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 wine producing 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 super cheap guilty pleasure.
Forty Creek's whisky lineup steps up nicely from base level Barrel Select to intermediate whiskies like Double Barrel, then up to the high end bottlings like Confederation Oak, Unity, and Victory. At this intermediate level, Double Barrel Reserve takes the standard three grain whiskies (rye, corn, and barley) and gives them a second aging period in ex-Bourbon barrels. These barrels are specifically selected for the taste profile required and John Hall apparently spends time in Kentucky every year picking out barrels just for this whisky.
Appropriately for a distillery in wine country, blender John Hall refers to those three grains as his 'meritage' when he blends them in these barrels and allows them to spend time picking up subtle oak influences and marrying their grain flavours. With the differing barrels for each batch of this whisky, there can be some subtle variation in flavour, so if you're interested, the lot number I sampled is 240. Either way the taste profile should be relatively similar year to year.
Forty Creek Double Barrel Reserve
40% alc./vol.
$40 at LCBO
The nose immediately presents rich and oily with strong oak and dark fruit. I detect prune alongside a subtle caramel and dry baking spices that crescendo with the briefest hit of tinglingly spicy rye.
The oily viscosity continues on the palate with an initial impression of creaminess and a grainy character. Restrained rye comes across with notes of dill and caraway. There's a nice caramel that doesn't feel like the cheap butterscotch note you can sometimes get. In comes a pronounced vegetal note that reminds me of fresh corn on the cob. It's met with quite tannic oak and warming rye, all quite smooth without any rough edges.
The finish continues to be warming and is long with a few subtleties; bitter citrus, a red apple note, some cinnamon, and caramel. Mainly it's the warming oakiness present on the tail though.
I'm really a fan of the interplay between cask and grain influences. There are some reviews online which deride this bottle as a one-trick pony of Bourbon-y sweetness, but I'm not finding that at all, at least in this batch. It's flavourful but extremely smooth.
The extra time spent marrying in the Bourbon casks went a long way to providing balance. There's not too much spice, grain, or oak but there are good amounts of each. I'm a fan. At its slightly elevated price, Double Barrel begins to compete with some very good whiskies and, while it's not the most complex bottle at this price point, it's a definite crowd pleaser for its lush creaminess and smoothly integrated flavours. I can't find anything wrong with this dram and would describe it in a word as pleasant. This is a definite daily sipper that will wow novice rye drinkers but still keep experience whisky fans interested.
Heatseeker Score: 86
Category Score: 86
Characteristic: Creamy
NIAGARA ALLEZ ALLEZ
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