Royal Canadian Small Batch

Were you able to find any information from which Canadian distillery or distilleries this whisky is produced?

This is the one with the bottle straight from the Sazerac Antique Collection school of bottle design, right?

Yes, correct, that is the bottle - identical shape and size to the Stagg, Eagle Rare, Thomas H. Handy, etc.

I looked on the Sazerac website for more info on that, but there wasn't any information on that, but wasn't surprised. As the vast majority of Canadian whiskies are blends anyway, that information might not be that helpful anyway...

Very nice at 40% abv. I would like to taste it. Bet it would be dynamite at 60% abv., but that would almost be un-Canadian. I see in the Murray 2012 Bible precisely two Canadian whiskies at 50% abv and above: Glen Breton Ice at 57.2% abv and Canadian Club 100 proof at 50% abv. Who knows? Since Sazerac Company is putting this whisky together maybe they can dare to stretch the Canadian whisky culture envelope by putting out a strength that the Canadian distillers have been unwilling to put out. But probably Sazerac Company will not do that. The LCBO might be reluctant to buy a whisky named Royal Canadian if it were bottled at the shocking strength of 60% abv. It would be downright un-Canadian.

I'm not sure the LCBO is that attached to the idea that Canadian whiskies have to be 40%ers! But you never know. I haven't tried Glen Breton Ice but I've heard it's terrible...and haven't tried CC 100 proof either (I don't think I've seen it here).

One of the characteristics of Canadian whisky is smoothness, which is more difficult with a higher alcohol level. Obviously, there isn't a direct correlation - maturation, frequency of distillation, etc etc has an effect on smoothness as well. But the tradition has always been an easy-drinking 40% and that's what consumers of Canadian whisky tend to expect. Our whiskies don't tend to push the envelope (unfortunately) and don't tend to challenge our palate, which I believe is one of the reasons Canadian whisky has fallen behind in global profile. But I bet if you tried this Royal Canadian blind you would think it was at a higher proof, it has a good kick to it - thanks to its non-Canadian blenders!

Yes, I am eager to try it!

This one reminds me of Seagram's Crown Royal Limited Edition from the Waterloo plant (pre-1992), I'm not saying this whisky is from Waterloo, just that the blending lends itself to this particular profile. Perhaps we could compare with a CR Ltd Ed and a regular CR, dusty bottles from my modest inventory. In the event that I'm not correct, it could still be a lot of fun.

Interesting - I don't know the CR LE pre-1992, only the current LE, which I do quite like. That would be an interesting comparison...

Speaking of Import/Export issues - Masterson's 10 year old straight rye is another Canadian whisky (from Alberta Distillers) that is sold to a US company in bulk where is is bottled, marketed and sold back to us. Sigh.

On another note, why is there now a picture of Sazerac 18 attached to this review?

I think Victor switched bottles lol - a new twist on juxtaposition. I'd gladly trade a bottle of Sazerac Royal Canadian for a bottle of Sazerac 18.

Ohhhhh so would I.....so would I...

I'd like to try the Masterson's against Alberta Springs

I haven't had the Alberta Springs 10 Year Old, though I mean to try it...but I can tell you it is very different from Alberta Premium (both the standard, and the 30 Year Old). The Masterson's has much stronger flavours of dill pickle, grapefruit pith, and that very steely rock-hard rye that you can find in great Canadian whiskies.

Is the masterson's at all comparable to Lot 40, which I find to be a "steely" rye, but unfortunately over-hyped. (I'm sipping on a Basil Hayden right now and it is a little heavy on the rye for a bourbon, but much to my liking).

Ah - yes, somewhat comparable. I do like the Lot 40 - I sampled it at the last WhiskyLive show in Toronto, and have been meaning to buy a bottle. Not sure I would agree that it is over-hyped - I think it is a very good whisky. But I think the Masterson's is in a whole other category of great rye. I first sampled the Masterson's at Spirit of Toronto in May, and just recently bought a bottle as well.

Yeah, I'm not much on the Basil Hayden, to be honest. If I had my choice of the Jim Beam specialty bourbons, it would be the Baker's 7 Year Old - love that one (as @Victor knows!)

@Victor does know, and loves the Baker's too! @Paddockjudge, if you like that Basil Hayden's mashbill, try some Old Grand-Dad 114...supposed to be the same mashbill, but at 57% instead of the Basil Hayden's 40%, or 43% like standard OGD, or 50% like OGD BIB. Can't be certain that the yeast is the same from OGD to Basil Hayden's, but it probably is. @dbk says that they derived Basil Hayden's from pre-existing stocks of OGD. Old Grand-Dad was bourbon produced by Basil Hayden's grandson.

Old Grand-Dad 114 is hilarious kick-ass bourbon! A sentimental favourite of mine, my wife's, and both of my bourbon-loving sisters.

I have an unopened Baker's and now a reason to try it, not that I actually required one. Back to the "steely" rye - would you consider either of Wiser's Legacy or 18 yr old as steely - in my opinion the Legacy is steely (and one of my staples); I'm not certain how to tag the 18 y o - and from that, does the Masterson's at all resemble the Legacy?

The Legacy is certainly has more rye notes than the 18, without question. The 18 is a classic aged Canadian whisky - it's fantastic. But I LOVE the Legacy - much more complexity due to what has to be more rye in the mashbill. Does it compare to the Masterson's? Hard to say - they are both excellent. I'm now inspired to buy a Legacy tomorrow and do a side-by-side comparison. However, if memory serves - while the Masterson's has much more of that awesome rye bite - the Legacy has more complexity - not just big rye notes (which it has) but also lots of what makes great blended Canadian whiskies so great. But I'd really have to taste them together fresh to comment accurately on it.

@ talexander - interesting conundrum - Lot 40 and Legacy are from the same still. Masterson's and Alberta Springs are from the same distillery and possibly the same still. I did three tastings of Legacy vs Lot No. 40 and I definitely prefer the Legacy - the baking spices win me over every time.

@Victor - There's not too many that I don't like, unfortunately I'm at the mercy of the world's largest spirits purchaser and must wait to cross the border to enjoy Old Grand-Dad 114; until then, I'll pour a smash of Booker's Small Batch 127 with a splash of water or two. Cheers!

@paddockjudge, I am sure that Booker's will keep you amused. Cheers!