Myth number 1: Canadian whisky is called rye because it used to be made from rye grain. Now it is mostly corn-based. This myth remains popular because it is makes sense. However, it is completely false. The use of the word rye for Canadian whisky dates back to a time when most Canadian whisky was made by millers - wheat millers and most Canadian whisky was made from wheat. Indeed, the main grain grown in Canada at that time was wheat. When someone got the idea of adding just a small amount of rye grain to his or her whisky mash a new whisky style was born.  It was much more flavourful tha ..read more

For 2023, a new Sherry Cask from Canadian Club, this one a full 15 years old, and it tastes heavenly. Canadian Club Classic Invitation Series 15-Year-Old Sherry Cask 42% abv Vanilla with sweet red and dark fruit, blackstrap and mild pitchy wood on a very complex nose. Butterscotch on the tongue. Shows good weight, solid oak structure and palate-cleansing grapefruit pith. More dark fruits, prunes and sherryish influences follow muted peppers into a lingering warm spiciness. The body, so lush and rich, knits many threads into a single plush and flavourful entity. Finally, a medium finish, fruit ..read more

Barley sugar for barley whisky then waxy, malty, cereal tones. Fragrant apples, peaches and apricots. Dry grass and nutty, woodsy herbs with brisk spicy peppers and soft spring pansies. Splendorous complexity. With its recently released Barley Edition, the seventh and final whisky in this award-winning and much-sought-after series, Crown Royal’s Noble Collection concludes on a triumphant crescendo of cereal and malt. In blending a selection of whiskies distilled from 100% barley grain—15% malted and 85% unmalted, all aged for at least 5 years, some much longer—the blending team at Crown Royal ..read more

Reifel Rye 42% alc/vol Reifel Rye 42% alc/vol Peppery but not overly so, in the glass its broad swaths of flavour transform into a single complex entity with sweet, creamy, fruity, floral tones and that finishing touch of bitter pith that defines great rye. The astoundingly rich flavours of Reifel Rye demonstrate why Alberta Distillers is the world’s leading producer of rye grain whisky. Canadian distillers know how difficult rye is to work with, and how much whisky lovers revere the spicy flavours of rye done right. By happy chance, the Reifels, the founding family of Alberta Distillers Limi ..read more

Crown Royal Wins Canadian Whisky Awards 2022 Tasting Crown Royal Noble Collection Winter Wheat (45% alc/vol) Hugely complex with the sweet vanilla softness of wheat, nutty barley, and the elegance of corn. Rich in dried dark fruits, chocolate-covered bananas, and sweet pipe tobacco with a punch of spice and distinctly crisp barrel tones. Simply glorious. EXPERTS RECOGNIZE CANADA’S BEST WHISKY  OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 13, 2022 /- Nine independent whisky experts have named Crown Royal Nobel Collection Winter Wheat, Canada’s best whisky and Canadian Whisky of the Year at the twelfth annual Canadian ..read more

Howitzer Canadian Whisky 40% alc/vol Howitzer’s aromatic nose shows toffee, caramel, mild wood, a flash of gunpowder and hints of oranges. Bold, sweet and peppery on the palate, with creamy toffee. Lovely bitter pith early on is overtaken by spiciness along with more sweetness and something almost citrus. A medium glowing finish fades back into cleansing bitter pith. Not overly complex. A good solid classic Canadian whisky with a bit of oomph.  As a wine and spirits importer and wholesaler with Ontario-based Noble Estates, Craig de Blois knows his way around whisky. So, when he and a coup ..read more

Shelter Point Double Barrel Batch 6 – 46% alc/vol Shelter Point Double Barrel Batch 6 – 46% alc/vol The bottle looks a bit different, but the huge, fruity whisky in Batch #6 is just as gorgeous as we’ve come to expect from Shelter Point. Each batch of Double Barrel has its own nuances as barrels, grain and processes are tweaked to suit the resources at hand. If you are keeping track, this sixth batch is reminiscent of Batch #3, which was also finished in French oak.  Making Batch #6 Six barrels of Shelter Point single malt whisky had spent 6 years maturing in new American oak barrels, be ..read more

Forty Creek Foxheart 40% alc/vol With Foxheart, another ground-breaking whisky from Forty Creek, Master Blender, Bill Ashburn tips his hat to his prize-winning Wire Fox Terrier kennel and its eight generations of North American champion show dogs.  Ashburn has been with the distillery since the early 1980s, when it was still Rieder Distillery. He likes to reminisce that when Canadian whisky icon, John Hall bought the distillery in 1992, Ashburn came with the furniture.  Hall, of course, changed the name to Forty Creek and turned what is really Canada’s first craft distillery, into a ..read more

October 18, 1821, marks the 200th anniversary of Molson’s Distillery. Founder, John Molson had actually purchased a copper pot still some two decades earlier, but after a couple of trial batches he lost interest in distilling, and focussed instead on making beer.  The still remained silent until John’s son, Thomas Molson joined the firm. Thomas had a keen interest in distilling and before long he had fired up the disused still and added whisky to Molson’s product line. He soon engaged an agency in London, England to promote Molson’s whisky there, and for a while, Molson’s became the ..read more

  Whisky Book Club reviews Canadian Whisky: The New Portable Expert Week 1  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Ryvv6neZs&list=PLS2CZ3ByaqNUtMfSx8lZkJP_2xcY9KQ4Y&index=11 Week 2  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8anJ2XlrXJc&list=PLS2CZ3ByaqNUtMfSx8lZkJP_2xcY9KQ4Y&index=9 Week 3  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqftOCKFoc8&list=PLS2CZ3ByaqNUtMfSx8lZkJP_2xcY9KQ4Y&index=6 Week 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4jkc2rbF34&list=PLS2CZ3ByaqNUtMfSx8lZkJP_2xcY9KQ4Y&index=3 Week 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAt4Z4RqgV0&list=PLS2CZ3ByaqNUtMfSx8 ..read more