Black Velvet

Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that only about 9% of Canadian whisky produced is consumed within Canada. As with Scotland and Ireland, the vast majority of what we make goes abroad and in our case, mainly to the US. The majority of our exported whisky, by far, is value-oriented, light, 'bottom shelf' stuff and interestingly, much of it leaves the country by tanker train rather than in a bottle. A trip to an American liquor store often exposes Canadians to brands of Canadian whisky they've never heard of, but that are absolutely massive in sales volume; Windsor, Ensign Red, Canadian Mist, and Ellington are just some examples. And then there's Fireball cinnamon-flavoured whisky, which has risen to become the most popular drink in almost every state. To satisfy the exploding demand for that drink, industrial-scale stills in Quebec churn out as much basic whisky as physically possible, to be loaded onto trains and sent to the US in bulk.

Many of the large distilleries employ the tanker train method to get product to their largest market. Once their whiskies hit three years of age, some of Canada's best known brands ship off millions of litres by rail for bottling in Kentucky, Illinois, Connecticut, and elsewhere. Black Velvet is perhaps the best example of this phenomenon. 

Although the brand can be found in Canada, Europe, and elsewhere, it's relatively unknown here. But in the States it's a phenomenon, and has been for decades. Over ten million litres are exported to two American bottling facilities annually! In fact, it's the second largest Canadian whisky brand there after Crown Royal. It's ubiquitous, to say the least, and is extremely valuable in spite of its limited recognition in its own country. 

Black Velvet's origins go back to the 1940s where it was produced at Quebec's Valleyfield Distillery (which today produces such whiskies as Seagram's VO Gold and Gibson's Finest Bold). It became known for its smoothness and for its popularity in the American Navy during World War Two. Production eventually moved to Lethbridge, Alberta and the Palliser Distillery. 

As the popular whisky brand took over production at Palliser, the distillery was renamed Black Velvet Distillery and became managed by Constellation Brands, a big name in wine. But as tastes in whisky changed dramatically in recent decades, Black Velvet had been somewhat slow to evolve, not unlike its major Canadian peers. So in late 2019, Black Velvet was purchased by Bourbon conglomerate Heaven Hill. This continues a trend of large American and Scottish distillers acquiring legacy Canadian brands and injecting needed marketing energy to revitalise them. Falling sales at the big value-oriented Canadian distilleries prove this wake up call is sorely needed.

In terms of the whisky itself, Black Velvet's aging strategy is unique. Whereas Canadian blends traditionally age each grain distillate separately before blending at the end, Black Velvet blends their new, light corn distillate right off the still into bolder two year old rye. The combined barrels then age for another three years (to bring the corn to the legal minimum age), allowing the rye component to reach five years in oak. This is a novel take on the Canadian blending tradition of light base whisky with bolder flavouring rye. 

The result is a light, simple whisky for blending or easy sipping, presented in a nicely weighty, ergonomic bottle that feels nice in the hand. It remains extremely popular (and insanely cheap) in the States but it will be interesting to see what changes, if any, Heaven Hill will make with this legacy brand. For now, it's the perfect whisky for mixing warm-weather drinks on either side of the border. 

Black Velvet Imported (US bottling)

40% alc./vol.

USD$9 at LBK Liquors in Florida

(C$12.25 at time of writing)

Once Canadian readers catch their breaths after seeing how cheap alcohol is in the States, the nose is very much that of sweet corn whisky but pleasantly so. Honey is driving the profile alongside a sugar cereal-like graininess. There is an earthy, soily component with dark stone fruit and even nuttiness. This is a surprisingly complex nose.

The palate is quite a bit simpler, tending toward 'smooth' and 'light,' which were the magic words in whisky for a century, and still are for the silent majority of whisky consumers. There's lots more honey and some red apple acidity. Lots of sweet corn, almost vodka-esque, keeps this whisky light as air. Butterscotch is met by a tepid rye spice that is more overshadowed by the young ethanol heat. Bitter grapefruit builds along with some more butterscotch and nutmeg late. The whole thing is extremely simple; I had to strain to pick out complexities beyond the corn sweetness. 

The finish is short and oaky with bitter citrus, but nothing lingers particularly long at all.

Well, it's extremely simple whisky; straightforward light corn with just a touch of the rye, all floating in a candy floss cloud. It's not a dram for brooding with by the fire on a storm-lashed coast; it's a friendly mixer or an easy-as sipper, and not at all unpleasant. It's free of the off notes you can find in cheap whisky; no doubt they've been worked out after so many decades. This whisky has reached the popularity it has by being light, approachable, and fundamentally sound.

And let's not forget something here; even by American standards, a bottle of this whisky is super cheap, and its fine; simple, but unflawed. If Canadians had access to Black Velvet for a tenner, we'd be lacing everything we drank with it, mixing it into sauces, feeding it to the dog...

So lets not pretend this is some kind of premium dram for nosing in a Glencairn. America, please continue enjoying this stuff however you like, so long as it's without pretension. 

Heatseeker Score: 79

Category Score: 91

Characteristic: Light

Alberta Premium Cask Strength

- UPDATE: This bottle was named best in the world in Jim Murray's influential 2020 Whisky Bible. How fantastic to see Alberta Distillers getting the credit they've long deserved, but good luck finding a bottle of this for $65 now! -

Calgary's Alberta Distillers should be famous amongst whisky enthusiasts as the world's foremost distiller of rye. The grain, though it flourishes in Canada, is generally considered the most difficult and expensive to work with. It's strong husk and low starch content make rye hardy enough for the worst weather, but also increase the amount of doing needed to mash and ferment it. It frequently gums up equipment and it's yields are quite low relative to other whisky grains. Of course, what it lacks in efficiency it more than makes up for by packing the most substantial flavour of any grain.

Because of the relative difficulty of working with it, Alberta Distillers are doubly deserving the praise their whiskies often get. However, because a great deal of their best distillate is shipped to the US to be bottled by independent American brands, the credit often passes Alberta by. This humble approach has benefitted consumers, though, as we pay a pittance when we pick up bottles of whisky worth way more than they retail for. 

Finally, though, we are seeing some of Alberta Distillers' best whisky bottled with their own name on the package. The much-loved Alberta Premium has benefitted from premium brand extensions in the past (the Dark Horse bottling and some limited well-aged releases) but today's most coveted bottle joins the 'cask strength' trend that's worked it's way over from Scotland. 

Cask strength bottling is a simple concept that, like everything in whisky, can't actually be described without great complexity. In short, cask strength means the whisky is bottled without any dilution; it is bottled at the strength it comes out of the barrel at. As with age statements, though, this doesn't actually tell you everything. There's no law about which exact barrel is referred to, whether it's the barrel it spent years in, a finishing barrel, or a marrying vat. Really, we don't know these things, but we do know cask strength means this whisky is substantially stronger than most bottlings.

In this case, we get whisky presented at a whopping 65.1% , a great deal more potent than the standard 40% Alberta Premium. This means the same Alberta Premium flavours are massively amped up, without any dilution. But it can also be difficult to discern some of those flavours in the face of so much hot alcohol. For that reason, many choose to add water to cask strength whisky, but depending on the water used, the flavours can change in the glass. Reverse osmosis or distilled water would be the most "correct" to preserve flavours without adding minerals, but the most fun thing is to try and pair the whisky to water from its local area. Personally, I enjoy cask strength rye at cask strength, with no added water. Perhaps it's a mix of pain and pleasure, but so is much of drinking spirits. 

At this high strength and limited availability, this bottle is significantly more expensive than its standard Alberta Premium brother. Still, it's about the best deal on cask strength whisky anywhere, as you might expect from this distillery. Similarly potent bottlings from Scotland or Kentucky can easily run into the hundreds of dollars so at under $70, this is a real bargain. To pass savings on to us, the distillery packaged it in the standard Alberta Premium bottle, albeit presented in a cardboard box featuring tasting notes. It's a wollop of flavour that will only be appreciated by enthusiasts but wow, what a treat it is for us!

Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye

65.1% alc./vol.

$65 at Co-Op World of Whisky in Calgary

First, a note of warning for those trying their first cask strength whisky: small sips! There's a lot of hot, hot alcohol here and this isn't a drink to quench your thirst. You've been warned!

Now, on the nose, the warmth rises up to greet with loads of oak, vanilla, and black pepper spice. The rich breezes seem almost to suck you in with their fullness.

Taking the first tentative sip, the first brief hit is maple sweetness for an instant before the heat begins to rise. Yeeeeooouuu that's a slap of hot rye! It's not just spice, though, like drinking hot sauce. It's an actual warming sensation on the tongue that almost takes your breath away for a moment. Now a new oak flavour profile comes in with lots of tannic influence, causing a drying sensation in the mouth. Here's some cinnamon coming in. Now the heat keeps building with a crashing wave of salt. The wave sweeps toward the back of the palate with blackberry, banana, and nutmeg. As the heat peaks, a new set of dill and caraway flavours arise along with fresh baked bread. A dollop of tobacco arrives late and, when combined with the heat, gives the feel of smoking a cigar.

The finish is, as is to be expected, lasts ages. It's still quite hot, but moreso puckeringly tannic. There's a rising bitter citrus and more caraway, all yielding eventually to some green apple sweetness, maple, oak, and grainy rye. And still lots more heat!

Well, basking in the lingering warm afterglow, it's time to try and decode the rollercoaster ride of this cask strength whisky. The heat is there, of course, but is perfectly complimented by the dusty, hot rye. It's complex heat rather than just ethanol like in most vodka. 

Like all cask strength whisky, there's tremendous potential for flavour and its all there. This whisky doesnt have any age statement and doesn't have the complexity of longer-aged drams, but it's not anything approaching simplistic. Like other cask strength whiskies, it demands respect. It must be sipped tentatively because it delivers its waves of flavour with tremendous force. Alberta ryes are rarely subtle even at 40% and here, even a half finger's pour can provide an hour's sipping. The enthusiast will enjoy the massive flavours but will also relish the opportunity to mentally deconstruct the experience of sipping, allowing for a healthy dose of amazement at how much flavour can exist in so little liquid.

The most notable aspect of this dram is its structure; the heat washes over the palate, growing as it marshals an orderly parade of sweet, salty, spicy, fruity, and doughy. Coupled with a great finish, this cask strength version of Alberta Premium is a world apart from its standard sibling. It shares the trademark extreme value of so many whiskies from this province, though, and is a fantastic choice for the rye lover looking to reach a new level of flavour altogether.

Heatseeker Score: 93

Category Score: 94

Characteristic: Spicy

We're reviewing five different ryes produced at Alberta Distillers as part of a series. We invite you to check out the other reviews and find your favourite.

Alberta Springs 10 Year

Canadian Club 100% Rye

Snake River Stampede 8 year
Alberta Premium (standard bottling)

Alberta Premium

Calgary's Alberta Distillers should be regarded the world over as the last word when it comes to using the rye grain to make top notch whisky. Unfortunately, until very recently their glorious whiskies have been a well-kept secret, as much of their production has been bulk purchased and bottled by American brands. The result has been a lack of proper recognition for this tremendous distillery. Alberta Distillers became known in Canada for churning out bottom shelf whiskies, yet these whiskies attract fierce loyalty from their legions of fans, and with good reason.

Much of Canadian Whisky over the last two centuries has involved producing light corn, wheat, or barley whisky flavoured with a touch of spicy rye. But today's consumer looks beyond those light blends and demands bolder flavours. Canadian distilleries coast to coast are burning the boats as a result, trying to produce as much rye distillate as they possibly can. Alberta Distillers, however, have used rye almost exclusively for their entire existence. Simply put, there is plenty of rye growing in their part of the country.

Nowadays, well-aged, boutique Alberta bottlings have hit the market but at least one Alberta-branded whisky has long been recognised as well outperforming its price. Alberta Premium is a bottom shelf whisky that is probably better known as the favourite tipple of Jim Lahey, but enthusiasts have long known this whisky is much more than cheap plonk.

A single rye from before single rye was cool, Alberta Premium is the most widely available of the array of dramatically underpriced whiskies coming from the province (think Centennial or Alberta Springs, among many others). It consists of two rye distillates blended together after at least four years of aging in ex-bourbon oak. One of these is the lighter, base rye distilled to a high percentage and the other is a bolder 'flavouring' rye. These whiskies are 'married' for a final year before bottling, which would account for a five year age statement if one were added. The bottom shelf reputation of this whisky isn't only shattered by unvaryingly positive enthusiast reviews, it's also won plenty of awards including multiple 'Canadian Whisky of the Year' from Jim Murray's Whisky Bible. Rye's renaissance of late has certainly brought classier new bottles to the table but this whisky is by no means being left in the dust. 

Although it now has a growing family of high end (but still absurdly underpriced) brethren, Alberta Premium remains the standardbearer for entry level single rye. It's fairly straightforward in its sweet-spicy balance but, compared to its shelfmates, provides way more of what you'd expect when you ask for rye. Other brands have pivoted to showcase the kind of things this distillery's been doing for years, and as a result can command higher prices for their bottles. Alberta Distillers seem happy to keep selling for volume, avoiding today's inexorable rising prices, and for that we can be extremely thankful. Its worth comparing this bottle with its cask strength sibling, bottled at 65.1%, to get a more powerful look at what's in this bottle.

Bursting with spice and the distillery's signature bone dry character, those who don't yet have a bottle of Alberta Premium should grab one right away. It's the undisputed baseline for single rye and a steadfast ambassador for both the history and future of Canadian whisky. It costs less than almost all other whiskies but is an absolute staple for rye forward cocktails and happy sipping, reputation be damned.

Alberta Premium Canadian Rye Whisky

40% alc. / vol.

$28 at LCBO

Alberta Premium is marketed as a 'national treasure' and a whisky providing this much flavour for the price is a treasure indeed. On the nose, plenty of oak and rye spice, as you might expect. It's clean, crisp, and hot. Some butterscotch sweetness and lemon zest is present but big, sharp rye is at the fore.

The palate arrives with a little more sweetness than might be expected after the nose. Zesty lemon and orange joins butterscotch sweetness but oaky, spicy rye is the driver of flavour here. There is some earthy bitterness underneath all, tying things together nicely. This is a lighter rye, emphasis here is on the base whisky component. However, the mouthfeel is creamy and full.

The finish arrives with drying spice, glowing cinnamon heat, and dry oakiness. Though the finish is short, the drying aspect and lushly spicy profile suggest a higher strength than the 40% in the bottle.

Alberta Premium is dangerously easy to sip and, especially with its price point, demands to be poured liberally. There isn't a great deal of complexity here but everything is nicely balanced and there is no shortage of bold flavour. 

Loads of spicy rye and a compelling citrus character make this bold and warming but also extremely drinkable. This is a staple to have on hand and though this blog doesn't encourage Jim Lahey's bottoms up approach to Alberta Premium, no one denies the ease with which this bottle can be finished. Truly a Canadian flagship whisky and one that uniformly surprises those expecting a cheap dram. It may not be a showy bottle but forms the bedrock of a properly stocked bar for cocktails or casual sipping. This is a whisky worth drinking and worth much more than its blissfully low price.

Heatseeker Score: 86

Category Score: 93

Characteristic: Sweet and Spicy

We're reviewing five different ryes produced at Alberta Distillers as part of a series. We invite you to check out the other reviews and find your favourite.

Alberta Premium Cask Strength

Alberta Springs 10 Year

Canadian Club 100% Rye

Snake River Stampede 8 year

Snake River Stampede

Calgary's Alberta Distillers has long shipped bulk quantities of single grain rye to the States to be bottled by high-end American brands. Most of the time, this top-class whisky ends up being something of an open secret; few of these American labels like to reveal that their beloved whiskies are actually imports. Those in the know, however, should gravitate to Alberta's signature dusty hot distillates. 

Snake River Stampede is one of a couple whiskies from the northwestern American states that highlight rodeo culture. The Pendleton brand comes to mind as perhaps the best known. This one is bottled by Oregon-based Indio Spirits but commemorates its namesake rodeo held in Idaho. (Of course, the biggest rodeo of them all, Calgary Stampede, takes place just a short gallop up the road from where this whisky is made!)

Snake River Stampede spends eight years in ex-bourbon American oak casks before being finished in sherry casks, imparting the sweetness found in this whisky. That sweetness is balanced with a dusty rye profile that is the signature of Alberta Distillers. After its time in the barrel, it goes to Oregon for bottling. Usually priced in the mid-$30 range in Canada, though something of a rare find, it's great value for a spicy sipper that goes down easy. This is definitely a staple of my home bar and a rye I'll pour for anyone looking to explore the style. In spite of its American label, this is a very good look at Albertan whisky.

Snake River Stampede 8 year old

40% alc. / vol.

Found for US$26 in California, 

~C$35-40 in Alberta

This smells like cowboy whisky! On the nose it's the dusty Alberta rye signature along with hot ginger spice. There's some ethanol too, but the more intriguing hot note is reminiscent of hot pickled onions (Hayward's anyone?) and perhaps sushi ginger. It's a savoury, spicy, slightly earthy backdrop to the hot prairie rye. Very intriguing. 

On the palate, it's a balance between the powder-dry rye and sweet caramel. The sweetness takes over with fairly simplistic maple-caramel and brown sugar. It's just shy of cloying, helped by the smouldering rye just underneath. The straightforward interplay is perhaps a little underwhelming after the complex heat from the nose but a building bitter citrus and white pepper heat fully redeem things heading into the finish 

The finish is medium-length but brings the bitter citrus and rye spice to the fore. The whisky leaves with an echo of the flaming rye and the burning desire for another sip. 

A standard 40% bottling strength and likely chill filtration may have stripped some complexity out of this whisky, but it's simplicity doesn't diminish the achievement of this bottling. It's a dram very easily taken neat as a sipper or shooter; its rye spice compliments its smooth profile, rather than being diluted to achieve an easier profile.

In this case, what's in the bottle matches the label and those who like Alberta's powder-dry rye spice have found an easy sipper at a solid price. This is a bottle I always seek out when in Alberta and a definite recommendation for rye lovers. 

Heatseeker Score: 87

Category Score: 87

Characteristic: Spicy

We're reviewing five different ryes produced at Alberta Distillers as part of a series. We invite you to check out the other reviews and find your favourite.

Alberta Springs 10 Year

Canadian Club 100% Rye

Alberta Premium (standard bottling)
Alberta Premium Cask Strength

Canadian Club Chairman's Select (2016)

Canadian Club needs no introduction as one of Canada's best known exports and a staple of bars across the country. Alongside Crown Royal, 'CC' is a wildly popular brand based around a value blend. It's history goes back to the 1850s in Detroit, Michigan. Hiram Walker, a grocer, began distilling but was forced out when the state, along with many others, enacted Prohibition. Not wishing to see his burgeoning enterprise thwarted, Mr. Walker moved his distillery across the river - and across the border. 

He founded Windsor's Walkerville neighbourhood and opened what would eventually become one of the world's largest distilleries. It's location just across the river from the United States meant it was a perfect place for rum runners to smuggle barrels into Michigan.

His whisky eventually became known as 'Club Whisky' due to its popularity in gentlemen's clubs across North America. Distillers in the States grew angry at the lost market share and convinced the government to force Mr. Walker to label his whisky as 'Canadian,' in hopes American customers would reject it. The move backfired, however, and both Canadian Club's new name and Canada's whisky style became the symbol of smooth, enjoyable whisky for millions of fans. Interestingly, and in spite of its Royally-named rival, Canadian Club remains the only whisky from outside the UK to have been granted Royal Warrants, having enjoyed them from Queen Victoria onward to Queen Elizabeth.

 Fast forward to the mid-2010's, when the rye boom hit. Canadian Club, now owned by Beam Suntory, needed to source massive stocks of single grain rye whisky and at the time, they couldn't find enough in Ontario. Conveniently, Beam Suntory also own Alberta Distillers in Calgary, renowned as the world's foremost rye grain distillery. To meet the demand for spicy rye whiskies, CC introduced Chairman's Select as a single grain offering in line with their value approach using whisky sourced from Alberta.

A name change followed with 'Chairman's Select' dropped so that now it's known simply as Canadian Club 100% Rye; straight to the point. It competes alongside numerous rye-heavy value offerings from Alberta Distillers and remains a key extension of the Canadian Club brand, even as CC ventures into premium long-aged bottlings (approaching fifty years now!). CC 100% Rye is a very good cocktail base but is also widely enjoyed as an easily-sipped introduction to the world of single rye whisky.

Canadian Club Chairman's Select 100% Rye

40% alc./vol.

$30 at LCBO

^The current design makes a few tweaks to the original Chairman's Select label.

On the nose, lots of oak and butterscotch with the expected dusty rye spice. More vanilla-forward than similar Alberta Distillers rye, and keeping more in line with Canadian Club blends. There's a subtle sour citrusy note that keeps the rye spice restrained.

Taking a sip, the characteristic Alberta rye of dry, dusty, white pepper is there, but not as aggresively as in their other bottlings. There's quite a bit of maple but the most pronounced flavour here is mixed citrus fruit. Bitter orange carries the middles along with plenty of oak. A distinctive marzipan flavour also comes in to balance the bitterness and spice, leading to a balanced trifecta of spice, sweetness, and bitterness. There's a brief but quite nice hit of drying, warming tannins at the tail end. 

The finish is short but returns to the hot cinnamon spice of the rye. The heat is matched by some maple before yielding to pronounced bitter citrus. Short and light but beckoning another sip.

Chairman's Select, or CC 100% Rye as it's become known, is a solid entry-level single rye. It's tailor-made for those who want proper rye spice but without any face melting heat. For me, I find this whisky's similarly affordable cousin Alberta Springs offers more complexity and unabashed rye heat, but this is a lighter alternative that's still definitely single rye. It's just a bit thin for me when I compare it to some other bottles, but others will surely appreciate its balance between rye heat and CC smoothness. This is definitely the bottle for someone just getting into rye but is also perfect as a casual sipper or with some ginger ale.

It's very widely available in Canada and also found fairly easily in a growing number of international markets. I recommend tasting this alongside Crown Royal Northern Harvest to see which of these mid-decade trendsetters you prefer. 

Overall, this is a rock-solid whisky that should be an easy staple on any bar. It's ideal for mixing or sipping and was one of the first big name releases of last decade's rye renaissance. It achieves great balance between East and West as a Canadian whisky, with both fiery rye and restrained sweetness and is unlikely to find many detractors. Another winner from Alberta Distillers that carries the iconic Canadian Club label.

Heatseeker Score: 85

Category Score: 89

Characteristic: Spicy

We're reviewing five different ryes produced at Alberta Distillers as part of a series. We invite you to check out the other reviews and find your favourite.

Alberta Springs 10 year

Snake River Stampede 8 Year

Alberta Premium (standard bottling)
Alberta Premium Cask Strength

And please enjoy our reviews of Canadian Club 1858 and Classic 12 Year.

Alberta Springs

Alberta Distillers, in Calgary, produce some of the absolute most and least affordable whiskies in North America. Specialising in the difficult rye grain production process, whisky made here has gone to feature in Canadian staple value brands just as often as super premium American brands.

Though they've been frequently criticised for obscuring it, a good deal of Whistlepig's popular 'Vermont farm whiskies' are bottlings of Alberta rye. Other expensive and awarded American rye whiskey (with a conspicuous e) is actually produced here, such as Masterson's 10 year old.

The Alberta Springs bottling is another ten year bottling from this distillery, probably coming from casks that spent the decade next to those used by Masterson's, Whistlepig, and others. However, like it's cousin Alberta Premium, Alberta Springs remains one of the most affordable bottles available domestically. Like Highwood's Centennial, those who know how good this whisky is must feel almost guilty about how affordable it is. Its just another example of an extremely enjoyable Alberta whisky being sold domestically for peanuts.

To see it on the shelf, it can be easy to pass by what may seem another cheap, mixing whisky. That would be a huge mistake, however, as Alberta Springs is a complex, spicy rye that could easily be sold for three times as much with a different label. 

Originally, this bottling was single rye, like most of what comes out of this distillery, but there has since been small additions of corn, which is more efficient to distill, in order to keep costs down. Still, the profile is all Alberta rye, full of hot, fresh spice.  

This is unabashedly rye for rye lovers and a pure taste of the Alberta distillery style. It demands to be sipped, not just because of its overwhelming heat but because of its ten years of complexity. 

Alberta Springs Aged 10 Years

40% alc./vol.

$20-$27 across Western Canada

Lots of oak on the nose, dusty and hot in the Alberta Distillers style. There's a hint of butterscotch to temper this just a bit. Clove, cardamon, and some green apple round out the typical rye forward, western aromas. A really nice, complex nose that makes you immediately crave a sip.

On the palate, more of the same with dry, spicy rye leading throughout. Caramel and brown sugar sweetness is tempered by the blistering heat of the rye. That comes as cinnamon and acrolein - think mustard powder and a dollop of ginger. It's also present as super tart red currant, which makes your mouth water and contributes to the moreishness of this dram. There are some vegetal and earthy notes late, though the relative lightness of the palate means these are fleeting. 

The finish sweeps in with a flash of tannic, drying rye spice. It's like licking the inside of a well-charred barrel. There's a touch of the saccharine corn influence but it's very much about the rye here. Dusty and hot, and with a medium length, it eventually yields to just the slightest caramel sweetness, ginger, slight bitter lemon, and a vegetal note I'd describe as cucumber. Still, that dryness is leaving me desperately wanting another sip. 

Wow, all this in a bottom-shelf bottle?! Even among the greatly underpriced whiskies from this distillery, Alberta Springs is an absolute steal. All that seems to separate this whisky from the Whistlepigs and Masterson's of the world is a richer mouthfeel that allows the flavours in those bittles to shine a bit more. Well, that and a couple hundred dollars (and a healthy dose of misleading advertising, in Whistlepig's case).

For those who like a sweet or gentle whisky, stay away. Probably best avoid Alberta Distillers alltogether, but for lovers of the rye grain in its dusty, spicy form, no other distillery has yet come close. The combination of the dryness of the Calgary climate, the stills, the cask selection, and the blending skill evident lead to a house style that many have fallen for head over heals, even if they aren't aware they're drinking Alberta product. Bone-dry and flaming hot, this whisky packs ten years of complexity into an absurdly cheap bottle. 

If the price of this bottle was doubled, it would still be good value, but as it stands, no other bottle can touch this. More aggresively rye-forward than many of its peers, this is a gem of a sipper disguised as a bottom shelf mixer. Pair it with aged cheese, sip it slowly, or just throw it in with ginger ale because for the price, you might as well. A true Alberta rye and a true steal at the bottle shop, this is a whisky you can't afford to ignore. 

Heatseeker Score: 87

Category Score: 96

Characteristic: Spicy

We're reviewing five different ryes produced at Alberta Distillers as part of a series. We invite you to check out the reviews and find your favourite.

Canadian Club 100% Rye

Snake River Stampede 8 year

Alberta Premium (standard bottling)
Alberta Premium Cask Strength

Centennial Limited Edition Canadian Rye Whisky

If Centennial is anything, it's a trickster. It's shockingly low price point means whisky drinkers can pick up a bottle without a second thought. At the same time, though, it's easy-drinking nature means you'll be back for another bottle far sooner than you'd planned. Few whiskies are easier to get hooked on than this one.

Centennial is made at Highwood Distillery, about forty-five minutes south of Calgary in the Foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The town of High River exudes western charm backdropped by that reach-out-and-touch-them Rockies vista only Alberta can provide. 

Like other whiskies from Highwood,  Centennial is built on a base of soft winter wheat, rather than the ubiquitous corn that anchors many blended whiskies elsewhere. That wheaten base is the epitome of gentle, soft, smooth flavours that ease the palate into the rye grain that follows. Aged in Alberta's dry climate in ex-bourbon barrels, the whisky comes out smoothly integrated and delightful throughout. Due to growing demand, Highwood dropped the 10 year age statement that used to be present, but this whisky is still likely somewhere close to that. Wheat can sometimes be too sweet if not aged long enough; see what it does in a young wheated bourbon and you'll find a completely different grain to what's in Centennial. I'd challenge anyone to find a comparable well-aged whisky that can compete at a sub-$30 price.

This is one of a handful of Southern Alberta ryes rhat are, to me, the consummate casual Canadian whiskies. Alongside Alberta Premium and Alberta Springs, these drams effortlessly balance everyday ease with a hot rye kick. And they retail for almost laughably low prices. The province really is the perfect place to make rye. Before trying this one, be sure to thank the whisky angels for giving us Alberta. 

Centennial Limited Edition Canadian Rye Whisky

2019 Bottling

40% ABV

$28.95 at the LCBO

A soft, fruity, buttery nose with suggestions of a deeper earthiness or even a hint of smoke. Oak for sure, with what might be a tiny hint of strawberry.

In the mouth, Centennial's balancing act opens with the sweet, soft, oaky wheat. Not toasty per se, but more toward vanilla and butter. Then in comes the rye, clean and hot. This is rye of the capsicum, cinnamon, black pepper variety. Still under this heat lies that supple wheat. I get pithy grapefruit at the tail end which leads into a short, balanced finish. 

The interplay between buttery wheat and pepper departs with that dry, woody rye note people love. Only the slightest whisper of alcohol burn hints at anything other than total refinement. The finish, though short and straightforward, demands another pour. 

This whisky is extremely clean, not overly complex, but so well balanced. There aren't any off-flavours that jump out. Centennial is indeed the ideal easygoing rye. It'll be a challenge to pour just one dram but, at the fantastic price point, that isn't really a concern. Fantastic stuff; just as much a great first taste for the Canadian whisky newbie as a faithful staple on the largest bar.

Heatseeker Score: 85

Category Score: 92

Characteristic: Smooth

For an explanation of the scoring system, please see the Reviews page.

^ A handy parking spot just outside High River in summer 2018