Hiram Walker Special Old Rye Whisky

Each time I have had this whisky (twice) I have been impressed, and it goes for about 25$ in Ontario which is as cheap as whisky gets here. Even posting this review makes me think I need to go seek out and investigate another bottle - not hard to find, but also not available everywhere.

Nose: bold nose - rye dominates, light rye bread, and lots of spice - clear cut cinnamon and a bit of clove. there's a touch of fruitiness - apples and a touch of orange which seems to lend itself to some slight acidity. there's some toasted oak as well. I also get some hints of cola as well, and some nice elements of toffee as well. The nose develops, and opens up, and sure enough bourbon and oak notes start to appear. A slight sour bitterness comes in too, which is interesting, but not really an element which I think helps with the nose. The spices are wonderful, I have to say, and it is a brilliant development as it sits. 87%

Taste: This one goes down easy! It's quite a fascinating mix - it's a bit sour, with lots of spices but not much heat in the mouth, and then some nice oak and brilliant spices to finish off the taste. It has very nice balance and a perfect amount of sweetness for easy sipping. There's also some dry and grassy rye in there, carried by some caramel. It has some rye bread notes as well, but light rye rather than dark rye. There's some great oaky vanilla as well, with some bourbon notes, and I notice them more as I sip more. 88%

Finish: slightly drying finish, with some caramel, a touch of slightly bitter oak (but not too much), a touch of apple, some dark chocolate, some light rye, and then waves and waves of cinnamon and pepper. The tannins pucker up the mouth a bit, which is something I always enjoy in a finish. The cinnamon and spice are brilliant, and the finish is quite long. 93%

Intrigue: what a whisky! I really like the way the spice is incorporated and its bold character. And the price! It's sad but perhaps true that this whisky might be more well known if it were better packaged and cost more. 88%

Weighting the nose 25%, taste 35%, Finish 15%, and Intrigue 25% the overall grade is 89.

*I realized I would never have time to upload all my Canadian whisky reviews to connosr properly, so I've been importing the tasting notes in bulk to expand the whisky base on connosr. For more info on the whisky (with simiklar tasting notes), see my post at whiskywon.wordpress.com/2014/03/…