Canadian Club 100% Rye

Mark bottle

I think I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, because the first night I had 7 shots, the next night I drank 5! Virtually no sweetness at all, this has a grain/cereal core with a lot of spice, but it is smooth as glass! It's nice to taste a pure rye to learn it's flavors so you can pick it out in a bourbon. I will keep this around as a change of pace sipper.

Two things right off the top: 1. I never thought I would be giving a Canadian Club product a better review than "I had this at a wedding reception because it was the only option, and I didn't die so we're calling it a win," and 2. The four stars is reflective of the versatility of this whisky...it's more of a 3 .5 or so for flavor, but read on and see why I'm rounding up. After seeing Distiller's high rating, and since their "Affordable Canadian" list came out right as I was thinking I should do a little boozy exploration of the Great White North, I figured it was worth a spin. For $20, you're hard-pressed to find a better rye whisky for low-key, casual sipping with some friends, or (best yet) making cocktails. The nose is sweet, with clove and freshly chopped dill; meanwhile, the palate somehow manages to be smooth, dill pickle-y, a bit spicy, and a bit sweet all at once without becoming a busy-seeming trainwreck. That's not a half bad balancing act. It's a little too smooth and easy for my personal rye preferences insofar as drinking neat goes, but I can already imagine how good this will be in my go-to summer cocktails - Manhattans, Old Fashioneds, and Sazeracs especially. I'd even venture a guess that a (sacrilege alert) mint julep would be pretty decent with this as the whisky base.