Gibson's Finest 12 Year Old

I reviewed a Gibson's 12 year old earlier, which was distilled, aged, blended, and bottled at the Valleyfield distillery in Quebec. Now, however, production has shifted to Hiram Walker distillery in Windsor and the blending and bottling of Valleyfield Spirit is being carried out there. Production shifted in 2009, so we are looking at 2009+12 = 2021 for the Hiram-Walker-matured Gibson's 12 year old, and 2009+18=2027 for the 18 year old (if they are still making it!). However, I wanted to check out the Hiram Walker blend to see how it compared to my previous bottle.

Nose: Apple seeds, slightly dry, spicy, bitter grain, there is a richness to it as well. Dried ginger and oak comes out more as it sits. There is a thread of bitterness that detracts from the nose, especially as it is overall quite light with a bit of spicy sharpness. It is decent, but it's really not fabulous - I find I tend to skip the nose for the palate here. 78%

Taste: Maple - the wood comes in now out of nowhere with sweetness and light tannins - surprisingly rich after the nose, with a bit of a grain comeback to the end of it. There is some fruity richness to it as well which makes me wonder if this uses some refill casks pretty well - but maybe it's just coming from some rich bourbon casks. 83%

Finish: At first slight spice and tannins, with a sort of green/fresh wood feel and some light cinnamon and clove. A bit of a detrimental saccharin note at the end too, which really doesn't help. 78%

Intrigue: This is decent - I like this bottling more than the previous one I sampled out of Valleyfield because of some new richness and vibrancy, though the style is a bit flat on the nose and finish and there seems to be less of a bourbon influence. I'm excited to see where this goes when they bottle some of the 18 year old out of Hiram Walker. Amazing to me, though, how much this whisky gains with age in terms of the increase of all that's best about this whisky. If they ever bottle any Gibson's beyond 18 years, I'd bet that'd be good stuff, especially with the oak in quite good control even after 18 years! The dryness lends itself very nicely to mixing as well. 80%

Weighting the nose 25%, the palate 35%, the finish 15%, and intrigue 29% the final score is 81.