Alberta Rye Dark Batch Whisky

SN rec

We all stereotype. Yes, it's human. After my last few Canadians (Crown Royal Northern Harvest and Crown Royal Noble Collection), I was led to believe all Canadian whiskey is affordable and very good. Stereotyping. It's like assuming just because macaroons, mousse, and cassoulet are good French dishes, all French cuisine must be good. Till you run into the Ortolan (Google it...horrifying ). This here is pretty bad. First of all, let's talk about how it's made. It's about 90% of 50/50 rye from a pot still and column still. The other 8-9% or so is from bourbon. And the remaining 1% from Sherry. Not Sherry cask, but actual Sherry. As in the wine itself. I can imagine the Nazi like Scotch whisky association screaming blasphemy. So what does it taste like? Like when a bunch of frat boys decide to mix their leftover liquor to create the next evening special. I had this at a local tasting, where the guy was selling me on the point that it's one of the few whiskies under $30. The kicker was that he had this tasting along with Crown Royal Northern. Sort of like good Canadian and bad Canadian. The only positive is the color. Really nice mahogany dark tea like color. They might as well have injected 0.5% squid ink for the color. Just for kicks.

In the Glass: Dark amber, maple syrup. On the Nose: Sweet, bourbon notes are the first to hit the nose. Vanilla, rye and then the sherry with some faint baking spices. With the sherry in there, it almost has a dark rum quality to it. Neat, there's some heat on the end from the 45% ABV. With water, the heat on the nose disappears. This is likely a younger blend, and at the higher strength it can certainly take a few drops. The nose gets sweeter and the baking spices come more to the forefront. Burnt sugar, and some caramel. The water tames the rye and amps up the bourbon influence. Taste: Sweet, hot, spice. You get the bourbon and the rye immediately on the arrival, with the heat of the alcohol through the development. The finish is all about the sherry. It almost seems like cheating to simply add sherry instead of finishing the whiskey in a sherry cask, but it's also kind of genius too. The sherry is only 1% of the total blend, and that seems like just the right amount. With water, this becomes a lot more fruit-forward on the arrival with the development and the finish showing off the rye. Sweet and spice. The alcohol still plays a role here, but it's pretty well integrated for a younger blend. This is like the Canadian cousin to some black, spiced rums that I can think of.

Oaky nose. Very nice spice with a light vanilla. I expected to have more a distinct rye flavor.