This one was on my list. Not bucket list as if this was one of my aspirational experiences in life i might as well give up now. Anyhow it was cheap and foolishly my friends let me choose this round so we had one each. One mate commented he thought I was joking when he heard me order the "whiskey for those that don't like whiskey" (was this actually their slogan once?) or brown vodka as its known. Don't worry I told him it's 20 years old not the cheap nasty stuff...oh wait what if it was the cheap nasty stuff left to lounge around for 20 years slowly sucking the life out of a poor maple tree barrel...perhaps I didn't think this through that well. But hey a 4 star rating on Distiller that has to mean something doesn't it? Well lets say apparently not in this case. It was like a sweetly insipid low alcohol bourban had an illicit affair with a blended whiskey of ill repute and this is what popped out 20 years later. So no not a 4 star experience.
About this bottle
After being chased out of Detroit in the late-1800s by annoying prohibitionists, Hiram Walker set up a distillery across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario, making blended Canadian whiskies--called "club" whiskies for their smoothness--uninterrupted for over 150 years. In the 1920s, Canadian Club kept the US wet during the Dark Ages of our nation --distributed by none other than Al Capone. Now owned by Beam Suntory, Canadian Club continues its faithful service to the world of whisky. This offering is aged at least twenty years before being bottled at 40% ABV.
How it tastes
Measured across 14 flavor axes. Tap a note to find other bottles that lead with it.
Reviews
Showing the most detailed of 5 parsed reviews.
Nez typique de la maison, sucré et mielleux, quelques traces de clou de girofle et de caramel, effluves d'alcool bien contrôlées ou plutôt, bien intégrées, beau bois de chêne frais et vanillé, rien de corsé. C'est en bouche que ça se complique, toujours ce côté sucré mais l'aspect épicé rend le tout un peu rude. C'est après ce passage d'épices et d'alcool que le tout s'apaise et qu'on peut enfin en profiter. Miel, poire, caramel et vanille, bois de chêne agréable avec son côté légèrement noirci qui crée un légère astringence. Texture qui manque de corps et douceur à revoir pour un 20 ans d'âge. Je ne peux pas être à ce point déçu considérant le prix que j'ai payé mais je m'attendais a mieux, surtout que le 12 ans fait parti de mes achats réguliers.
Most ryes have that pepper bite where palette becomes finish but whether age or some other means, this is a very smooth, almost sweet rye. At the price a very worthwhile 20yo to have in your bar.
Brown sugar on the nose. Sweet on the palate. Again brown sugar. A large square of it. Some wooden notes in there as well. Maybe a bit of pepper? The finish seems to last forever.
So bland that it makes you wonder what the spirit was doing for 20 years in that barrel...
Tastes like this
Closest flavor profiles across the whole catalog.
