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I thought I had read that somewhere, but I didn't want to pass along any misinformation. So, are we here in the US simply paying a "premium" price for extra-aged Alberta Premium? Not that I'm complaining, as it's a very fine whiskey.Quote:
Originally Posted by dbk
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Well, if I understand Gary's post, and assuming his hypothesis is correct, then the answer to your question is "no". You're paying for something that would only make up a small fraction of Alberta Springs, one of Alberta Distillers' whiskies; on its own, it has no specified market value, because until now it has never been on the market. That said, if people are swooning over it, then it seems that a price in the Caribou Crossing-Handy-Sazerac 18 range is to be expected.Quote:
Originally Posted by unclebunk
That said, you folks in the US are the only ones paying for it, as it's not even available in Canada! Caribou Crossing is just making its way into Canada, and we're the ones paying a premium for it ;)
Davin at Canadianwhisky.org has a very interesting write up of WhistlePig in which he notes that Alberta Premium and Hiram Walker are the only two Canadian distilleries which make 100% rye mash whiskey. Alberta uses unmalted and Walker uses malted rye.
http://www.canadianwhisky.org/news-v...e-whiskey.html
Most people do seem to think WhistlePig is the flavor whiskey from Alberta, but I don't know that I've ever heard anything definitive.
While the distillate may be created in Canada, is it a Canadian Whisky in style? By this, I mean a combination of a straight with spirit whisky and up to nine point whatever percent other stuff.
My interpretation from those who have sampled it is that the "style" says American Straight not Canadian. Perhaps this is why people here use he weasel words when referring to it.
Whistle Pig is 100% Rye whiskey at 10 years old.Quote:
Originally Posted by callmeox
The Canadian distillery that Dave bought it from had it to color and flavor GNS to make Canadian Whiskey.
It got to be 10 years old because Canadian whiskey is slowing down in sales. On that note there are some "premium" Canadians coming out.
Also he can't say who he bought it from, just like here when someone buys bulk bourbon and creates a label they have agreeded not to reveal the source.
Canadian whisk(e)y in general has a very bad moniker in the US among whiskey fans, with many people refering to it as "brown vodka".
People who do their research can find the stuff worth talking about.
As a dual citizen born and raised in Canada, myself and nobody I ever grew up with drank whiskey, not even my parents or their friends, everyone drank beer. Whiskey was for really old farts (and I mean OLD)...
That's changing, all be it slowly.
Whistlepig's naming and labeling is probably one part accuracy but also one part marketing.
What I do know, is that provincial liquor laws in Canada will make it near impossible for Canadians to get this product without paying a stupid amount of money, and that's a shame.
Yes and no. It's pretty big in Michigan, being so close to the border. When I go in to bars in rural southeast MI, it'll be Jim and Jack on the bar, flanked by about 5-6 Canadians: Seagrams 7, VO, CC, Mist, CR, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by imbibehour
I basically prefer straights, but I'm also partial to Crown Royal, and really like the new CR Lot 16.
The "technically" need not be construed as a dig at Canada or Canadian whiskey. Whistlepig is whiskey made in Canada, true, but it is stylistically unlike what we know -- at least in the USA -- as Canadian whiskey, not so much because it is 100% rye or 10-years-old, but because it satisfies the American requirements for straight rye whiskey, which I assume no other Canadian-made whiskey that's available on the market can do, the following specifications specifically:
- Distilled at less than 80% ABV. Most Canadian whiskey is distilled much higher.
- Aged in new, charred oak barrels. Most Canadian whiskey is aged in used cooperage.
So if 'Canadian whiskey' means whiskey made in Canada, then it's Canadian whiskey, but if it means whiskey made in the Canadian whiskey style and recognizable as Canadian whiskey, then it's not, hence the "technically."
Aren't Crown Royal, and the others mentioned, really popular in the U.S.? I thought Canadian whisky always had a good image in the States.
Gary
I would ordinarily agree with you on this point, Chuck, but in the context of the original statement, the "technically" seems like a dig to me:Quote:
Originally Posted by cowdery
Having flanked "it technically comes from Canada" with "Even though" and "I still like it" implies pretty strongly that the "technically comes from Canada" is a euphemism for "comes from a place that makes crap whisky"—as in, "Even though it comes from a place that makes crap whisky, I still like it." ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by ThomasH
Again, not trying to cause a ruckus; just wanted to cast another opinion on the matter.