Crown Royal Cornerstone Blend

Would love to try this....maybe one day...

Sipping on my freshly opened bottle. A Canadian that drinks like a bourbon is very apt. It does indeed remind me of a high rye four roses, with their fruity, bold, and spicy yeast.

Given the low 80 proof I wish it was much smoother. I have a 110+ proof four roses with similar flavor that drinks easier. Here's hoping it calms down with some air time.

Hmm... This have been on my wishlist ever since Distiller got the exclusive. And then once it showed up on the LCBO website for $70 I've been on the fence... but this review intrigues me. I think I'll make the jump once it's in stock around here, which should be soon. Thanks for the write-up.

@talexander - I can bring some if we taste together anytime soon...

@newreverie - I agree. It could be smoothed over in a few places, yes. Too bad about the low proof - the body, however, is quite decent for 80 proof.

I think I'm running out of the phrase " I wounder what this would be like at cask strength"

I suppose the producers expect most of their distillate will go into tumblers of ice and long drinks and that most consumers won't want to pay the higher cost of the higher ABV in such a case.

When you do your value calculations, comparing something so underpowered to a Booker's for the same price, how does it rate?

@Nozinan I'd think at full proof this would be undrinkable. But I had a second glass over ice and it is very pleasant. Bookers is a sub $50 bottle for me and I can't think of a reason why I'd prefer this over Bookers.

@newreverie I think you made my point with respect to the Booker's.

But you bring up another good point. Just because something is CS doesn't automatically make it good. I had that experience with Arran 12 CS a few months ago, and there was also a significant difference between the Ileach CS and the Bowmore Tempest at the Summit. Similarly Writer's Tears CS was not as good as Redbreast 12 CS.

Interestingly, the better examples in each instance carried age statements.

So I guess in my mind you need two things for a good sipping whisky:

good and adequate maturation Concentration of flavour (or maybe better put - less dilution)

Dilution vs CS,

@newreverie, @Nozinan, you make good points.

Recently I posted a list of "21 Canadian Whiskies for the 21st Century". Spots #1, #2, and #3 are occupied by expressions with 40% abv, and 4 of the top 5 are bottled at this lower proof. In the top 10 there are 5 offerings above 40%; three at 45%, one at 51.5% and one at 61.6%.

A higher proof does not necessarily make for a better whisky, but I'd welcome the opportunity to verify or disprove this statement through a comparative tasting.

connosr.com/lists/394267/…

@Nozinan - Booker's at 40% isn't fabulous, though - it is much better at CS. I think I'd take this over a 40% Bookers, but I'd take Booker's at CS over this - this, I think, would be pretty spicy

I agree @paddockjudge - some of my favorite whiskies have also been 40%. That said, I don't think I'd ever complain about a jump to 46% or 48%, though I don't always prefer (I often don't) CS to 48%, my generally preferred drinking strength

@JasonHambrey, I can imagine some whiskies might be too overwhelming at CS, but I think it would be best if producers let us decide how much water is right for us, rather than diluting to the lowest common denominator.

Some of us just can't pick up the flavour in a 40% whisky as well (if it's been heavily diluted as opposed to aged down, like the AP 25 and 30).

Just had some of this tonight, and it's fine. Nothing spectacular. Bourbon-y for sure. I'm happy to have this limited release in my cabinet, but unlike Last Barrels it's not something I'll get a second bottle of.

So, two months later and I'm pretty much here to take back my previous comment. Over the past several weeks I've grown to like this quite a bit. There's something about its split personality that has grown on me a lot. I'll for sure get a second bottle before they're all gone.

The above discussion makes me think a Jim Beam Small Batch tasting would be interesting where they were all diluted down to 40% and the group blindly ranked them all, after which time the whiskies were tasted at full strength and were blindly ranked. It'd be interesting to see how the rankings compared.

I did finally taste this - sorry, but I wasn't super-impressed - good, not great.

@talexander, I think I like this one more than you do. I still hold the CR Monarch a few notches higher.

@JasonHambrey, I've done the Small Batch at 40% exercise, including the fifth member, KC1B.

And what were the results?

Baker's followed by Basil.

I've probably had the greatest sampling of Beam products out of anyone on this site. The most direct comparison would be to Basil Hayden. Basil Hayden is also bottled at 40% which is low for a bourbon but lends itself well to the rye forward nature and good mixing quality.

I'd say Basil Hayden is superior to cornerstone on all fronts. It is smoother, more complex, and cheaper.

So, this was just picked by Whisky Advocate as the Canadian Whisky of the Year for 2016, and in the write-up there's an interesting piece of trivia that I was not aware of:

"A few years ago, when they were making a batch of Crown Royal Deluxe, workers at the Gimli distillery accidentally blended in an extra tanker car of flavoring whisky. Rather than leave an expensive railcar out of service, they transferred this whisky back into barrels to await future needs. In the barrel, new crisp oaky notes, rye spices, soaring florals, and hints of chocolate developed, and so Cornerstone Blend was born."

(I made an identical comment on another Cornerstone review, but thought it worthwhile to post here too)

Love this one, almost as much as Monarch. I missed the boat and would be willing to trade for this one. Anyone up for a trade?

If I had it....I would GIVE it to you, forget a trade...

@Nozinan, I'd gladly accept it, knowing that I would enjoy it much more than you.

by that logic, I should be handing over most of my whisky to you...

@Nozinan, Only the N. American varieties and Macallan Cask Strength ;)