Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve

Very maple heavy. Almost like a maple whisky liqueur rather than a regular whisky. Notes of caramel, vanilla, toasted oak... But too sweet for me. Probably great in a cocktail.

Butter tarts, vanilla cream frosting with woody oak

Very nice. Smooth and rich. Lots of fruit, mainly raisin and fig. Vanilla cream too. It has an Irish feel to it.

It's that time again. That magical time of year when all the "Best Whiskey of the Year" lists come out. I've been searching around and found that most of these lists consist of highly aged Scotch and limited release or allocated Bourbon, and while I'm sure these drams are delicious, the fact remains that most of us will likely never taste most of these, so over the next five days, I present to you this longhorn's humble top 5 whiskies of 2020. Most of us could agree that this was not our best year. However, all the time spent at home resulted in expanded imbibing of our favorite brown beverage. This is the criteria for my list: (1) The whiskey has to be readily available on store shelves. No special releases. This means the most excellent Wild Turkey Masters Keep expressions I tried and rated this year are out, though you should feel confident to buy on sight. (2) Every dram on my list is $80 or less. Everyone should be able to taste great whiskey, and yes, I realize my definition of "great" might be different than others, but that's the fun of what we all do here, and (3) I had to have tasted it in 2020. None of the whiskies on my list were released this year, but this year is when I finally got around to them. Coming in at #5 was an early contender for this list. I've professed my love for Canadian whiskey and I don't care who knows. There's a lot of cool offerings out there once you move past the bottom shelf, even at 40%, and this one ticks off all the right boxes. Finished in Canadian oak barrels (who else can claim that!), this dram presents notes of maple, spice, butterscotch, toffee, and more. At $55 and bottled at 40% ABV, it packs a lot of flavor into a modern classic from the North. I've written (read: lamented) before about how Canada keeps all the best stuff for themselves, but this one makes it south to us here in the US, and any whiskeyfile should give this a go before they write off Canadian whiskey as a category. Those folks at Forty Creek know what they're doing. Pick up a bottle and try for yourself. Cheers!

Lots of oak and heat. Some fruit and nuts. Nice but also pricey.

Excited to try this! Lot 1867-K, bottle 06493. I'm a big fan of Forty Creek and I've been looking for this and finally found a bottle. Nose: Honey, burnt caramel, almonds. Definitely some dried fruits, especially raisins. Hard to resist taking a sip. Maybe a little peach coming through. Palate: Loads of flavour immediately coming through. Very rich. Initially butter tarts come to mind (quintessential Canadian treat?). Also some salted caramel. The oak then emerges with some really nice peppery/spicy notes. Finish: The pepper and spice continues and lingers. The raisins return here and sing a little Oh Canada to end the taste.