Great Canadian Whisky For Canada Day

Wiser’s has been distilling whisky since the mid-1800s. However, this whisky is relatively new to Wiser’s lineup of affordable whiskies. Small Batch replaced Wiser’s Reserve several years ago and the bottle has recently been given a makeover to better represent its small batch character. This Canadian whisky is produced using traditional distilling methods at a slightly higher proof than the standard 40%. Note: This is not currently available in the U.S.

As with most Canadian whiskies, the grains used are distilled and aged separately before blending for bottling. Rye is used primarily as an additive with corn doing the bulk of the work here. It should be noted that this used to have an age statement of 10 years, but recent labels exclude the age.

Highwood Distillers, in High River, Alberta, make most of their whisky from wheat, and may well be the only major distillery with no mill. Instead, they cook the wheat whole until it bursts open like popcorn to reveal the starch inside. A devastating flood in 2013 wiped out much of the distillery, but thankfully, spared the warehouses where this Centennial whisky lay sleeping.

XR or Extra Rare is a bottling that includes whiskies from the now closed LaSalle Distillery in Montreal. The distillery Greenbrier was bought, dismantled, and moved from Kentucky to Montreal in 1924 (yes, in the middle of the US Prohibition). LaSalle ceased production in 1996, but is still used as a warehouse for Crown whiskies. The first XR release (2006) included whiskies from their Waterloo distillery and came in red packaging. This release is in blue.

The heart of this dram is Crown Royal's unique batch-base whisky - corn spirit distilled to high abv in small batches then matured in previously used barrels. This is the source of its condensed milk texture. A perennial favorite from coast to coast in Canada, Limited Edition is difficult to find outside Canada. If you're visiting make sure to pick one up.

Canadian Mist is a single distillery blended whisky. Meaning, they distill all grains (rye, corn, and barley) individually then age before blending it all to produce the whisky. Brown-Forman owns this product.

Canadian Club is one of the few Canadian whiskies available nearly everywhere in the world where there’s a bar. Long before its prime time television appearances in the hands of Nucky Thompson and Don Draper, it was enjoyed in over 150 countries. After 100 years as a mixing whisky, several new versions, including this ten-year-old were added to the line. Unlike most Canadian whiskies, Canadian Club is blended as new spirit before it goes into the barrel.

The brand now known as Canadian Club actually got its start in Detroit. Hiram Walker, founder of the brand, decided to make a move to Canada due to the onset of Prohibition in the area. The grains in the whisky, rye, rye malt, barley malt, and corn, are aged separately before blending and bottling.

Alberta Distillers buys grain as a commodity so the actual grain content of some of their whiskies can change from batch to batch. Consistent flavor, though is maintained through careful selection of the mature whiskies that go into each batch. So, this could be 100% rye, but it also might not be. Regardless, in its ten years in the barrels it has picked up a lot of crisp clean wood to become the top of the Alberta Distillers line and their only regular product bearing an age statement.

It’s hard to believe, given the runaway success of Crown Royal, that VO was once the cornerstone of the Seagram’s empire. In fact, the Gimli distillery, now dedicated to Crown Royal, was built specifically for VO. Production of VO has since moved to the historic Schenley distillery in Valleyfield, Quebec (Now called Diageo Global Supply, Valleyfield). If VO is a mixer, VO Gold retains the classic Canadian whisky profile, but is made for sipping. This is whisky for when the hard-core VO drinker has a special occasion. Same brand, same whisky, just a lot more of it in each sip.