Alberta Premium Dark Horse

A thoughtful gift from a good friend and neighbor who traveled to Port Hope, Ontario to visit friends. He had a bottle also and insisted we open his to taste. It seems to have a good reputation in Canada. I love the color of this whisky. In the glass the legs are plentiful. For me, it noses very well of Maple, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Peach and Butter Toffee. Upon hitting the tongue it feels somewhat syrupy and chewy, with strong alcohol but not great heat. Holding it in the mouth, I get many of the flavors from the nosing but the overall impression is just sweetness, reminiscent of Maraschino. This kind of whisky is an obvious product creation. With so many influences acting upon it, including a small amount of liquid sherry, you might not associate this as a Rye whisky. My neighbor asked me how I would rate it after a sip or two. I thought awhile and being generous said I'd give it a 6.5-7 or so out of 10. This seems in-line with the ratings I found here and elsewhere later on. It's not that it's that great of a whisky but I think we all consider a great many factors in our scoring. This one goes down easy and has enough of that "where'd you get this from" quality to it to merit 3.5 stars. I'll share it over a bonfire with neighbors and friends.

Particularly for the price (sub-$30 in Canada), Dark Horse is a pretty fabulous whisky. A lot of people take shots at Canadian whisky for the law that it can contain up to 1/11th additive, but the Dark Horse actually brilliantly uses that law to its advantage, mixing in a small amount of sherry and some bourbon (rumoured to be pulled from the stocks that would go into Old Grand Dad/Basil Hayden's). Flavours of oak, vanilla. Toffee, caramel, and a very bourbon-y kind of vanilla. Fairly big rye spice, some herbal character, charcoal, berries, brown sugar. Raisins, sourdough bread. Peppery rye spice on the taste; sweetness with a spicy twang. Licorice. Faint wood smoke. Supposedly Beam-Suntory is going to begin distributing this in the US under a slightly different name, and frankly that's a pretty smart business decision. It's tasty stuff.

Something odd I've noticed about this one is sometimes it has a funky taste and sometimes it doesn't. This obviously comes down to ones own palate. Perhaps something eaten earlier or even bad breath that doesn't agree with it. That being said this has got to be the only whisky I've encountered this issue with. Otherwise it's very good and I like it a lot. It's more in line with the stronger rye's like norther harvest and lot 40 than the typical lower strength Canadian blends. Its full flavored..Nose is Peppery, floral, oaky with sweet maple syrup and brown sugar in the background. A terrific nose! Palate is menthol, floral, earl grey tea (orange), and obviously overall rye. Aside from the occasional off note I get this is an exceptional value. Great Canadian whisky!

The deep maroon hue of this whiskey is instantly seductive. At first, the nose burns with ethyl and little else. After it's rested a bit it starts to smell like the lumber department of your local hardware store. Cherries on the nose as well. Woodiness immediately apparent on the palate, and I mean wood, not vanilla or tannins; straight wood. Fruity fire accompanies the woodiness, not dissimilar from cooked apples dredged in cinnamon. There's an unshakeable richness here and a viscosity akin to maple syrup. It finishes with vanilla and some spicy fire, the embers of which take their time dying off. Overall: this whiskey cost me next to nothing (especially spending U. S. bucks in Canada) and was well worth the purchase.

Alberta Distillers makes some of the best Rye in the world. This is not a good example of their work. The nose is excellent and did draw me it. The initial taste also came out strong with Rye pepper and some caramel sweetness. However, it starts to fall apart for me after that. The sweetness continues and edges on candied cherries. When we get to the finish a bitterness begins to pick up. As I drink this into the night, the bitterness just continues to grow. Eventually it overwhelmed me. There is some dry oak in there but in the end I can't recommend this. Too bad, because these people know their Rye.

To be honest, my very first thought upon sipping was "this is what mould tastes like". It is earthy - to a fault. Sure, there is some sweetness and vanilla on the palate, but it just gets lost in dank, astringent, 'mouldy' bitterness. Don't let the mild nose fool you... All that being said, it did eventually grow on me. It started as a very disappointing one star, but now that I've finished the bottle, I'm comfortable raising the rating to a two. This may be the perfect whisky for someone who likes bitter, earthy, not-so-complex sipping. But I dont reckon I'd buy it again.