Lot No. 40 Canadian Rye

Smells strongly of toasted dark rye bread and caraway seeds, while sweeter notes of maple fudge and caramel taffy arise on the palate. Pumpkin pie spicing and sawdust on the finish. Real strong rye presence but still super quaffable.

The current release of Lot 40 (you can tell the difference by the absence of the "2012" date on current bottles), according to the manufacturer, comes from the same distillation run as the initial 2012 edition. Which means that the only difference is that this current release has spent a couple more years aging than its predecessor. Given how much I loved the 2012 batch, that sounded like great news. Unfortunately, those couple extra years tipped the balance on this whisky--and while the nose is as beautiful as ever, the taste has tipped over into distinctly tannic over-oakedness. Flavours of sourdough bread, sweet rye, spicy rye. Orange soda, licorice, dill. Sawdust, Christmas spice, wood smoke, light cinnamon. Black tea, cedar, and eucalyptus on the taste. Quite woody and dry, with the oaky elements overshadowing some of the distinctness and elegance of the 2012 bottling. Still a great whisky, but a step down from the last release.