Canadian, eh?

[Jono]

Canadian whisky is associated in my mind with light body style and ideal mixing whiskys. That said, last year I picked up a bottle of Canadian Mist...for the bar..and have not opened it. I went to the Canadian Mist site..and found they have a nice presentation on distilling. They use corn and malted barly, charred new white oak barrels and triple distillation...the goal is a mellow and smooth drink. They do introduce steam and water to remove some of the cogeners..flavor compounds...and leave a controlled amount. Seems they could produce a more complex product by keeping more cogeners in the whisky. I will provide tasting notes soon. Does anyone have much experience sipping Canadian? Any favorites?

[ratcheer]

Not me. To borrow a phrase, Canadian whiskey is "brown vodka". My father used to drink it when he wasn't drinking vodka.

[Jono]

As anxiously awaited...here are my tasting notes on Canadian Mist.

Label- Blended Canadian Whiskey - rare whiskies selected especially for their superior quality, mellow character and excellent bouquet.

40% alcohol (80 proof)

Nose - initial smell...nail polish remover.

Ice added...set minute..kind of a odd light wood smell. Kind of sour (smelling) and what I believe is a formaldehydish note.

Taste - ugh..yes, light...but geez, the nose carries over onto the tongue...where is the orange juice!!!

Sorry...I am not finding this pleasant..if this is one of the better Canadian blends...fuhget aboud it...I cannot even drink it now....down the drain. Time to get something good.... Maybe the local high school biology lab could use it for preserving frogs!

[Blackkeno]

Here are my favorate Canadian Whiskies:

Bush Pilot's Private Reserve 13yo unblended Canadian Whisky (single cask). Almost impossible to find, but Century Reserve 15yo is a single cask botling available in Canada that is very similar. Very complex and distinctive.

Hirsch 12yo Single Cask, cask strength. I usually drink CS offerings with little water, but for me this one really opens up with a good splash of H2O. This is very full flavored for a Canadian.

Crown Royal Special Reserve and Gooderham and Worts are mjy two favorate expressions in the classic "Canadian" style.

See the Rye thread for favorable remarks on Lot 40 and Alberta 100% rye.

[Jono]

I poured the whole bottle down the drain...would not consider using it as a mixer.

[kitzg]

A quick funny story.

I have an older brother who's always acted like... well, an older brother. He is a physician and thinks he knows a lot.

I don't see him much since we live 2000 miles apart.

At a get-together a couple of years ago our sister had a bottle of either Windsor Canadian or Canadian Mist. That's the only whiskey she had. He offered to pour my drink.

I asked for a Canadian and Coke. He said something like, "we're not going to waste this good whiskey in Coke!" and proceeded to give me a glass over ice.

I really just was amazed and decided to just drink it rather than tell him how poor the stuff really was.

Well, maybe that's not so funny but every time I think of that I reflect on my brother who tries to be an expert in everything and did not know good whiskey.

(PS right now his wife is really ill with a type of cancer so I guess the next time I raise a glass to my lips I should toast them and wish them well.)

[Jono]

As this is a Brown Forman product I should email them with some consumer response...maybe they will make them stop using waste chemical steel drums for aging!

Best wishes for your sister-in-law in her fight against cancer.

[bourbonmed]

Hi John,

I'm with you on the Bush Pilot 13y cask, wonderful stuff. Found two bottles with 1981 tax seals! On the Crown Royal, I'd take the standard version over the more expensive Reserve edition.

Omar

[MurphyDawg]

I think I'm with Omar on the Crown Royal, I don't think the Special Reserve was that much better to be worth the extra $$$

TomC