Canadian Club Classic (12 Year)

We recently reviewed Canadian Club's ubiquitous flagship, 1858, and found it surprisingly characterful. Now it's time to move up to the popular 12 year old expression from the iconic brand. Canadian Club Classic, as the more mature bottling is known, gets about twice the aging time of its younger sibling, using ex-Bourbon barrels. 

Canadian Club itself hardly needs an introduction as one of Canada's oldest and most prolific whisky brands. Its history goes back to 1858 when Detroit, Michigan grocer Hiram Walker began to distill whisky. With Prohibition looming in the State, Walker moved his operation across the river - and across the border - into Canada. Today the distillery that bears his name is a landmark on the Windsor skyline and forms the heart of the Walkerville neighbourhood which spring up around it.

The location of Hiram Walker Distillery right on the river made it a convenient spot for rum runners transporting alcohol into the US, but even before the onset of universal Prohibition, Walker's whisky had gained a reputation for its smoothness and became popular at private clubs throughout North America. In a bid to stifle the popularity of the imported whisky, the US government demanded Walker label his 'Club Whisky' as Canadian, but the move backfired and sent Canadian whisky's popularity into the stratosphere. To this day, Canadian whisky remains astronomically popular in the United States.

Canadian Club has obtained Royal Warrants from Queen Victoria through to Elizabeth and the whisky continues to be made in Windsor, though the distillery has changed hands at the corporate level. 

CC's 12 year bottling is particularly popular in Japan, and the Canadian version is a logical upward extension for the brand. The blend of rye (malted and unmalted), corn, and malted barley is (unusually, in Canada) aged together, rather than with each grain individually. In the end, twelve years in oak have bestowed a whisky that is elegantly mellow and quite pleasant.

^ the slightly redesigned current packaging

Canadian Club Classic

40% alc./vol.

$31.45 at LCBO (750mL)

Lots of caramel on the nose along with charred oak. Nutty and then a vanilla, cola profile. Some smoke on the back end and a buttery note, the combination is almost like bacon frying. But generally a gentle nose typical of sweeter Canadian blends. 

The palate begins with sweet maple and buttery creaminess set against a hint of hot rye. There is a pleasant malt flavour and lots of brown sugar. Some yeasty notes and a rich pumpernickel flavour come through subtly. The rye spice is white hot but very restrained, so that you get more of a suggestion of its flavour without the burst of heat. The palate is fairly simple but nicely balanced and quite creamy. 

The rye spice builds into the finish where it flashes with capsicum heat, though tempered by plenty of butterscotch. Slight bitterness but it's the hot rye note which lingers for a short while. 

That last burst of rye enlivens what is a most gentle, elegant, pleasant dram. What bold grain flavour the whisky may have lost from aging the different distillates together, it makes up for in thorough integration and balance. Classic 12 also has a nice malt note, from the high barley content, which is not often found in Canadian blends. 

It's not overly complex nor particularly bold in flavour profile, but I enjoy this as a truly pleasant sipper. It's ever so gentle, elegant, polite - a soft pillow rather than a lightning bolt, with just enough verve in it from the moment of spice on the finish. It's mild-mannered but offers up plenty of refinement thanks to its age. It's also worth noting, in spite of its age, this bottle is super affordable. A friendly whisky perfect for sharing with friends (or some happy sipping on your own).

Heatseeker Score: 87

Category Score: 89

Characteristic: Sweet

Please enjoy our other Canadian Club reviews; 1858 and Chairman's Select.

Forty Creek Double Barrel Reserve

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

Crown Royal De Luxe

What, you thought this Canadian whisky blog could ignore the one in the purple bag? Yes, as it turns out, for about a month. And, as it also turns out, revisiting Crown has been a pleasant surprise. It's time to give this ubiquitous staple it's due; the purple sack is good for quite a bit more than just holding crokinole chips. 

Created in 1939 by Seagram's, this whisky comes by its Royal bonafides honestly. It was first released to commemorate a Canadian visit that year from King George IV and Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. It didn't take long for Crown Royal to attain the status it has today as a genuine Canadian icon.

Though some of it's siblings (like the intense Northern Harvest bottling) get lots of critical attention, the standard De Luxe bottling is actually a remarkable blending achievement. It consists of no less than fifty individual whiskies! For context, most blends rarely exceed four or five different grain and cask combinations. Even if the differences are exceedingly subtle between component whiskies, blending fifty of them to achieve a consistent flavour profile is truly a miraculous achievement. 

What's also miraculous is the runaway popularity of Crown since it's introduction to the United States in the Sixties. Consistently among the most popular spirits in every state, the vast majority of Crown Royal's sales are to American customers. In any case, Crown is probably the first real drink tried by millions of North Americans each year, something unlikely to change any time soon.

Over the years, Crown Royal has been distilled in Quebec and Ontario, with the (many, many) last barrels from the LaSalle and Waterloo distilleries comprising parts of Crown's XR releases.  Today, Crown Royal is distilled by Diageo at their sprawling facility in Gimli, Manitoba. 

Numerous flavoured bottlings have emerged from here in recent years as have smaller batch, more upscale releases, but the standard Crown Royal bottle remains wildly popular in Canada and abroad, and remains the flagbearer for whisky from this country. Its also a bottle worth revisiting if you've moved, like many, to deeper explorations of rye. It's versatile, balanced, and yes, smooth. It really is enjoyable, and I'm glad to have finally returned to this staple of just about every bar in North America and beyond. 

Crown Royal De Luxe

40% alc./vol.

$31 at LCBO

The Crown Royal tasting experience begins with lightly sweet caramel and apricot on the nose. There's an oaky vanilla and not a touch of ethanol burn with heat coming from just a touch of cinnamon. 

The palate is actually reminiscent of sherry finishing. Lots of sweet dried fruit like apricot and some prune. Vanilla is also present alongside brown sugar. A dry, woody rye spice grows slowly toward the finish. The body is fairly viscous and the flavours are well integrated throughout, progressing from sweet to slightly spicy in an orderly procession. 

The medium finish brings brown sugar sweetness and still no ethanol heat to speak of. Smooth is the word often used to describe Crown Royal and that's not wrong. 

Not overly complex despite the mindboggling number of whiskies in this blend, it's a recipe that's clearly been refined after so many million bottles. This is a whisky that can just as easily be sipped as mixed or shot straight. 

Some of Crown Royal's high end bottles offer more to the connoisseur but the one in the purple bag didn't attain this much success without doing something right. Crown Royal is one of very few whiskies to be found universally on any bar and it will always be at the core of world whisky. Those who've enjoyed more complex drams may not get terribly excited by this bottle, but it's worth revisiting yourself when your friends inevitably ask for a pour. It's a straightforward but easily enjoyable whisky that has stood the test of time. 

Heatseeker Score: 83

Category Score: 87

Characteristic: Sweet

A glimpse inside the massive Gimli distillery site. Dropping in unannounced, this was as close as I got before being chased off by security.

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