Potter Cadenhead's 1985 14 Year Old

With Canada Day approaching, what better time is there than now to go through a boatload of Canadian whiskies. Somehow, I've ended up with a few that I hadn't tried before. Lucky me!

This particular bottling is quite rare - and is a Canadian whisky you can only get in Scotland! Or perhaps more accurately, you can only get it at Cadenhead retailers. They are Scotland's oldest independent bottler, established in Aberdeen in 1842. They were acquired in 1972 by J & A Mitchell, owners of Springbank. Their retail outlet in Campbeltown is a five-minute walk from Springbank distillery, and Springbank tours often end at Cadenhead's for a tasting in their lounge, a gorgeous luxurious room with plush furniture and many, many bottles of various whiskies from years past.

This whisky is labelled as distilled at Potter Distillery in Kelowna BC; however, David de Kergommeaux tells me it was actually distilled at Weyburn. Potter is now closed (though it was open when this whisky was bottled), with the inventory now belonging to Highwood Distillers. It was distilled from 100% Indian corn in 1985, matured in a bourbon barrel for 14 years and bottled in October 1999. There are 336 bottles.

The colour is a smoky yellow gold. The nose is very floral - goldenrod. Buttered popcorn, Mackintosh toffee, baked apples, cinnamon and nutmeg. A very Canadian nose, surprisingly so given that this is 100% corn with no rye - but it evokes that quality. Surprisingly, water does little except weaken the nose, but over time it takes on some interesting ashen notes.

On the palate, more butter and salt, apples and oranges, and some out-of-place rye notes. Lots of corn, obviously, but also quite citrusy. Peppery. Delicious and smooth for such a high ABV. As with the nose, water just seems to dilute things.

The finish is more sticky toffee and bread pudding, taking over a minute or so to get to some of those cinnamon and nutmeg spices. Some of my scotch-loving friends swear this is the best Canadian whisky they've ever tasted. I think it's excellent for a corn whisky, being cask strength and still retaining some of those characteristics of Canadian whiskies. But the rye element I love so much is mostly missing. Immensely drinkable and very enjoyable.