Canadian Club Sherry Cask

This whisky comes in at 41.3%, a bit higher than the standard Canadian 40%. It is aged about 6 years, then finished for 2 years in Spanish Sherry Casks. As with all Canadian Club whiskies, it is "Barrel Blended", meaning that unaged whisky from different batches (and likely recipes) is blended together before barrelling.

Nose: Green grainy rye, cola notes, earthiness all are present (as with other CC whiskies), but there is also some almost pot-still grainy notes, raisin, pine, cinnamon, oak, pencil shavings, ginger, and rose water. Overall, though, it's quite sloppy. 77%

Taste: Vanilla, cola, and some nice spice - peppery and grainy, and not as fruity as I would have expected. The rye comes through, but yet it still has a bit of a pot-still character to it. But, I am pretty dissapointed - I don't think the sherry cask has improved this Canadian Club, unfortunately enough. 75% Finish: Spices tingle without much definition or flavour. It still has a decent body for a finish, with light dried fruits and some nagging bitterness. 80%

Intrigue: I think really this hasn't taken the best parts of the sherry and whisky to meld together. It may just be this batch - I have heard of other batches which do better; but this batch isn't good enough to want me to investigate other batches. However, I do hope it is just this batch, and that the others are better. This was reasonably flat and subdued. 75%

Weighting the nose 25%, taste 35%, Finish 15%, and Intrigue 25% the overall grade is 76.

*I have also posted a separate format (with similar content) of this review at whiskywon.wordpress.com/2014/08/…

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