Megawatt Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 I posted this on another forum but I'm hoping for some input from the more knowledgeable members on here (Gary, I'm looking at you). I just got back from a Guelph microdistillery. The visit was going quite well until one of the owners joined the conversation and proceeded to piss on most of her competitors. In addition to which, she shared some hard "facts" about whisky in Canada, which I will share for discussion:-the majority of Canadian whisky is not made in Canada. Canadian Club, for instance, is imported from France.-the majority of Canadian whisky is not even whisky, but is neutral spirit with flavouring.-the majority of age statements are bogus, as legally only 12% of the bottle must be aged in accordance with the claim on the label-Canadian whisky must contain ryeNow, I know what we all think of Canadian whisky regulations. But I've never heard of such claims before. I argued with her for a bit, especially on that last point since I've personally tasted several 100% corn whiskies, but she said I was mistaken. And since she is "in the industry" whereas I'm just an ignorant consumer, it was a hopeless debate. Needless to say, this did not help the credibility of the distillery, and the fact that her manner was rather coarse and disdainful counted against them as well. So now I ask: is there ANY merit in what she said? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcbt Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 I'm not an expert but Canadian "whiskey" CAN have up to 1/11th of "other crap" in it, that crap being caramel coloring, flavoring, etc. So the claim that Canadian whiskey is GNS with additives isn't wholly inaccurate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megawatt Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 2 hours ago, dcbt said: I'm not an expert but Canadian "whiskey" CAN have up to 1/11th of "other crap" in it, that crap being caramel coloring, flavoring, etc. So the claim that Canadian whiskey is GNS with additives isn't wholly inaccurate... Interestingly, the 9.09% regulation seems to have disappeared from the government website. Anyway I get what you're saying but I think this lady took it a little far in saying that most Canadian whisky isn't even whisky. Her argument went, "How do you think it tastes the same year after year?" When I suggested, "Through blending?" she shook her head. So I asked her what Hiram Walker does with the thousands of barrels in their warehouses and she said they use it to make other stuff, not whisky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry in WashDC Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) Note to self - Do NOT EVER drink any Canadian whiskey that says it was distilled/bottled in Guelph. There's no telling WHAT I'd be consuming. Edited February 17, 2019 by Harry in WashDC spilling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megawatt Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 4 hours ago, Harry in WashDC said: Note to self - Do NOT EVER drink any Canadian whiskey that says it was distilled/bottled in Guelph. There's no telling WHAT I'd be consuming. Lol, I have to admit the whisky is actually pretty good. But the holier-than-thou attitude was a little much coming from a company three years in existence. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulO Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 I just don't get the from France bit. If it was from France, it would be much more expensive than Canada or U.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megawatt Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 On 2/17/2019 at 10:45 PM, PaulO said: I just don't get the from France bit. If it was from France, it would be much more expensive than Canada or U.S. Yeah, that was pretty random. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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