Canadian Whisky Tasting (January 21st, 2022)
This was our 2nd Canadian Whisky Tasting. I like to make sure a few provinces are represented. I also included the winner from our last Canadian Whisky Tasting, back in October 2020. The bottles in question were;
| TT Label | Description | Province | Proof | Rating | Price (CAD$) |
| A | Glynnevan, Triple Barreled, Rye Whisky | Nova Scotia | 90 | 6.9 | $70.00 |
| B | Bearface, Triple oaked, 7 yr | BC | 85 | 6.0 | $40.00 |
| C | J.P. Wiser, 15 yr | Ontario | 80 | 7.6 | $50.00 |
| D | Signal Hill | Newfoundland | 80 | 7.9 | $40.00 |
| E | Forty Creek, Victory, 2019 limited release | Ontario | 86 | 5.4 | $80.00 |
| F | Crown Royal, Northern Harvest Rye | Manitoba | 90 | 5.3 | $38.00 |
| G | Crown Royal, Salted Caramel Whisky | Manitoba | 70 | 6.9 | $30.00 |
| H | Gretzky Whisky Cream, Salted Caramel | Ontario | 34 | 8.5 | $35.00 |
We had 16 people rating the whiskies, and taking part in the Zoom. We had 5 who were new to this whole voting/tasting process. The winner from last time, became the loser for this time, very strange outcome. I was expecting 12 to register we had 19 register, so I added the “G” bottle, to make a transition to the cream. I didn’t realize it’s classified as a whisky drink, instead of a whisky, due to the salted caramel additive.
We had our first ever fish caught during the tasting, in an ice shack, on the lake, and it was an impressive catch. A truly Canadian experience, impressive Bradley!!
I Love;
- That this ice shack is on a frozen lake
- The amazing fish, especially the back fin (Walleye(US), Pickeral (CAD))
- It’s caught at night, and that it’s -24 Celsius outside (-13 F)
- Caught while on Zoom, and tasting Canadian Whisky
- You see our Canadian whisky rack!
- The Gordie Howe pics, including hockey cards
- Bradley is wearing a Canada Tuque
- The ice fishing calendar
- I don’t know how this can be a more Canadian pic!!
- Thank you Bradley and Nicole for making this truly a Canadian experience, and tasting
In the tasting, we had 2 triple barreled whiskies, Bearface and Glynnevan (which comes in a double barrel, and the less common triple barrel). The Bearface didn’t do so well mostly 6s and some 7s. Glynnevan fared better. We had a limited edition Forty Creek, from 2019, it also didn’t fare so well. But one of the Canadian classics, JP Wiser, did well. It’s a corn whisky. Everyone thinks Canadian whisky is only based on rye…not true.
The group got along well, even with 31% new comers. In terms of location of tasters, we had Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Ireland all represented! In terms of using tasting notes, most guesses/predictions were only 1/6 successful, but we did have Brad (not Bradley) get 3/6, in a separate home tasting, sending me his predictions before I posted the results. This doesn’t beat our current record of 4/6, but it is still impressive, good job Brad!
Marcia was great at pacing the group, and with the larger group, it wasn’t as hard to wait 10-15 minutes between tasting tubes. The group was very animated, especially as the night wore on, and the alcohol was consumed.
The winner was a lesser known whisky, from Newfoundland, our only Newfoundland entrant in any of our tastings, that I’m aware of, Signal Hill. It received a respectable 126/160 (79%). The 2nd place entrant was the more classic Canadian whisky, JP Wiser, 15 yr old, with 122/160 (76%). The 3rd place whisky was Glynnevan, triple barrel, with 111/160, or 69%. Glynnevan is from Nova Scotia, so the Maritimes fared well in our tasting!
The Winners!
1st Place (7.9, $40)
2nd Place (7.6, $50)
3rd Place (6.9, $70)
The next tasting is Vodka! It will be in February 2022
The Survey Results
| A (Glynn) | B(Bear) | C(Wiser) | D(Signal) | E(Victory) | F(CR, Rye) | G(CR,Caramel) | H(Cream) | |
| Wayne | 6 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| Mike K | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Neil | 7 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 9 |
| Emilie | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 10 |
| Marcia | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| Jon T | 7 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 9 |
| Stephanie | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Erin | 8 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| Steve V | 8 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 5 |
| Jeff/Julia | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 9 |
| Nicole | 5 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 8 |
| Bradley | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 9 |
| Amanda | 8 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 9 |
| Jamey | 5 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 4 |
| Dane | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| Renee | 7 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 10 |
| Total | 111 | 96 | 122 | 126 | 86 | 84 | 110 | 136 |
| 6.9 | 6.0 | 7.6 | 7.9 | 5.4 | 5.3 | 6.9 | 8.5 |
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