Friday 29 June 2012

The Marker Whisky

 

 

Whisky: Canadian Club Classic 12 yr old

 

Distiller:

Canadian Club

 

Bottle:

Canadian Club Classic 12 yr old

Region:
Canadian

ABV:

40%

Colour:

Full Gold

 

Review:

 

Today I had a quite nasty experience and it involves one of my favorite whisky categories. Canadian Whisky.

Money has been tight lately and so my wife and I have been pinching every penny and I haven't bought many bottles (many meaning any) lately. Today I totaled up all my tips that were in US currency and decide to exchange them for Australian dollars and buy a bottle. This totaled roughly $43 bucks.

I then ran to Dan Murphy s excited as to who I was going to adopt and take home with me today. To aid in the adoption process I brought my whisky bible 2012 and my mobile tuned into Connosr.

As I wandered through the whisky section I debated who to take home. A few good bourbons and ryes, but I already had a pretty good bourbon which I had used to introduce my father and brother in law too, so maybe something else they hadn't tried yet.

I spied Canadian Club 12 yr old and saw it was exactly $42 bucks. I pulled open my trusty whisky bible and looked it up, Jim Murray says 91.5. WEWT!! A steal of a deal at $42 then!! I pick up the bottle and head home. As I was heading home I pulled up Connosr, I see my 12 yr old has been getting 70-80ish point wise...uh oh.

I get home and pull out the bottle, my wife goes "Nice! That bottle is pretty" I think to myself "god I hope the whisky is too" I then pour us out both a dram . . . then my brother in law later on that night along with my father in law and this is what we discovered.

Jim Murray can be WRONG!! SHOCK!!!!

Nose: Honey, waves of honey come off this whisky with hints of cinnamon, then as my wife and brother in law put it "Permanent Marker" and something that my brother in law said should not be drunk by man. Waves of rubbing alcohol hit my nose with a hint of the permanent marker.

Taste: Sadly the taste agreed with the nose with quite a bit of bitterness. A little bit of rye, some honey and quite a bit of rubbing alcohol and permanent marker.

Finish: Extremely bitter. Do I really have to finish my glass?

I grew up in Seattle in the US and I grew up drinking bourbons and Canadian whiskies. I loved Crown Royal back in the day and don't get me started on the bourbons. I know what a good Canadian whisky is supposed to taste like. THIS ISN'T IT. I rarely have encountered a whisky that I just said "This is a whisky and coke" whisky, but Canadian Club 12 yr old is just that.

My wife is a Speyside girl, my brother and father in law are Islay men and I'm a bourbon man myself . . . none of us found this to a even a decent whisky. I used to steer away from the Canadian Clubs, I thought that it was because of stuff I had heard growing up, but I'm sorry to say I should have learned my lesson back then.  It'll be ALONG time before I try another Canadian Club again.


Nose:            14/25
Taste:           13/25
Finish:           13/25
Balance:        14/25

Overall:         54/100

2 comments:

  1. Interesting - it's a little too sweet for me but otherwise I've preferred it to the other CC expressions I've had (except for CC 20yo). And yes, Jim Murray can be wrong, and often is! His Canadian whisky of the year was Crown Royal Reserve, which I rather dislike.

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  2. I honestly think that I just got a bad batch. It was unbelievable. I've had it for almost 4 months now and I've tried everything to try and improve it. Left the bottle open for a week to try and air it, I cant even drink it with coke!? I've had lots of Canadians before and always found them yummy but this one made me so sad

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