Canadian Whisky
Canada’s whisky-making history mirrors that of the United States. Its earliest farmers first began distilling rye in the eastern territories (in the late 1700s), but as western Canada was settled in the following centuries, corn and wheat also became popular. Canadian whisky came to prominence during Prohibition, when it was illegally smuggled by boatloads and carloads to those American masses thirsty in the south. While there are strict U.S. requirements for when a specific grain can be referenced on a label, a bottle of Canadian whisky can be labeled as “rye whisky” even if there is little or even no rye in the mashbill. This is due to the use of rye as a flavoring grain throughout much of Canada’s whisky-making history, which was so well-known that “rye” and “whisky” became interchangeable. The only legal requirements for Canadian whisky are that it must be made in Canada from a fermented cereal mash that is then aged in wood containers for at least three years and bottled at 80 proof or higher.
Top Canadian Whisky Posts:
Crown Royal Deluxe Blended Canadian Whisky
Lord Calvert Black Canadian Whisky
Drinking the Bottom Shelf Vol. 2: Canadian Whisky – Ellington, Black Velvet, LTD
Produced at the Hiram Walker & Sons Limited in Windsor, Ontario, J.P. Wiser’s is one of the oldest extant Canadian whisky brands and has a history dating back to 1857. Now owned by Pernod-Ricard, the brand sells some of the oldest blended Canadian whisky on the market. Today, we’re looking at two releases well over…
In the last five years, there are few American companies that have carved out a spirits niche quite like Found North. A non-distilling producer, the brand specializes in blended Canadian whisky at cask strength, which often includes a wide range of aged components in addition to intricate cask finishes. Perhaps most impressively, they’ve grown by…
Crown Royal has been dropping expressions left and right over the last few months, targeting both the ultra-approachable (a ready-to-drink black cherry whisky sour) and the luxe (a 31 year old, the oldest in its history). Somehow we got both, plus a new version of Crown Royal Reserve, which we last reviewed in 2008(!) and…
Nestled along the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario, J.P. Wiser’s is no stranger to producing whisky with multi-decade age statements. Their newest stateside offering — the first of “The Decades Series” — comes with an eye-popping 42 year old age statement. Distilled in 1982, this blended Canadian whisky was aged across a combination of Speyside…
Crown Royal, the Canadian whisky powerhouse, extends its line into something entirely new for the brand — and not all that common in Canada, to be honest. So here it is: Crown Royal’s first single malt. Made from 100% malted barley, the whisky is “crafted in the Canadian cold,” which is perhaps the brand’s way…
Move over Crown Royal. There’s a new kid on the flavored Canadian whisky block. Forthwest Whisky Co. launched earlier this year with a portfolio of three flavored offerings and one unflavored blend. The whiskies are all sourced from an unspecified Canadian producer and finished at Oregon’s Hood River Distillers with glacier-fed spring water from Mt.…
Bourbon is the premier whiskey of America. Michigan’s Mammoth Distilling prefers advancing the cause of rye. While the lion’s share of American whiskey is distilled from bulk commodity grains, Mammoth invests in research regarding the distillation of heirloom varieties of rye grain. Each specific variety of rye grain produces different qualities in a whiskey. Pre-Prohibition…
The poet Justin Timberlake once quipped “What goes around comes around.” Early American whiskey culture revolved around rye and bourbon. However, the long thirst from 1920 to 1933 began a shift in American drinking habits. Legitimate and well-aged bourbon and rye were harder to come by during Prohibition. Lighter whiskies smuggled in from Canada and…
Vancouver-based Bearface has launched a new whisky series called the Wilderness Series, each bottle to be aged and infused with products sourced from or inspired by the great outdoors. Up first is a version of Bearface infused with wild matsutake mushrooms — which may be a first for us. Per the company, the whiskey is…
Last year, WhistlePig made headlines with the launch of a 21 year old single malt sourced from Canada, arguably the oldest single malt whiskey that the Americas has ever seen produced. The Beholden wasn’t my favorite WhistlePig product, and in preparation for this review I cracked it open for the first time in months to…