Forty Creek - John’s Private Cask

[silverfish]

Bottle reservations for the 2011 Limited Release of John’s Private

Cask No. 1 will open on Tuesday, May 17th, at 12:00 pm (noon).

John's Private Cask No. 1 will retail for $69.95.

Due to provincial and federal regulations, this offer is only available

in Ontario, Canada. Unfortunately, we cannot ship bottles. They

must be purchased and picked up at the distillery in Grimsby, Ontario.

More info here.

[Megawatt]

Anyone try this yet? Initial reports look quite promising.

[JohnHansell]

It's one of his best yet. I really enjoy it!

[MacinJosh]

It's one of his best yet. I really enjoy it!

John, I thought I read in either your blog or Davin's that this would indeed be shipped to the US. Not the case?

Josh

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[MacinJosh]

Did some digging on Davin's site...looks like it's Canadian only. Bummer!

http://www.canadianwhisky.org/news-views/forty-creek-johns-private-cask-no-1.html

[silverfish]

John, I thought I read in either your blog or Davin's that this would indeed be shipped to the US. Not the case?

As I wrote in the original post:

"They must be purchased and picked up at the distillery in Grimsby,

Ontario."

On a related note, The Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve was

MAs Canadian Whisky of the Year (Feb. 2011.)

According to Canadian Whisky:

"With only 16,800 bottles produced, distiller John Hall of Kittling Ridge

Distillery had originally intended Confederation Oak Reserve as a Canadian

exclusive. However, he finally acquiesced to persistent demand from his

American distributors to supply key retailers in the U.S. That’s a good

thing. Eligibility for the Malt Advocate Awards is limited to whiskies that

have been released in the U.S. during the past calendar year."

I realize the FCCOR is different from the JPCask but has anyone seen

the FCCOR in the US? Or any idea who the "key retailers" might be?

[JohnHansell]

Yes, John Hall told me it will be coming to the U.S.

[Megawatt]

Confederation Oak was really nice. John, can you make a comparison between the two?

[MacinJosh]

All I can say John Q. is when this last bit is gone....I'm going to shed a tear!

This bottle has single-handily changed my opinion of Canadian Whisky.

Josh

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[Davindek]

Both Confederation Oak and John's Private Cask No. 1 are very robust flavourful whiskies. They are different, but both taste good and feel fantastic in your mouth. While it would be difficult to choose a favourite, the Private Cask is loaded with "Wow Factor." Both are reviewed on my site.

For those who wonder where Confederation Oak was sold in the U.S. someone - maybe John Hansell - posted an i-phone picture of it in a shop some place in Texas. It sold out VERY quickly. If the Private Cask comes to the U.S. I suggest you buy it the first time you see it, and then do us all a favour and tell us about it so we don't get another season of doubting Thomases.

Davin

[sku]

For those who wonder where Confederation Oak was sold in the U.S. someone - maybe John Hansell - posted an i-phone picture of it in a shop some place in Texas. It sold out VERY quickly. If the Private Cask comes to the U.S. I suggest you buy it the first time you see it, and then do us all a favour and tell us about it so we don't get another season of doubting Thomases.

Davin

Or even worse, doubting Skus. :grin:

[MacinJosh]

Or even worse, doubting Skus. :grin:

[politely]

I sent an email to ask where it would show up in the US, but still haven't heard back after a couple of weeks. I'm not optimistic. It's too bad, since given some promotion, I think that interest in Canadian whisky could really pick up, particularly if the good stuff were more accessible. For example, Forty Creek COR helped changed my view of Canadian whisky, and led me to try others. And, eg, if Canadian Club 20 was more available, then people in the US could have a view that wasn't based primarily on generic CC and Canadian Mist, brands that have "Canada" in the name, but aren't particularly noteworthy.

[timd]

I've seen it around on the shelves here in Dallas for the past few months. It's not heavily stocked and fairly rare, but not as elusive as Pappy.

Dallas is a huge Forty Creek market - you can barely find any 750s, and every store has huge end-caps and aisle stands of the 1.75s, and it always on sale - it's a popular whisky here.

I believe that both Sigels & Goody Goody (various stores in each chain) still have it as recently as a few weeks ago. I bought a bottle at a Centennial a few months back that had it in the "bargain" bin for $39. Great stuff.

[Gillman]

That's interesting. Is there any typical way it is drunk there, i.e. with Coke, ginger ale, rocks and soda?

Gary

[timd]

That's interesting. Is there any typical way it is drunk there, i.e. with Coke, ginger ale, rocks and soda?

There's actually a combo-pack that comes with Ginger Ale (Canada Dry) packaged with it - I believe it has 2 glasses, too..

Otherwise, not sure how others drink it, but I drink it neat exclusively.

I just killed a bottle of the Three Grain last week... very sad to see that go. $18 (when I lived in Michigan) and worth at least 2x that!

[Gillman]

I could see Barrel Select, in fact the whole line, going well with ginger ale, makes sense.

Today I bought the Private Cask, and it is certainly his best to date IMO. It has the features of all the others but is richer and deeper - I get good port-like notes in particular. There was a bottling aged in a port cask, and this reminds me of it but is better. I'd guess some of the barrels that made up the batch were from that stock, but I could be wrong. Elegant, flavorful whisky - worth the brass.

Three Grain was very good, more rye-oriented than the others. Haven't seen it for quite a while.

Gary

[Megawatt]

I could see Barrel Select, in fact the whole line, going well with ginger ale, makes sense.

Today I bought the Private Cask, and it is certainly his best to date IMO. It has the features of all the others but is richer and deeper - I get good port-like notes in particular. There was a bottling aged in a port cask, and this reminds me of it but is better. I'd guess some of the barrels that made up the batch were from that stock, but I could be wrong. Elegant, flavorful whisky - worth the brass.

Three Grain was very good, more rye-oriented than the others. Haven't seen it for quite a while.

Gary

Just got a bottle of this as an early Christmas gift. I agree, it is very nice and does feature some port or brandy-like notes. Very spicy as well. John Hall doesn't reveal much about its composition but my guess would be a greater proportion of rye and perhaps new oak.

[Gillman]

It does seem more rye-tasting than earlier renditions, I agree.

Gary

[MacinJosh]

Just got a bottle of this as an early Christmas gift. I agree, it is very nice and does feature some port or brandy-like notes. Very spicy as well. John Hall doesn't reveal much about its composition but my guess would be a greater proportion of rye and perhaps new oak.

Still actively trying to find a few bottles of this. Any advice?

Josh

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