Ranking the last 7 years of Canadian whisky

@paddockjudge @talexander @nozinan don't miss this - I'd love your thoughts (along with everyone else's!)

@JasonHambrey, Very interesting. I was having a variant of this conversation today with @cricklewood. Using a list from July 2016 as a reference point, the absence of some great Canadian whiskies is conspicuous. These whiskies are not necessarily new, some are new to the marketplace. The raw stocks have existed for decades and are only now coming to market. This is not the point I'm stressing here. The point I wish to make is the willingness of producers to listen to the various lobby groups and influencers resulting in the long awaited introduction of connoisseur products to the marketplace. The absence of many of these types of whiskies from the list below (see pic) emphasizes the gap that existed in the Canadian marketplace only 30 months ago. Our voices have been heard ...and our wallets are open.

@JasonHambrey thank you for your discussion and for your list!

Unquestionably, for those of us who have tasted a good few of these recently released Canadian products, and knew what was available in the period prior to their release, Canadian whisky emerged from its cocoon and grew wings during this period.

The trend is very favourable, to be sure. Top tier cask strength Canadian products becoming continuously available remains the big unanswered need for many of us.

One other issue for the quality of Canadian whisky which has also existed for some time now in the US whiskey market is: how well will quality be maintained in the mass market brands when the top barrels are being segregated for use in premium products? I think that if you tried some Jim Beam White Label bourbon from 20 years ago or some ($12) Jim Beam Yellow Label Rye from 20 years ago, that you would find that they were much better than the Beam products being sold today in the mass market brands. I believe that they went down in quality largely because the best barrels of bourbon became increasingly reserved for other, more expensive, product lines.

...and meanwhile, 99.5% of the population of the world doesn't get a chance to taste 90% of these whiskies listed by @JasonHambrey and by @paddockjudge.

This conversation and so many others on Connosr is a conversation of Canadians speaking with Canadians...and also of Canadians speaking with the rare non-Canadian who often visits Canada.

My tasting of Canadian whiskies has not been as extensive as @paddockjudge or @JasonHambrey but having only “discovered” Canadian whisky in the last 18 months or so, my highlights would be:

• Lot 40 Cask Strength (last year and this year’s releases)
• Wiser’s Dissertation
• Wiser’s Legacy
• Highwood Ninety Decades of Richness 20 Year Old
• Lot 40 (standard release)
• Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye (I know, I know, batch variations...but I’ve had some excellent bottles of this stuff)
• Gooderham & Worts 17 Year Little Trinity (I reviewed this one too quickly. It got much better with some air exposure)
• Forty Creek Confederation Oak
• Forty Creek Heart of Gold

I’ve got a few samples of CC40 which I haven’t tried, a bottle (and sample) of Wiser’s Last Barrels, a sample of last year’s Wiser’s 35, and a bottle of this year’s Wiser’s 35. I have to say that the Hiram Walker/Wiser’s flavour profile(s) seem to be more my style than other distilleries.

I generally agree with @OdysseusUnbound 's list (my daily Canadian has become Lot 40). It certainly is an incredible renaissance in Canadian whisky - even when I started this little hobby some years ago, almost all of the bottles @JasonHambrey mentioned off the top didn't even exist. So many are very good and AFFORDABLE. Those whisky fans who don't have a palate for Canadian and so are buying mostly single malt scotch are certainly spending a lot more than we are...

@talexander I’m amused by some of the members of one of my Facebook whisky groups who “just can’t develop a palate” for Canadian whisky (as they adjust their top hat and monocle). Reading their comments, you just know they’ve probably never tried anything beyond standard CC or Crown and are trying so hard to appear more sophisticated and discerning. To be fair, many of these guys are just as snobby and condescending with regards to bourbon. Oh well, that makes for a wider and more affordable range of whisky experiences for the rest of us.

@OdysseusUnbound I know some pretty down-to-earth whisky lovers who just don't have a palate for it. I don't think they're being snobbish or anything - they simply don't like it. The snobbish ones are the ones who poo-poo the entire category, criticizing it for allowing some additives, being made in giant factories, show disdain for those who enjoy it, etc etc. However, those who say they just don't like the flavour profile are perfectly valid in their opinion. Myself, though I love many Canadian whiskies, there sure are a lot of bad ones - and so, as a broad category, I would rate Canadian lower than single malt scotch, bourbon and Japanese. But Canadian's affordability and availability (and Pam's love of Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye) means I buy more Canadian whisky than any other category.

@Victor, Canadian Distilleries are controlled by foreign owned multinationals who use the incredibly huge, efficient, and dependable Canadian production facilities to fill both their bottom line and the millions of bottles of their highly profitable blends. It is not difficult to imagine this rennaissance in Canadian Whisky to disappear as quickly as it appeared.

The release of super-premium Canadian whisky is an anomaly, an outlier, the result of decisions made at the local level and certainly not in the corporate boardrooms. It is no secret that Canadian whisky, mostly cheap blends created for mixed drinks, outsells ALL other whisk(e)y categories combined in the United States. Ulra-premium, Super-premium, Connoisseur style whiskies cannot be profitable outside of Canada, not at the current price levels these offerings command. They fly under the radar at a relatively small additional cost to the major producers and this is the only reason why requests for this style of whisky have been answered. Luxury Whisky is expensive whisky. These Canadian gems are diamonds in the rough, many of them uncut and unpolished and certainly not over-hyped.

Alberta Distillers Limited of Calgary, Alberta, Canada is owned and operated by Beam Suntory, Inc., a subsidiary of Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd, a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan. HQ for Suntory is located in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the largest producers of distilled beverages worldwide as are Diageo and Pernod Ricard.

The Crown Royal Distillery of Gimli, Manitoba, Canada is owned and operated by Diageo plc, a British multinational alcohol/beverage firm, HQ in London, England and the largest distiller on the planet until being overtaken by China's Kweichow Moutai in 2017.

Hiram Walker Distillery of Windsor, Ontario, Canada is owned and operated by Pernod Ricard, a French Company with HQ in Paris, France. This is distillery is the largest producer by volume of spirits in North America.

Canadian Mist Distillery of Collingwood, Ontario, Canada is owned by Brown-Forman of Louisville KY

Forty Creek of Grimsby, Ontario, Canada was a craft distiller that grew rapidly and developed a reputation for high quality whisky. It was purchased by Compari Group, HQ in Milano, Italy. Lately that reputation for high quality whisky has been questioned by consumers and critics. Forty Creek does not have a large inventory from which to easily support super-premium brands and the bottom line.

The Big Three, Canadian Mist, and Forty Creek are Canadian only by geographic location and the laws that govern their operations. The good whisky stays in Canada. World markets want affordable spirits and that is what these corporate giants provide.

I've had the pleasure of drinking some very fine Canadian juice over the years; Park and Tilford, Schenley, Royal Command, Crown Royal Limited Edition, CR Reserve, Wiser's Red Letter, Gibson's Rare and now the chance to have whisky never before tasted outside of blending labs or from special samples kept behind display tables at whisky shows is an opportunity not guaranteed to continue in Canada, let alone outside of its borders.

I hope this trend of top-flight Canadian whisky not being available outside of Canada continues, for I fear the alternative may not be its expansion into global markets, but its extinction.

@talexander That’s totally fair. Just like some people don’t like peated whisky or sherried whisky. But reading some people’s “anti-Canadian whisky” comments, you just know they’ve never tried much of it. One comment I often hear is “Canadian whisky is too weak and sweet”...really? Lot 40 Cask Strength is weak and sweet? Wiser’s Dissertation is weak and sweet? There are a lot of people who think drinking exclusively single malts, and especially expensive single malts, makes them “more refined”.

@OdysseusUnbound, Freddie Noe, 8th generation of Beam Family in the whisky business does not share the same opinion of Canadian Whisky being too weak or sweet...he used CC 40 YO and Alberta Distillers 13 YO Rye to make a blend with his Knob Creek Rye. I didn't think the 8 YO Cask Strength Knob Creek Rye 59.8% abv needed to be fixed, but using cask strength CC 40 YO and Cask Strength 13 YO Alberta Rye actually improved it.

That's one hell of a compliment, putting the name Little Book, given to him by his grandfather Booker Noe, on a Canadian-Kentuckian blend. Freddie is the face of the future for Beam. @Victor, BeamGlobal might be the ones to take super premium Canadian whisky "global".

@JasonHambrey This is an interesting subject for those who are already "Whisky Aficionados" and have explored the varieties of new top shelf or want-to-be top shelf Canadian whisky. The average Joe really has no idea that something like Lot 40 is a worth while whisky to try. A matter of fact many have no idea that it has been around for years now. As @paddockjudge said of me "the bus driver gets see to when people get on and get off". For myself, it takes an effort to convince some one to take a chance on purchasing a bottle of Lot 40. Whereas most people will grab a Crown Royal or a Bulleit off the shelf without hesitation. Even those who sell the stuff have no idea of what they are selling. It's just a title, "Sam knows about whisky(really, Sam know nothing he's just selling a brand and BS). Why are these anomalies out there? Maybe, to create a buzz among the "aficionados". They'll post about it and Joe will think about buying lower shelf brands. You'll have to excuse my cynicism, it is just what I've experience over the last month.

@OdysseusUnbound - I think the mind-set that you speak of is similar to folk who brag about paying £100's for a clothing item and will scoff at lesser valued/branded products. The irony being they are simply bragging about being fooled/conned. That said, as I know someone close to me who is very much of that mind-set, if it makes them happy then crack on

@JasonHambrey

I’m flattered that you, let alone anyone, would solicit my opinion on Canadian Whisky. In this genre I still consider myself a rank amateur.

I have a skewed knowledge of Canadians because I came into the game late. My collection is mostly based in things I was told were good by a few Connosrs. I only “got” Canadian whisky for real less than 2 years ago.

So I haven’t really experienced a lot of bottom shelf stuff.

I would say my favourite Canadians over the last 8 years I’ve studied whisky would be:

• Wiser’s Dissertation

• Wiser’s Legacy

• Lot 40 CS (either year)

• wiser’s 35 YO (either year)

• Forty Creek Heart of Gold

• Forty Creek Confederation Oak

A few that just didn’t do it for me:

• Forty Creek Harmony and Founder’s Reaerve

• Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye

• Crown Royal Monarch (sorry @paddockjudge)

• Crown Royal Cornerstone Blend (don’t judge me)

If I went back to some of the Ones I didn’t like today, would I feel differently. Unclear.

Responding to @fiddich1980 @OdysseusUnbound @Victor

It is rather true that some simply don't like the style of Canadian whisky, generally - the challenge there is that it is a much more diverse category than many suspect. That being said, it is still largely composed of a lighter, often sweeter style. But, it's still less sweet than bourbon so it's not all about sweetness. There is certainly often some snobbery to it. For one of the largest producers of whisky, it also probably has the smallest percentage of premium/connoisseur products. Scotch, USA, Canada, Japan, and then Ireland are the largest producers of whisky, in that order, and I do think Canada has the least percentage of connoisseur bottlings. American whisky, perhaps, might have fewer if you look at all of American whisky and not just straight bourbon.

I'm not quite sure why people don't take to Canadian whisky as easily as other categories. It isn't the quality. One reason, for sure, is that most haven't tried much of the category (or don't have access to it), and one reason is perhaps style. But, on style, I find that as my own friends drink more of it, they tend to like it more (not unlike other styles of whisky, and I do find Canadian whisky more quickly dismissed).

Regardless, I'm certainly enjoying the boom and am a little wary of some of the intense price hikes happening over the past two years. 2017 was my favorite year, I think, though the loss of Legacy is substantial enough for me to consider 2018. My all time favourite Canadian whisky, Lock Stock and Barrel 116 Year old 100% Rye (pot distilled in Alberta) in 2016 makes that year on it number 3. It's too bad there haven't been any stunners of late from Forty Creek, but we've gotten so much out of Wiser's that the loss isn't that great.

@paddockjudge I'm trying to get Beam to release more Alberta rye, but under a Canadian brand name, not an American one...

The thing with Canadian whisky is that it's a mishmash of different things. Many expressions are essentially blends but at least in Scotland a blend is "Scotch". Interestingly, bourbon is a blend too, and not always the same blend, and yet it has its own aura about it. what Canadian whisky needs is an aura.

@Nozinan, you lost me at "Scotch" ...90% of all scotch whisky is found in blends, that is scotch, regardless of the grain type. With that I agree. What exactly makes multigrain scotch so homogenous that terroir explains away millions of cases of really bad whisky? ...yeah, an aura would help Canadian whisky, at the moment allit has is an aurora, and it may be shrinking do to fake global warming.

@JasonHambrey, they should let us loose in the blending lab. I bet we would get along famously with Freddie. lol

@paddockjudge Yes, i think so! Only one other person i know liberally blends with 30 plus year old whisky....

@Nozinan Hey, I'm not a fan of the "Cornerstone Blend" either....but I do love the Monarch!

@talexander, we can open a Monarch for the next coronation.... which might be a considerable wait as I now believe the Queen might actually be immortal.

@paddockjudge - It's the reptilian genes, you see . . .

I haven’t tried the Monarch or the Cornerstone but I’m guessing I’d like them. I seem to enjoy Crown more than most of my fellow Connosrs. I had some plain Ol’ Crown at my mom’s awhile back and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It probably helped that I had just tasted the most “off” batch of Alberta Premium Dark Horse ever.

@OdysseusUnbound AP Dark Horse has gone to shit - it's now undrinkable.

@JasonHambrey Speaking of LS&B 16 year, one glaring omission from Canadian releases of 2017 is:

Hochstadter's Family Reserve 16 year Rye, which appears to be a 123.8 proof version of the LS&B 16 and incredible.

Was sipping on a Masterson's 10, rye batch 5 last night, speaking of incredible.

@Astroke ah yes. That was a hlaring omission

A good malthead friend just sent me a message. His secret Santa gave him a bottle of Crown Royal Salted Caramel. I think it will be quickly re-gifted. This is the kind of nonsense that helps perpetuate the perception of Canadian whisky as an inconsequential lightweight. It’s not hard to see why there is a big credibility gap for serious whisky drinkers. Also, the attitude that the best stuff should be kept at home and only the usual old crap exported doesn’t do much to enhance the global reputation of Canadian whisky. Why aren’t we giving the rest of the world the best we’ve got?

@BlueNote, I agree wholeheartedly, what else is Christmas but kindness and sharing. We should let the rest if the whisky world have a sip or two from the top shelf.

Gifts of Lot 40 Cask Strength were given and received by the men in my Clan today... no accounting for great taste.

With regard to CR Salted Caramel, mea culpa, I had a Christmas Cocktail with the kids this morning... where else are they going to cut their teeth and develop a palate for whisky like Lot 40 Cask Strength? lol.

Christmas Cocktail CR Salted Caramel, CR Apple Apple slices Ginger Ale Lemon juice. Merry Christmas to all!

@paddockjudge I must admit, that cocktail does sound good. Have a great Christmas with the family.

@BlueNote here, here. All I can find in my country is Crown Royal or Canadian Club. As a result I don't tend to read all the discussions on here around Canadian whiskey as it is disheartening reading about something which is unobtainable. Maybe oneday I'll be able to sample some in int's country of origin.