There's something strange about Black Velvet Reserve 8 year old. It is like Blue Velvet by David Lynch: there's few good spots but mainly it's just annoying.
Aromas balance between good and bad. The taste is actually decent and the finish is just too grainy and blended.
This left me a bit confused, just like almost every Lynch movie. Which isn't always bad. Better to be confused than angry, right?
Nose: First, the stingy alcohol and rectified spirit effects. Then it gets lightly fruity with lemon being the main factor. Everything fades away very fast and ends up almost completely scentless.
Taste: Gives heat very much. Peppery but mellow.
Finish: very quick with wood and peppers. Gets watery and uncharacteristic almost right away.
Balance: Black Velvet 8 yrs is decent whisky when compared to other cheap blended ones. Made me feel happy, yet blue...
@Rantavahti - Pendleton's 12 would be an excellent choice. It is bottled in Oregon state by Hood River Distillers - I believe it to be 100% Canadian rye whisky. Pendleton 1910 (12 YO) is 100% rye aged in Canada and then bottled in Oregon; it takes its name from The Pendleton Roundup, which began in 1910.
Although I have never tasted Pndleton's 12 YO, I am confident in saying that it is from Alberta Distillers (Calgary, Alberta) world's largest distiller of rye whisky and an absolute favourite of J.M. Masterson's is 10 YO rye whisky from the same facility - the Masterson's is 45% abv. Pendleton's 12 YO should be a very good example of rye grain whisky.
A clarification. Bourbon is always made using new charred oak. There are a very few American whiskeys which age in used oak, but those whiskeys cannot legally be called "bourbon" or "rye". US whiskeys aged in used wood are just generically labeled "whiskey". An example is Early Times Whiskey, which is aged in part used oak and part new oak.
Sometimes you will see a brand labelled as Rye Whiskey which does not meet these criteria, such as High West 21 YO Rye, which is aged in used oak. Is this correct labeling? Not from my reading of the US Government's regulation. To the best of my knowledge that High West 21 YO Rye should be named High West 21 YO Whiskey, with a note somewhere on the label that it is distilled primarily from rye grain.