Canadian Whisk(e)y

[lockejn]

I'm planning to begin a survey of locally available Canadian Whiskies soon, and given the worldwide focus on Vancouver for the Olympics it seems timely for a discussion of what they have to offer whisky enthusiasts.

Let's talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. What are your experiences and what suggestions or advice would you offer to someone new to the style?

I think my only experience is with Crown Royal, and that was quite some time ago. I remember lots of coconut in the nose and on the palate and generally not liking it much.

These are the whiskies available locally - pretty slim pickings I think:

Black Velvet
Black Velvet Reserve
Canadian Club
Canadian Club Classic
Canadian Hunter
Canadian Ltd.
Canadian Mist
Canadian Rich & Rare
Crown Royal
Crown Royal Cask No. 16
Crown Royal Reserve
Crown Royal Special Reserve
Crown Royal Extra Rare
Lord Calvert Canadian
Seagrams VO
Seagrams VO Gold

[pkt77242]

Black velvet, Canadian mist, and Seagrams Vo are pretty rough in my opinion.

standard Crown Royal is ok, Crown Royal Reserve is pretty good, and I have heard really good things about Crown Royal Cask 16.

If you can find some Forty Creek it is pretty good as well.

[jmrl]

Forty Creek Barrel Select very good, the low price makes it a crazy bargain, a friend took one back from Canada and only needed £10 to be re-imbursed!

[The Third Dram]

Forty Creek Barrel Select very good...

A very smart choice for the money.

Others that have truly impressed me are:

Crown Royal Cask No. 16
Gibson's 18 Year Old
Wiser's 18 Year Old

[t-bone]

lockejn, unfortunately most of those whiskies are for mixing only.

However, the one I will recommend is the Crown Royal Cask 16. Its an excellent blend that's finished in French cognac barrels. I first posted notes about it here and its since become my favorite Canadian whisky by far. Although it comes with a premium price, it will reward you.

[Muskrat Portage]

Between here and Winnipeg, pretty much everything is available. Oh, that's right, we're on the wrong (or in this case right) side of the Atlantic. I can order anything that's on the LC list and have it shipped to my local in fairly short order and it's too much to list here. There are 130+ on the list to date:
http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/lcbo/produ ... anguage=EN

I've had the pleasure of meeting John Hall from 40 Creek, who is a prince of a man with a very steady pouring arm. That is to say, he gives generous portions of his fine product.

Generally I enjoy 40 Creek, CC, Wisers and Glen Breton (not technically a rye whisky) but technically a Canadian dram. (Despite the misdirected legal efforts of the SWA)


Muskrat Portage

[Drammed]

If you are going to buck up for the Crown Royal Cask 16, and you like the 40 creek, then you might want to try the forty creek double barrel. It goes for around $60 cad around here and is almost 1/2 the price of Cask 16.

[tylergallant7]

Like some have said before Forty Creek reserve or Forty Creek Double Barrel are very good.
Also: Wisers 18yr
Canadian Club 12 yr,20yr, 30yr
Gibsons 18yr

Realize also that some of the Canadian Whiskeys available in the U.S. are not available in Canada because whiskeys like Canadian Hunter are made by Seagrams for U.S customers only. Its wierd but they do that because companies assume the people below Canada have differant tastes when it comes to rye.