...or Dusty Diving Onto the Bottom Shelf, or A Full Bottle for The Price of a Bar Drink
On Connosr.com, to date, two sets of people have been interested in discussing Canadian whiskies: 1) Canadians, and 2) Victor. I would like to see the interest increase, because, even if you don't like most Canadian whiskies, they are still quite interesting and different from other styles, and actually pretty interesting to talk about
Whisky, especially Canadian whisky, is less expensive in Maryland than it is in most places. Those Canadian whiskies sold both in Canada and in the US usually cost 10-30% less here than they do in Canada. The Canadian export-only whiskies are dirt cheap here, I assume the reason being to attempt to retain dwindling whisky market share with the resurgence in popularity of Scotch, bourbon, and US rye whiskies. When I read that Windsor Canadian is produced at Alberta Distillers Limited, my favourite Canadian distillery, I decided to give it a try. A 750 ml bottle cost me $ 8.06, including the 9% Maryland alcohol tax
Jim Murray reports there to be both Canada-only and export versions of Windsor Canadian whisky. I assume my Maryland bought bottle to be the export version. I haven't noticed Windsor on the shelves during my many trips to Canada
The whisky is 3 years old. The reviewed bottle is newly opened
Nose: strong intensity, with lots of spice, most of the spices are likely from rye grain, but I've nosed Scotch that smells like this too...except for the hint of maple flavour in the background. OK balance. No prize winner, but not at all bad
Taste: this bottle is very spicy, more so than Jim Murray led me to believe, and more strongly so than the much older, more acclaimed, and more accepted Alberta Premium, from the same distillery. Spicy and sweet co-exist with some bitter and sour...pretty happily actually. There is none of that excessive and artificial cloying sweet-fruitiness so common in Canadian whisky
Finish: medium length, loses the sweet and gains a little bitterness and sourness into the death. Yes, I can actually enjoy sipping this Canadian whisky
Balance: the sweet-dry-bitter elements are in a very decent balance. There is nothing artificial-additive tasting or chemical-tasting about Windsor, as there is about so many of the lesser Canadian whiskies. I enjoy sipping this $ 8 bottle of Windsor Canadian Whisky much more than I do my $ 75 bottle of Wiser's 18 yo
While drinking some more Windsor Canadian again today, I have nothing whatsoever bad to say about this whisky. Today this reminds me a lot of Forty Creek Barrel Select without any of the sulphur contamination of some of the batches,...and at less than half the price.
As inexpensive bottles go, this particular bottle of Windsor Canadian is unquestionably a best buy for money. But who knows whether every batch tastes as good as this one does? Alberta Distillers Limited has proven repeatedly that they can accomplish great things as long as they eschew the sherry, caramel, and other additives. This very inexpensive bottle admirably avoids the usual 'cheap Canadian whisky sweety-fruity trap'.
I do hope more people come to appreciate Canadian whisky, as we appreciate whisky from other places (often too much, relative to the great Canadians we have!). It's too bad that the good Canadian whisky is often scarce outside of Canada (well...we get to drink more of it, so that's a plus). But...hopefully more international expansion might lend capital towards developing some nice robust products.
I haven't ever seen Windsor in Ontario. I've often wondered how different the selection is in Alberta, but I haven't been in a long time...