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.

[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.