Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye

A little water helps open the vanilla, oak, and light spice on the back end.

Back in August when I got word that Jim Murray named this whiskey of the year 2020, I thought well that’s odd, I see it everyday here and nobody buys it.. maybe I should get a couple bottles. Glad I did cuz it was gone everywhere by the end of the day. After all these months I haven’t cracked it open but figured on this quarantine New Year’s Eve I can’t end 2020 without tasting the “best” whiskey of the year. The nose is rich and understated, nutty and spicy and chocolate all at the same time. Let it breathe and the proof starts to flex its muscles a bit with some sharp ethanol notes spiking up. In between those shards is more delicate toffee and vanilla. The first sip overwhelms the senses, with 65.1% doing what it was meant to do. Hot, spicy & woody and not much else. Let’s give this another try. Being slightly acclimated on the second sip helps to find a citrusy sweetness on the front of the palate followed by a full mouthful of rye grain, like I was out in the field chewing it right off the tillers. Then baking spice and pepper are cranked up to 11 followed by some significant heat that rounds out the experience. The finish is shorter then I expected, about medium, with dry bitter wood notes and not much else. Is it the best whiskey I’ve had this year out of the 80 I’ve reviewed? Nope. This is almost more like a party trick you play on your friends to watch them squirm.. however if you like Rye this is a flavor explosion of grain and spice that should be on your list.

Solid but extremely strong. Lighter flavor was solid kick. Very good.