Forty Creek Barrel Select

Forty Creek holds a special place in the history of Canadian whisky. Founded in 1992, at a global low point for whisky, the plucky startup had to take on the big Canadian players and the crushing LCBO monopoly without any support from today's craft spirits industry. Being located on the Niagara Peninsula, the distillery originally focused on grape spirits. Kittling Ridge, as it was exclusively known then, undertook a rebranding and pivoted to whisky, and the rest became history. Forty Creek can rightly claim to be something of a pioneer in small-batch whisky not only in Canada but in the world. 

Today, the distillery is owned by Campari, largely as a North American production facility for global spirits brands. Led by founder John Hall and blender Bill Ashburn, a range of whiskies from everyday to rare releases have come from Forty Creek in recent years earning them the plaudits they well deserve. They produce a number of non-whisky spirits including Kingsgate fortified wines; a fabulously affordable sweet sipper.

Within the whisky community, well-circulated speculation that much of Forty Creek's whisky is created at Windsor's Hiram Walker Distillery persists. Regardless, this isn't something to be ashamed of nor is it a black mark against Forty Creek. With Canadian whisky, the emphasis is so heavily on single-grain aging and then blending; the creative work is certainly done in Niagara even if the distilling is done in Windsor. More power to them if they're sourcing distillate and aging it themselves, much of the best world whisky is sourced from one distillery or another. 

This bottling is the standard, entry-level Forty Creek found all over Canada and abroad. It's a solid baseline Eastern Canadian rye (by which I mean it features a healthy dose of base corn whisky). The corn is blended with rye and also barley for complexity. Most of the whisky in here is aged 6-10 years and sherry cask finished. Pretty good for a sub-$30 whisky, and evidence that rye is still laughably underpriced in the whisky world. This is not a bottle that will blow anyone away but is perfectly solid for the price point and extremely versatile. Nothing wrong with that!

Forty Creek Barrel Select

40% ABV

$27.75 at the LCBO

The nose carries some dusty rye and a healthy dose of vanilla-y American oak. Quite a few subtle fruit and floral notes there as well - one conjures the vineyards that surround this distillery. 

On the palate, the oaky notes are strong. It's a vanilla forward taste, with plenty of toasted barrel influence. The sweetness betrays the double-distilled corn that forms the base here, before the rye comes through late. Not a tonne of rye on the palate, but it's in there, suspended between the corn and some subtle malty notes. Sweetness is the name of the game here.  A viscous sherry sweetness of dark fruit and marzipan comes through in hints, leading into the straightforward finish. 

More vanillin and oak come through on the finish, with a little rye spice. Short and with a touch of bitterness, the finish doesn't verge far from what came on the palate. Pleasant dusty rye lingers a little, with some maple sweetness.

In all, it's a fairly simple, sweet, oaky whisky. It's a little above what you'd expect at the price and is perfectly pleasant for a sip and great as a blender. Certainly one of the finer sub-$30 whiskies out there and from a trailblazing distillery no less. A great alternative to one of the mainstream entry-level ryes, and certainly a more interesting bottle to break out for casual drinks with friends.

Heatseeker Score: 82

Category Score: 88

Characteristic: Sweet and Oaky

Please also enjoy our review of Forty Creek's Double Barrel Reserve here.