Canadian Mist Collingwood 21 Year Old Rye

This interesting whisky could properly be called a single malt rye. Starts off well on the nose with tangy notes of overripe apple and the suggestion of dank, musty wood.

On the palate, however, things go horribly wrong. The whisky is medium-bodied and rather weak, and the taste is of old wood and rotten peaches. Sometimes I can stand to drink it; other times it makes me wince. If I compare it head-to-head against any other rye it is absolutely horrible.

The finish isn't much better: sour and overripe. The overall effect is of a very poorly-made whisky. Did it just sit in the casks too long? Or was it bad to begin with? The official story is that this was an experimental whisky forgotten in one of the Canadian Mist warehouses, until one day the master distiller decided, "What the hell, why not bottle it?" It went into the same bottles as the regular Collingwood, was given a different label, and consumers like me got all excited over how promising it sounded. I wanted to like it. I really did. But this has to be one of the worst whiskies I've ever tasted.