So, Canadian whisky. Yes. They have been producing some amazing stuff, and not telling anyone about it, then came Davin De Kergommeaux , who knows everything there is to know (almost) about Canadian whisky, and wrote this lovely book of his (if you have not read this book, READ IT! its well written, and no wonder it has won a few awards). So after reading this book, and learning a bit more about Canadian Whiskey, i decided i needed to expand my Canadian whiskey education by tasting it, and lots of it as this is the only way you can learn about whisk(e)y. Thank goodnes s for twitter,email and social media, and with a little help from my friends (Thank you Johanne, and thank you so much Davin for your help and samples and advice), i was able to score some nice samples to help me begin my journey of exploration of Canadian whiskey. This is the first one I chose to begin with (for no obvious reason, just liked the name, and that it’s a rye). So here goes. First Canadian whisky review , here we go!!
Some information i was able to dig on this one: It’s a mix of 12 yo Rye and and 6 yo small pot rye , with a 8% of aged corn whisky, and bottled at 45% abv which is not very common in Canadian whiskeys so I understand. I am quite a fan of Ryes and this sounded enticing, so let’s get on with the dramming work:
Alberta Premium Dark Horse, NAS, 45% , $29.95( in Canada)
Nose: Starts with acetone , spices , leather and vanilla ice cream. Herbs with nice sweet edge to it. Nice rye spiciness with hint of sherry. Fruity (dark fruit) and very intense and perfumed. This is massive stuff.
Palate: Lovely rye notes. Spicy and cinnamon-y. Rather creamy with vanilla ice cream , but also masculine. Getting bitter with some grapefruit and orange peel and hints of Cherries and prunes. Mouth-watering, and full bodied, with a nice oomph factor at 45%. I like!
Finish: Dark fruit. Bitter grapefruit. Rye spices. Longish.
This is an excellent whiskey, no doubt. It’s powerful, masive, mouth coating, with a lot of strong flavours, while being very enjoyable to drink straight. Rye goodness, with another dimension of fruit and sweetness in addition to the spiciness one can expect from a Rye. They sure know how to make whiskey in Canada. I am looking forward to the other samples in my “to do” list.
Rye in Canada is not necesarily the same as rye anywhere ese. As far as I know there is some sherry added to this as well (not exsherry whisky but sherry wine). It’s within Canadian whisky regulations and the whisky is clearly sherried. Its a very nice dram
yes i think a wee bit of sherry is added (saw Davin’s blog).