Made from 100% Rye, the Alberta Premium Blended Rye Whisky calls itself a blend because it’s a mix of new charred oak and used cooperage. To what extent that amount is they’re not saying and I wish they would because that word blend can make things a bit confusing. Especially on this side of the border. Up in Canada they just call it rye, because legally they can, but down here in the USA we have different laws governing the labels of whiskey, especially when it comes to bourbon and rye. So even though it’s a 100% rye mash, the use of both new and used cooperage requires the word blend be add ..read more

If you’re wondering who the heck this Benjamin Chapman 7 Year Canadian Whisky is in reference to, get in line. All I can find about the guy is what’s in the official press release. Which is then copied verbatim across every single whiskey site that posts press releases as if they were original content. What is that verbatim? Don’t worry, I’ll save you a Google search. “Benjamin Chapman 7-Year Whiskey was inspired by an enigmatic figure from the 1960s international jet set era. Elusive as he was respected among the international cognoscenti, Benjamin Chapman became legendary for his refined t ..read more

“100% Canadian Rye? Oh, here we go again...” were my exact thoughts when I saw this Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye coming to the market. But I’m happy to report that my initial skepticism was sorely misplaced and has helped restore my faith in what Canadian Whisky could be. Operative word being could. We don’t often get releases like this down here, but when fantastic stuff like the Stalk and Barrel Single Malt show up or the big guys step up their game and release decent-to-good stuff like the Crown Royal Blender’s Mash, it’s awesome – I truly hope we get to see more things like this in t ..read more

Selected by Master Blender Drew Mayville, the Caribou Crossing Single Barrel Canadian Whisky represents the best he can find amongst the 200K+ barrels he has on hand. Bottled in the spring and fall, this twice-yearly whisky is shipped down from Canada and bottled at the Buffalo Trace distillery. It’s also released mainly in the USA. This is one of those interesting releases that has helped grow the reputation of a specific category but isn’t readily available in the country that category represents. Kind of like how the Wild Turkey 101 8 Years (export) is the symbol of WT throughout Europe bu ..read more

The Crown Royal French Oak Finish is the latest in the Crown Royal Noble Collection. This collection is one of their lines of limited, annual, releases. The most notable of which is the Crown Royal Blender’s Mash, which was originally called the Bourbon Mash, but was forced to change due to the use of the word Bourbon. Setting aside the controversy, it was a really good whisky. To make the this, the folks at CR started with their usual Crown Royal Whisky which is then finished for 3-4 months in French Oak that’s been toasted rather than charred. The oak used comes from the Vosges forest in Fr ..read more

I enjoy smoke in whiskey. From the scrub oak smoke in Balcones Brimstone to the peat smoke in Islay whiskies I’m a fan of it all and when the Crown Royal Texas Mesquite was announced I knew I needed to get a taste. The curiosity of reality vs what was sitting in my imagination was a question that needed answering. On the surface this may seem like an odd combination – Canadian Whisky and Texas Mesquite – but it’s actually a great fit. Texas is the #1 consumer of Canadian Whisky in America; so much so that there are distillers in Texas actively trying to simulate the Crown Royal profile in the ..read more

When Crown Royal first launched this whiskey as the Bourbon Mash they got in hot water with bourbon enthusiasts for using the term Bourbon despite the TTB approving the label. This release, the Crown Royal Blender’s Mash 13 Years, is part of the new Canadian releases being touted as Canada’s “challenge to bourbon” which is an interesting thought. There is a long history of Canada and Bourbon and ownership of distilleries and even some old bottles of Canadian Straight Bourbon. So it’s not exactly a new concept and it’s also obvious, based on the age of the whiskey alone, they could have been c ..read more

Before looking up the details of the Orphan Barrel Entrapment I said to myself “Self, this smells and tastes like Crown Royal with some oak extract dumped in it”. Lo-and-behold I was right… about the Crown Royal part. The oak is because it’s two-and-a-half decades old. In Orphan Barrel’s Words: Orphan Barrel Entrapment “Distilled in 1992, Entrapment was originally due to be included in a batch of Crown Royal Deluxe, however the spirit never made it into the blend and has instead spent the last 25 years maturing at the the distillery in Gimli, Manitoba. Entrapment is made of a mash of 97% cor ..read more

Stalk and Barrel Single Malt hails from one of the new breed of whisky distillers in Canada – Still Waters Distillery. Started by two guys named Barry, it was Ontario’s first micro-distillery and was among the first micro-distillers in Canada. They helped pave the way for the modern rebirth of distilling in Canada, but instead of doing the same-old-same-old style of Canadian whisky they jumped head-first into single malts – which are on the rare side for Canada. In Still Water’s Words: Stalk and Barrel Single Malt “Made from 100% Canadian two-row malted barley. We mash, ferment, and distill ..read more

Shelter Point Single Malt is an “artisanal” single malt from Canada’s burgeoning craft/artisanal/micro-distilling scene/movement. So many names for the same damn thing which is a revival of small distilleries in the world. But unlike what’s happening in America where folks are trying, and often failing, to make a good bourbon on a small scale, up in Canada the focus seems to be more on single malts than the blended style of whisky they’ve been known for. In Shelter Point’s Words: Shelter Point Single Malt “Paradise isn’t necessarily a geographical requirement for making great whisky, but we ..read more