Lot No. 40 Canadian Rye Whisky 70cl, 43% ABV

Product Information

We may sell, license, transfer, assign or in any other way dispose of the Service (including Members) to any third party without any notification to you, e.g. (but without limitation) in connection with any reorganization, restructuring, merger or sale, or other transfer of assets. Finish: The citrus flavors keep up all the way to the end with botanical notes offering a perfume-y finish to each sip. The oak turns drying and somewhat bitter. It is saved by residual sweetness from the fruit and caramel that I found along the way. Honestly, the finish is neither sweet nor dry, it’s just a little bit of everything. Big rye whiskey lovers will enjoy it, but a person dabbling in rye whiskey may not appreciate everything about it, especially if they’re only used to sweet bourbons. Score: 7/10 Finish: A singed, semi-bitter set of flavours carry us through the rather short finish. Woodspice, birch, orange soda, unflavoured popcorn, pie crust, meat pie, rye, sour dough bread, and meringue. A very special set of flavours here. Twice-barreled whiskies are all the rage these days. Virtually every producer has at least one example of a whiskey that sees time in a secondary barrel (also known as “finishing”). If we narrow it down to finishing barrels where the wood is either newly charred or just toasted, there are substantially less options to choose from, but they still exist. I’m sure you know this already but the term “rye” in Canadian whisky is more of a colloquialism and doesn’t refer to any specific requirements. It comes from the term “rye-flavoured” whisky which is why we Canadians throw the term rye around quite loosely when describing the typical Canadian style of rye-flavoured blended whisky. Another note is that Canadian whiskies including all “ryes” can use any type of barrel and are not limited to used barrels, although the big distillers typically do refill the same barrels over and over again.

Whiskybase B.V. (“Whiskybase”, “we” or “us”, company details below) offers a whisky enthusiasts online platform that provides its members access to the most comprehensive, transparent and trusted resource of whisky bottles and allows and stimulates its members to contribute information about whisky bottles to the platform (“Service”). Many of these things, I discovered in the course of a recent press trip to the Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. distillery in Toronto, generously sponsored by the U.S. importer Hotaling and Co., and the Canadian Corby Spirit and Wine Limited. The rest, I pieced together while reading more about the subject after returning from the short trip, and the more I absorbed, the more fascinating Canadian whisky has become to me. It’s a segment that is both highly regulated and obtusely labeled; vastly consumed but not often respected. And in the last few years, Canadian whisky has in many ways been coming into its own on an international stage.

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When I first taste Old Potrero 18th Century style, my reaction was why Canadian rye have always the same profile, why Canadian rye can be that good?!!! Well, now I can say Canadian Rye can be that good! And be sure it is not patriotism since it is quite canadian to look at ourselves as good second level performer. But not this time! Whenever an enthusiast-focussed bottling from one of Canada's big distillers is released and available in my area, I get uncontrollably excited. I need to have it. Immediately.

I was excited about this trip because I knew the food there was good, largely because it’s a part of North America where the population is mostly Asian. Just look at Tony Bourdain’s obsession with Asia after he got a taste of it. So, I knew we wouldn’t have a hard time looking for good meals there. Eating in Richmond almost felt like being in Hong Kong due to the numerous dim sum restaurants, and being surrounded by folks speaking Cantonese.You are responsible for all activities through your account. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide to us in relation to your account, and for updating it where necessary. You are not allowed to create multiple accounts. We may terminate or temporarily suspend your account to protect you, ourselves or our partners from (suspected) identity theft or other (suspected) fraudulent (e.g. false, misleading, deceptive) activity. You have the obligation to keep your login credentials confidential. You shall not authorize any others to use or access your account. Ultimately, the true highlight of the Hiram Walker distillery visit was receiving an opportunity that allowed me to put everything I’d learned about Canadian whisky during the trip into direct practice, in service of creating a whisky that had never existed anywhere else before. Which is to say: I got to blend my own whisky, and it was pretty damn cool. Freshly released in Ontario comes this new entry in the “Rye Explorations” series from the Hiram Walker distillery. This is the second entry, and I have previously reviewed the first, which was a bit of a head scratching combination of rye and peated scotch whisky casks.