Forty Creek Three Grain (20th Anniversary Edition)

For today's review, we have a throwback release from the always-inventive Forty Creek team. And to share this buzzy bottling, we have a guest review from Melissa Bernais, a fellow Niagara College distilling grad and experienced Forty Creek-er. She's written today's review and will be back again with another 2020 special edition; Resolve. I haven't tried these bottles yet (tragically), so no scores for now but I'll be sure to add them when I finally get my hands on some.

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The past nine months have been a flurry of releases for Forty Creek; The Forager, Nanaimo Cream, and these two lovely little bottles here - Three Grain 2020 edition, and Resolve, the distillery's 14th annual limited edition release. Dang, that's busy! 

And having once been on the inside of it all - full disclosure, while enrolled at Niagara College's Artisan Distilling course, I worked at the Forty Creek retail store, walking customers through tastings and tours, and later on the bottling line - I couldn't be more delighted at the concepts and flavours finding a place on their shelves! Back in 2020, Forty Creek entered the whisky market with two offerings - Three Grain and Barrel Select. At that time, Canadian Whisky fans leaned heavily into the Barrel Select side of the family, leading the distillery to relegate Three Grain to the benches. Over the past two decades, it's made a guest appearance here and there in special, limited releases. 

The 2020 release will be Three Grain's final bow, 20 years after its first appearance on store shelves, in celebration of the place in the whisky market that Forty Creek has made for itself - and other Canadian disitlleries - in the world. Three Grain is a lush, barley-rich blend that stands up against new whiskies released to the delight of modern palates today. At the same time, it is, without a doubt, a Forty Creek whisky, with a delightfully fruit-forward aspect to it's flavour profile. It is nuanced and balanced, with lovely, surprising depths that make me wish consumers had been ready for it when it first came on the scene. I'm gonna hate to see this bottle emptied, knowing that there won't be anything coming along to replace it.

Forty Creek Three Grain (2020 bottling)

40% alc./vol.

$60 at LCBO

Nose: Sweet corn, warm barley, peppery rye. Vanilla and cinnamon. Ripe stone fruit.

Palate: Barley and rye ride throughout this sip, tying together sweet cereal notes with spicy pepper. A sweet, ripe cherry, and spiced milk chocolate heart. Vanilla, caramel and baking spices give live on the edges in your glass.

Characteristic: Fruity and Grain-forward