Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve

The price this is fine whiskey.. Lots of action, oak, maple sweetness and smooth finish.. loved it.

Sweet, oak, smooth finish

I've been a Canadian whisky fan since I came of age. My first northern friend was Canadian Club 6 year (circa 1980) and I've explored quite a few since then. I've had several bottles of this particular whisky and I'm generally a fan of Forty Creek since I ran into a crazy 50% off sale at a liquor store several years back. I purchased a case of Barrel Select, a case of Copper Pot and a case of the Confederation Oak under consideration here. This is from the very last bottle of that case. Confederation Oak pours a rich, clear burnt sienna. It exhibits clingy sheeting when swirled, with quick tears that leave thick tracks. By appearances this is going to have a creamy mouthfeel. On the nose this is vanilla, candy corn, sweet demarara syrup, and Squirrel Nut Zipper candy. There's a little nuttiness to this. Pecans, not peanuts. There isn't a lot of complexity and this isn't going to hold your interest for some deep tasting session. It smells good, nuff said. Tasting this bears out its gentle, sweet nature. There isn't any real bite to speak of. This is a relatively low 80 proof. I'll admit that in recent years my tastes have leaned towards much higher barrel proofs. That said, this seems even kinder than its proof suggests. It's an easier sipper than Jack Daniels Gentleman Jack, for example (though quite a bit different in profile). The rye makes its presence known with traces of dill, mint and cedar. There isn't any giant profile, just a sweet candied flavor bomb. A drop of water will take any semblence of complexity from the nose, leaving mostly vanilla and candy corn. The water makes this really a very easy drinker, perfect for dessert. Mostly I've drunk this with a single large cube, often as a accompaniment to a coffee or espresso. I've also used this to make a brandy alexander, substituting for the brandy. I've also used it to make a crazy-sweet smoked old fashioned for guests who aren't whisky-experienced and want to try something new. This is a sweet, creamy, easy drinking honey/vanilla/candy liquor that's right at home when you want something that's not challenging. At the sub $35 price I got it for, it was a steal. At the $69.99 price I see it for at Florida liquor stores today, it's a hard pass. I have to dock it at least half a point for lack of value. It's good, just not $70 good.

Ok, I'll admit it. I like Canadian whisky. Perhaps some context is in order. I popped over to Total Wine for a "look" to see if they had anything interesting or new in stock since the new year. The bottle selection was pretty much the same, but I had noticed that the prices on my favorite Scotches had gone up an average of $10. Damn tariffs. I noticed that the Diageo products (Talisker, Lagavulin, etc.) had gone up considerably. How kind of them to pass those on to us... In light of this, I'm taking a renewed focus on some categories I've neglected in the last few years, namely Canadian whisky. I feel like it deserves a second look. Here's why. Rumor has it (and YouTube confirms it) that Canada keeps most of the good stuff for themselves. I can't find a shop anywhere that sells J.P. Wisers 23 Year Cask Strength or Lot 40 Cask Strength. Some folks carry the Forty Creek limited editions, but those are infrequent and spotty, though some are highly rated (such as Unity or Victory), so I started to do some research. Davin DeKergommeaux writes about Canadian whisky for Whisky Advocate, and has a fantastic website (canadianwhisky.org) where there are detailed reviews of a multitude of Canadian whiskies. @Kteach also has a fantastic YouTube page called Whisky Neighbour where he talks about a number of Canadian whiskies and I've learned a lot from his videos. Check both out if you get a chance and give this category another look. It's not all Crown and Club. Now...this whisky. I have a lot of nice bottles, particularly Scotch and Bourbon. I'm looking for something different this year. I remembered having a great experience with the 40 Creek Copper Pot, with my only gripe being a slightly astringent finish, which water tamped down a tad. 40 creek has higher rated expressions than this one, but I was intrigued by the idea of "Canadian terroir" on this one, it being primarily aged in Canadian Oak barrels rather than American Oak. Supposedly the slower growing process in Canada results in stronger vanillin being imparted into the spirit. How often do you see this? Usually oak is either American or French. If this isn't Canadian whisky, I'm not sure what is. On the nose, I get a similar profile to the Copper Pot, but more refined, aged, settled. There's vanilla, butterscotch, tannic barrel notes, and a smell that I can only describe as the lumber section at Home Depot (lumber is a note I see a lot in Canadian whisky reviews, so maybe I'm not crazy here). It arrives gentle on the palate, with maple brown sugars, toffee, dark berries (I'm thinking blackberries & raspberries ) moving into a smokiness (note: not peatiness) on the back palate. This leads to a surprisingly long, sweet, coating finish. It reminds me of a Kentucky hug, but perhaps we should call it the Ontario hug instead. I like this. Really like this. Enough that I think most of my purchases this year will be from North America rather than Europe until they can sort out this tariff nonsense. I have plenty of Scotch in tow to last me a while, but this, this is worth another look. Cheers! P.S.- Remember that "no new bottles for 2020" bit I put out a while back? Ya...made it 11 days. C'est la vie en whisky.

Light bodied. Cereal, caramel on the pallet. Heavy caramel aroma.