squire Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 I go with Sherry style wine as well. Doesn't mean it's bad or anything but it's not the original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Common perception among whisky drinkers is that sherry is sweet. In fact, the vast majority of drinking sherry is dry. i believe the sweetness in whiskey (and whisky) comes from the grain and wood not the sherry itself (actually most "sherry" barrels now being used by the whisky industry are treated (infused) with a sherry-like concentrate that isn't drinkable)Chances are the "sherry" added to the Dark Batch isn't legally Sherry anyway. Its probably a wine made in Canada in the sherry style.rant offMy understanding is that the sherry comes from John Harvey & Sons, perhaps best known for Harvey’s Bristol Cream, which also happens to be owned by Beam Suntory. Supposedly it is blended to a particular profile using different types of sherry, including Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 I was supposing they are using a Canadian produced product designed specifically for whisky blends. I should think a cream style would be too sweet, even for a fuller bodied whisky. Dry Amontillado perhaps, Harvey's also produces one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kartofel Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 I managed to find a bottle of this in my area. My first impressions are that it tastes a lot like Pendleton 1910, but with some candied fruit and prune notes. It also has less heat and a very light body. I like it all around. It does remind me a good bit of a sweet sherry, but it's not syrupy or cloying at all.I have developed a fondness for dry sherry, so sherry finished or sherry blended anything gets my attention these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fozzy71 Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 Try it with the Templeton triple vatting, maybe 1:1 or 2:1 Templeton to the other. You can't lose...GaryThis turned out pretty good at 1:1. I think when this 8oz vatting is gone I will try a 2:1 vatting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 This turned out pretty good at 1:1. I think when this 8oz vatting is gone I will try a 2:1 vatting.Sounds good!Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbroo5880i Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 The sherry component is what has scared me off. I haven't had much experience with sherry (Harvey's...free bottle) and wasn't a fan. I am also not much of a wine fan. However, I think I will give this one a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fozzy71 Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 The sherry component is what has scared me off. I haven't had much experience with sherry (Harvey's...free bottle) and wasn't a fan. I am also not much of a wine fan. However, I think I will give this one a go.If nothing else it makes for some great vatting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 The sherry component is what has scared me off. I haven't had much experience with sherry (Harvey's...free bottle) and wasn't a fan. I am also not much of a wine fan. However, I think I will give this one a go.I don't think it is just a dollop of the Bristol Cream although that is a blend of Oloroso and PX too so who knows! Harvey's is a broker and blender of sherry and wine and not a producer as far as I know. They presumably have access to a variety of sherries and produce a number of different sherries for sale besides the Bristol Cream. They blended some different sherries together specifically for this bottling as best I can tell.In any case, what ever it is, it seems to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portwood Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 The sherry component is what has scared me off. I haven't had much experience with sherry (Harvey's...free bottle) and wasn't a fan.You may still not be a fan after tasting the finest sherry available but to judge sherry by tasting only Harvey's is like judging American whiskey by tasting only Red Stag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbroo5880i Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 You may still not be a fan after tasting the finest sherry available but to judge sherry by tasting only Harvey's is like judging American whiskey by tasting only Red Stag.Good point! I should give something a little higher quality a try before I write it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megawatt Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 I think sherry is gross but I do enjoy some sherry-matured whisky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Blacksmith Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 I tried some this past weekend. I'm not a fan. It smells like a Canadian whiskey, with a traditional raw alcohol smell you can pick up from most Canadians. The taste is OK, but there is no oomph, no spice pop for me. It's muted by the bourbon and sherry I think. My opinion is it's trying to be too much. Much like a blended Canadian whiskey, so if you like that style, you'll probably love this too.For the price, I'll take some straight Kentucky rye myself, baby sazerac or Wild Turkey 101. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fozzy71 Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 This may be the first nearly full 750 I am thinking about dumping down the drain. Even the nearly full 750 I vatted with 2 others then vatted with BT smells too sickly sweet for me and may be headed for the drain.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amg Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 This may be the first nearly full 750 I am thinking about dumping down the drain. Even the nearly full 750 I vatted with 2 others then vatted with BT smells too sickly sweet for me and may be headed for the drain....Got any friends that might like it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Sounds like I need to save my coins and hold out for a free taste. I am a bit tired of buying bottles I don't like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meadeweber Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 This may be the first nearly full 750 I am thinking about dumping down the drain. Even the nearly full 750 I vatted with 2 others then vatted with BT smells too sickly sweet for me and may be headed for the drain....I'm with you Fozzy. I'm surprised how many here actually like it. As I wrote a while back, to me it tasted and smelled like sweet parsnips. I don't know if you ever drink cocktails but I mixed it with ginger ale for my wife (I was trying to think of something to do with it). She liked it quite a bit. I tasted it and it actually was pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fozzy71 Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 I'm with you Fozzy. I'm surprised how many here actually like it. As I wrote a while back, to me it tasted and smelled like sweet parsnips. I don't know if you ever drink cocktails but I mixed it with ginger ale for my wife (I was trying to think of something to do with it). She liked it quite a bit. I tasted it and it actually was pretty good.I prefer neat but have used Diet Vernors in the past for something else I wasn't fond of (New Holland Beer Barrel Bourbon) so I might give that a try as I really hate dumping 30 - 60 dollars worth of alcohol down the drain. If that doesn't do it for me I will probably just put it down stairs to try again later or wait to find someone that might like it locally and give it away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Save it for the holidays and tell your in-laws that it's something really special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxeaves Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 I got the Dark Horse in Calgary. Wonderful. Shame there is no more Alberta Premium 21.Had my first taste at Fred Noe's house last year. They couldn't use Dark Horse due to copyright infringement w/ a beer coo. in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fozzy71 Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 I got the Dark Horse in Calgary. Wonderful. Shame there is no more Alberta Premium 21.Had my first taste at Fred Noe's house last year. They couldn't use Dark Horse due to copyright infringement w/ a beer coo. in the US.Dark Horse Brewery is here in MI. They even have/had a reality TV show, kinda on the order of Duck Dynasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R-Savage Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 I had to laugh. An Alberta Whisk(e)y that's not available in Alberta! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethangsmith Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Got a bottle of this yesterday and it's pretty good. It's an easy, sweet sipper that has some texture and depth to it. For the price, it's a good deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry in WashDC Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 (edited) BUMP! What I drinking tonight -- In my continuing, and pretty piss-pour, New Year's resolution efforts at reducing forgottens and clunkers on the shelf and in the bunker, tonight I opened an Alberta Rye Dark Batch, Canadian Rye blended rye whiskey, NAS, 90 proof that has been up there at least two years. The label says it is distilled in a pot still, “blended in small batches with high-rye bourbon & a touch of sherry to forge a rye with a unique dark color & uncommonly bold flavor.’’ [Bold fonts, font size, etc., normalized.] The sticky price tag on the bottle says I paid $28.99 plus tax for it. This thing is so sweet that I could treat it as an after-dinner drink suitable for a cheese platter – think tawny port. This thing is so GOOD that I could see it as a substitute for, say, Warre’s Otima 10 year tawny except 10 YR Otima is about $10 cheaper. And then, there’s Whiskers Blake, an Australian 10 year tawny which sells for about $20 cheaper and which I AM NEVER WITHOUT. But, it is a grain-based distillate rather than a grape-based distillate, so I don’t feel bad at all about that $29.00. EDIT - Heck, I think it's been on the shelf for THREE years. Edited February 23, 2019 by Harry in WashDC YEARS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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