T Comp Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Tricky wording on the stuff that are blends from Alberta. They are from what I know 100 percent rye. But are blended. The base whiskey as they call is is rye distilled up to 95 percent and then blended with a rye flavoring whiskey. I have heard the wisers is really good. best canadian I ever had was lot 40.The Wiser's Legacy brought by Gary Gillman to the gazebo at "11 KBF was one outstanding whiskey among numerous fantastic others. Too bad it is only available in Canada. Since my tasting of Canadians is limited I'll leave it to Gary to describe further.Every year, for some years anyway, Canadian distillers have issued something new. Either small batch, or very aged, or something else to distinguish it. Most of these are good but to me stay within the precincts of the Canadian whisky style, even the Red Letter version of Wiser issued some years ago which is its most expensive. The latter has a rich vanilla taste from some primo barrels evidently, but I don't get an assertive whisky taste from it, one I associate with a high percentage of whisky distilled out at a low proof.Wiser's Legacy is different. It contains, per the label, a high proportion of pot still rye whisky and the taste shows, with a big wintergreen/spearmint-like flavor against a good wood background. As far as I know, they don't use new charred barrels, hence absence of a "red layer" taste. Apparently (from things I've heard here and there) new oak barrels are used for the aging, presumably lightly toasted, but whether 100% or not I can't say.Anyone going to Canada who likes a traditional whisky taste should buy this IMO. Wiser's 18 is very good too, some good blending there, but it is more in the traditional vein for Canadian. I also like Forty Creek and its associated whiskies, from the craft operation in Grimsby, Ontario which is an extension of a winery operation.But Wiser's Legacy is my favorite by far of all Canadian whisky being made today.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiskyToWhiskey Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Gillman mentions Forty Creek as another good Canadian whiskey. John Hall's makes some of his whiskey with a process of what he calls "meritage". He ages rye, corn and barley seperate, at different lengths of time, before blending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 What John Hall does isn't unique. That is pretty much what every Canadian distiller does except Canadian Club. Canadian Club is unique in that they blend white dogs, i.e., they blend the base and flavoring whiskies together before aging.The rumor that WP et al comes from Alberta appears to be based solely on the fact that only Alberta makes its base whiskey from rye. However, every Canadian distillery probably makes a 100% rye flavoring whiskey, since that is the predominant flavor of Canadian whisky, and that's what those products are. The question is, who over-produced their flavoring whiskey 10 years ago so that they seem to have so much of it to sell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiskyToWhiskey Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 The only whiskey that comes to mind is Crown Royal. But I don't see how they could overproduce being such a huge seller to USA and Canada. They brought out the new line of Black which has rye in it...trying to be more like a bourbon. Was that to help use up overproduced flavoring whiskey from years ago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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