I received a gift today

[bgast1]

A member of another forum that I visit sent me a small bottle of Forty Creek Premium Barrel Select. 40% Alcohol by volume Canadian Whisky, I am anxious to give it a try this evening. Does anyone know much about this whisky? How it compares to other Canadian Whisky's in terms of quality? The only other Canadian Whisky that I can recall recently is Canadian Club. I have been told the CC is considered rot-gut in Canada. Relatives of mine used to only drink Crown Royal but I haven't tried that either.

Also, some hints as to properly taste this whisky would be helpful as I am still very much of a newcomer, yet I am starting to develop a palate for the different Whisk(e)y's

I have found that I prefer bourbon mostly because of price and being an American.

[bgast1]

Well, I am drinking it neat. It tastes sweet, perhaps some maple? Not really sure. I like it, but so far it is the sweetest whisky that I have had. Ralfy suggested putting a little Islay scotch in it. I have just a tiny bit of Laphroiag left over. Just enough. I might try that tomorrow. One thing that Ralfy said was get rid of the rocks in the glass, but I find that by drinking my whisky that way after tasting neat is that it lasts longer that way and for someone with as little money as me, I need it to last.

[moose]

The sweetness is typical for Canadian Whisky's. I haven't had the Forty Creek, the last Canadian Whisky I had was Pendleton, and it was okay, a little too sweet for my taste to be consumed straight, a little bit of ice helped it a tad, but I ended up just using it as a mixer, as the sweetness paired well with cola. Sounds like your enjoying it enough though, which is good, will be interesting to see if adding any scotch to it helps, that's a method I haven't heard before.

[bgast1]

The sweetness is typical for Canadian Whisky's. I haven't had the Forty Creek, the last Canadian Whisky I had was Pendleton, and it was okay, a little too sweet for my taste to be consumed straight, a little bit of ice helped it a tad, but I ended up just using it as a mixer, as the sweetness paired well with cola. Sounds like your enjoying it enough though, which is good, will be interesting to see if adding any scotch to it helps, that's a method I haven't heard before.

I hadn't heard of it before either. I think Ralfy added some Ardberg, but I only have just a few drops of Laphroaig.

Thanks for the reply. I don't usually mix whisk(e)y unless adding a liberal amount of ice cubes counts as mixing. I don't need to water it down to enjoy it but it helps make the drink last longer.

[Parkersback]

Search for Forty Creek on this board, you'll find lots of threads.

I'm a fan of the stuff.

[Brisko]

Yeah, it's good stuff. Very brandy-ish, to my way of thinking. I like it for a change of pace, but I don't drink it that often. I do like to give it as a gift to people who favor that style of whisky. It's top quality and the price is very reasonable.

[Shell]

Yeah, it's good stuff. Very brandy-ish, to my way of thinking. I like it for a change of pace, but I don't drink it that often. I do like to give it as a gift to people who favor that style of whisky. It's top quality and the price is very reasonable.

Canadian whisky's character is lighter and a bit sweeter. I haven't had the chance to try the Forty Creek Premium Barrel Select, but I'm an admirer of Crown Royal Special Reserve (very, very good) and Crown Royal Limited Edition (available only in Canada). I also enjoy these Canadian whiskies for a change of pace.

Canada has many whiskies with wonderful reviews by Davin - many however are only available when visiting our northern neighbor.

[Megawatt]

A member of another forum that I visit sent me a small bottle of Forty Creek Premium Barrel Select. 40% Alcohol by volume Canadian Whisky, I am anxious to give it a try this evening. Does anyone know much about this whisky? How it compares to other Canadian Whisky's in terms of quality? The only other Canadian Whisky that I can recall recently is Canadian Club. I have been told the CC is considered rot-gut in Canada. Relatives of mine used to only drink Crown Royal but I haven't tried that either.

Also, some hints as to properly taste this whisky would be helpful as I am still very much of a newcomer, yet I am starting to develop a palate for the different Whisk(e)y's

I have found that I prefer bourbon mostly because of price and being an American.

I do get some hints of maple from Barrel Select. Actually the distiller's tasting notes are pretty accurate in my opinion: walnut, apricot, vanilla. A rocks glass is fine. I've been drinking Canadian whisky with a single ice cube but I found Barrel Select a little too light to take the ice. Barrel Select is quite different in flavour from other Canadians. As Brisko pointed out it has brandy-ish qualities.