “Gibson’s Finest Rare Reserve New Oak Canadian Whisky”, which if not the longest whisky name is at least the most buzz word compliant.  

One of my favorite bourbons is Makers Mark, plain and simple. This whisky is big, bold and surprisingly smooth. The main thing I like about it is the moderation of the corn aromas in the nose. Being a bourbon it is obviously going to have some corn characteristics, but unlike some cheaper bourbons, Makers Mark has created a wonderful balance. You may notice that I use “whisky” instead of “whiskey” to describe Makers Mark, that’s because the heritage of the company goes back to Scotland and they retained the Scottish spelling of whisky.

There are very few independent Canadian whisky distillers left, but Forty Creek is one of them, and a good one at that. The Forty Creek distillery is located between Toronto and Niagara Falls, Ontario. It is operated by John Hall who has been a wine producer for over 20 years, and to scratch an itch, he began making whisky in the early 1990's. When he started to think about making a whisky, he looked at it from the knowledge he already had and that was making wine. Mr. Hall likes to state that he follows tradition, but is not bound to it, which is great because it makes for a quality product.

Schenley OFC was first made in 1955 at the Schenley distillery in Valleyfield, Quebec. According to the manufacturer/distributor Schenley OFC is the most decorated Canadian whisky. It has won 25 Gold Medals for product excellence in 27 Monde Sélection competitions. In Canada Schenley OFC is an 8 year old whisky, where as in the US it is a 6 year old whisky, so taste profiles may vary between the two. Originally, like many Canadian whiskies, it was bottled at higher proof (86.6) but now it is bottled at the standard 80 proof. Currently, Schenley OFC sells about 75,000 cases per year.

Gibson's is the third most popular Canadian whisky in Canada. I holds 17% of the market and sells around 300,000 cases per year. Whenever you read the term "case" it means that 9 bottles of 750ml were sold. Just in case you didn't know. Outside of Canada you will be lucky to find Gibson's since it doesn't have much of an international following. However that may change in the near future. William Grant & Sons recently acquired the brand, and with their world wide reach they may decide to start marketing this product. William Grant & Sons also owns the Glenfiddich and Balvenie brands, so they are no slouches when it comes to international marketing.

Alberta Premium Canadian whisky is an enigma. It’s an affordable, run of the mill, 5 year old whisky made from 100% rye grain. But it is also highly regarded and even considered to be the best Canadian whiskies, according to Jim Murray. What we do know is that Alberta Premium is a 100% rye whisky made in Canada that is readily available. Alberta Springs is another 100% rye that is aged for 10 years and made by the same distiller (Alberta Distillers). Pike Creek and Lot 40 are rye whiskies, but are available in only limited quantities.  So what is Alberta Premium, is it average or great?

The Seagram's brand has a long history in the whisky market. Seagram’s VO is a very common whisky in North America and many bartenders may use it on their bar rails, since it is the whisky included in the Diageo rail (Captain Morgan white rum, Tanqueray gin, Smirnoff vodka). It seems every bar I work at uses the same products, Diageo must have some good rebates. Anyway, Seagram's VO has a long history stretching back to 1913 and was probably a commonly bootlegged product through US prohibition. So what does this 6 year old Canadian whisky have to offer?

Wiser's is the fifth most popular whisky brand in Canada. Wiser Deluxe is also available in most US states and select market around the world. It was originally distilled in 1857 by J.P. Wiser and is aged for 10 years in oak barrels. It is a traditional Canadian blend. It is also the fastest growing Canadian whisky brand, and that has a lot to do with it’s bolder than normal flavour. For the most part, Wiser's has been a stalwart whisky brand in Canada and ranks #2 in Canadian whisky sales. Someday's I wonder if the whisky the world gets (aka the "brown vodka"), is a ploy to keep all the good stuff for ourselves. Could that be possible? Maybe that has a lot to do with why Canadian whiskies are looked down on by the elite dram imbibers who hold single malts so high. I always like to appreciate a spirit for what it is, instead of what the perceived value is.

Royal Reserve is the name of a whisky distilled by Corby’s, a major Canadian distiller that was bought by Hiram Walker a few years ago. With all the mergers going on in the spirit world, it’s hard to say who own’s Corby now. The one thing that Corby has done is create some good Canadian whiskies, including the Canadian Whisky Guild series. The three whiskies, Lot No. 40, Pike Creek and Gooderham & Worts were small batch whiskies created to showcase to the world the excellence and craftsmanship that Canadian distilling is capable. If I had the resources, I would love to review these three whiskies, but alas, they are harder to come by and more expensive. So what does this have to do with Royal Reserve? Well, some of the whiskies used to blend the Canadian Whisky Guild series are used in Royal Reserve.

To start my Canadian whisky review I figure I should start with the royalty of Canadian whisky, Crown Royal, and one of the standards by which I'll judge other Canadian whiskies. Almost everyone who drinks whisky has heard, tasted or observed Crown Royal sitting on the back bar. Crown Royal was one of the first super premium spirits when it was created in 1939 for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth during a royal visit to Canada. Whether the Seagram's company knew it at the time, or not, that was a stoke of genius for advertising. Especially in a country that had very close ties to England. This spirit was only available in Canada until 1964 and then for the past forty plus years has become a brand recognized around the world.

Every time I go to the liquor store the Canadian whisky sections stands out quite prominently. I personally like the Canadian style of whisky, and that character is smooth with slight toffee sweetness and hints of fruit on the nose, balanced out by some spicy rye and oak flavours. There is a vast array of Canadian whisky brands to choose from, but the question on my mind has been whether there is much difference in the style and taste between the brands. Does Gibson's Finest 12 Year Old taste much different than Crown Royal? What about the whisky called Schenley OFC, is it any good? How about Royal Reserve and Wiser's? Well, I'm finally going to find out and I will be reviewing twelve Canadian whiskies (listed below) in the $20 to $30 per 26'er (750ml) range. All funds are in Canadian dollars.

The house of Johnnie Walker has been a mainstay in the scotch market for many years. For good or bad they have created whisky branding that is easily for the average consumer to identify and define the quality of the spirit in the bottle. Obviously I'm talking about the Red, Black, Green and Blue labels. But, there is more to Johnnie Walker than coloured labels, they do have other products like Swing. For those who are not familiar with this Johnnie Walker product, it was created in the 1932 and has a convex base that causes it to rock back and forth when pushed. On ships, the action of the waves would cause the bottle to rock. The bottle is interesting, but what is inside the bottle is even more interesting.

As part of my attitude that you should use your liquors in any way you see fit, I have been know to add expensive spirits (scotch and single malt Irish Whiskey). Depending on the recipe, whisky can add an additional level of flavour or it can compliment the existing ingredients. Usually I'll buy stuff pre-flavour, such as Canadian Club barbecue sauce or Buffalo Trace BBQ sauce. Sometimes these things just don't exist, so using whisky in the recipe is the only way to go. Now I prefer to cook with quality ingredients, so using a quality whisky is the way to go. I find malt whisky or full flavoured blends are an excellent choice, depending on my needs. Here is a recipe that might peek your interest, or cause you to gasp in horror.