I live near Windsor Ontario. Being a whisky enthusiast I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I have never visited our local distillery. Hiram Walker's & Son's has been part of this city since well before I was born. I spend many years driving past the acres or warehouses outside the city and even the distillery inside the city on my daily drive to work. I even lived within a few blocks of the distillery for a short time. The distillery is currently owned by Penrod Ricard and produces Wiser's brand of whiskies (www.jpwisers.com).
As it happens the master blender at the distillery heard about our scotch group and invited us to a tasting at the distillery. We saw though this thinly veiled attempt to convert us over to Canadian whisky but decided to go anyway. I was just happy that I did not drive!
Master blender Don Livermore taught us much about whisky. His history of Canadian whisky was enlightening and entertaining as we worked our way through the samples he provided.
Here is what I took away from the evening...
The lower end whiskies were everything I have come to expect from Canadian whisky which is why when I think of Canadian whisky a can of Coke is not far from my thoughts as well. I thought it might be rude to head to the vending machine at this point. I managed to force them down.
Wiser's Legacy was probably my favourite whisky of the night. Eminently drinkable. I enjoyed this neat but a drop or two of water did not hurt. It actually changed the flavour quite noticeably. Either way I may have to go out and pick myself up a bottle. Toasted grains and caramel notes with citrus zest. It was lightly sweet without taking away from the smooth burn. Very nice!
My second favourite of the night (in a very close race) was the Pike Creek. A very robust whisky with pepper and toffee notes. Did I say this was second? Now that I think about it maybe it was first... Damn I'm gonna have to get me a bottle of this as well to add to the collection.
Wiser's 18 year old was also very nice with a bit more spiciness. Perhaps a bit of pine and apple? Good but not quite as enjoyable as the Legacy or the Pike Creek in my opinion.
Also good was Wiser's Small Batch. Well rounded and smooth. Rich and a bit spicy. Would be good over a few cubes of ice.
I am not a fan of spiced whiskies so I will abstain from comment on the Wiser's Spiced. I wonder if we will ever get a peated Canadian whisky???
Overall my opinion of Canadian whisky jumped up a few notches and I enjoyed the experience very much to the point where I will be reaching for my wallet as I head to the LCBO to pick up a bottle or two for further sampling. I even got a nice certificate making me an honorary member of Wiserhood!
Thanks Don, it was a very informative and enlightening evening.
Next up, I was in the Caribbean last week and picked up a bottle of Laphroaig PX Cask so stay tuned!
