Pike Creek 10 Year Old Rum Finish

As mentioned in my previous review, Pike Creek 10 year old is part of a popular series of higher-end whiskies from Corby distillers. Along with Lot 40 and Gooderham & Worts, they are meant to hearken back to earlier styles of Canadian whisky production.
Continuously available since late 2012, Pike Creek is an example of a rye whisky that has been finished in a fortified wine barrel (port pipes, in this case). I see Pike Creek as a member of the new style of wine-finished (or flavoured) Canadian whiskies, including the popular Alberta Premium Dark Horse, 66 Gilead Crimson Rye and the recently released Gretzky Red Cask.
However, starting with batches released in September 2016, Corby has apparently switched to finishing Pike Creek in “rum barrels” instead of “vintage port barrels” (see the label image above, and in my previous review). Otherwise, the packaging is unchanged.
Personally, I’m a little surprised that Corby has made this drastic a change without drawing more attention to it. As I explain on my Source of Whisky Flavour page, the type of barrel used for aging has a significant effect on the final flavour of the whisky.
From the discussion thread I started on Reddit, it seems that Corby has made this shift due to some difficulty in getting European labeling approval for this whisky in its previous port-finished form. The switch to rum barrels thus appears to be a permanent substitution.
Personally, I find a rum finish can be interesting in an aged whisky (e.g., the Glenfiddich 21 yo Gran Reserva). More commonly though, you see it in younger whiskies where it is used to provide some additional sweetness (e.g., Teeling Small Batch).
This rum-finished version of Pike Creek is too new to have any other dedicated reviews yet, but let’s see how the old port-finished Pike Creek compared in my Meta-Critic Whisky Database:
66 Gilead Crimson Rye: 8.30 ± 0.47 on 6 reviews ($$)
Alberta Premium Dark Horse: 8.63 ± 0.34 on 15 reviews ($)
Canadian Club 100% Rye: 8.38 ± 0.41 on 13 reviews ($)
Collingwood 21yo: 8.60 ± 0.42 on 10 reviews ($$$)
Forty Creek Evolution: 8.85 ± 0.64 on 7 reviews ($$$)
Forty Creek Port Wood Reserve: 8.80 ± 0.28 on 9 reviews ($$$$)
Forty Creek Three Grain Harmony: 8.25 ± 0.59 on 5 reviews ($$$)
Gooderham & Worts Four Grain: 8.68 ± 0.34 on 9 reviews ($$)
J.P. Wiser’s Double Still Rye: 8.34 ± 0.40 on 6 reviews ($)
J.P. Wiser’s Last Barrels: 8.76 ± 0.39 on 7 reviews ($$$)
J.P. Wiser’s Legacy: 9.02 ± 0.35 on 15 reviews ($$)
Lot 40: 8.91 ± 0.40 on 18 reviews ($$)
Pike Creek 10yo Port-finished: 8.27 ± 0.51 on 12 reviews ($$)
Stalk & Barrel 100% Rye: 8.66 ± 0.22 on 5 reviews ($$$)
As I mentioned in my earlier review, I think the Meta-Critic score is a little low for the classic port-finished Pike Creek. I would personally score it more in the middle of the range above, say around ~8.6.
I bought my bottle at the initial sale price of $34.95 CAD at the LCBO. Note that the LCBO has created a new entry for this rum-finished version of Pike Creek. And although the title, description and price hasn’t changed, it does show the correct new bottle label – and the increase to 42% ABV.
Let’s see what I find in the glass, compared to the original port-finished Pike Creek.
Colour: Identical to the earlier port-finished version, further indicating caramel colorant is added.
Nose: Vaguely similar to the old Pike Creek, but lighter and, well, duller. There is still a clear rye presence, but it is not as fruity as before – Just some light plums, apricots and pears now. Gone are the classic darker/red fruits of the port (i.e., the raisins and prunes), although I am detecting a whiff of cola here. The brown sugar notes are still there, but a bit lighter now, and supplemented with honey and an almost artificial sweetness. Some dry oak still (contributing to that consistent Pike Creek-ness). And again, no real off notes, but a fair amount of alcohol singe. Makes me think of a slightly aged Hiram Walker Special Old – pleasant enough, but not particularly complex.
Palate: Still not much in the way of fruit, although citrus is showing up now (just as I found on the old Pike Cree, and some other Hiram Walker whiskies). Sweetened apple juice now, which is novel (and not particularly welcomed, IMO). Vanilla and caramel throughout. Good rye kick initially, with some extra pepper supplementing the lighter rye spices (nutmeg in particular), with a touch of cardamon. If anything, the initial intensity of the rye seems to have increased from before (which I like) – unfortunately, it still fades rather quickly. Light and watery mouthfeel, as before. A touch of bitterness comes in at the end.
Finish: As disappointingly quick as the previous port-finished version. Nutmeg added to apple juice is the predominant effect. There is definite bitterness on this one that I wasn’t really getting on the previous port-finished batch. Like most rum-finished whiskies I’ve tried, it just seems to quickly fade away.
This new rum-finished Pike Creek seems like a good quality entry-level Canadian light rye – but sweeter than typical. In comparison to the old Pike Creek, I can’t help but feel it is a bit lacking here (those darker winey fruits in particular are gone). On the plus side, I don’t know if it is the 42% ABV or if they added more rye to compensate, but it does have a slightly elevated kick (at least initially – still fades quickly).
While the rum barrels are accentuating the sweetness factor, they really aren’t matching the fruitiness of the old vintage port barrels. I don’t know if this is enough to make people run out and bunker the old Pike Creek before it is gone. But I suspect a regular Pike Creek drinker would notice the less fruity and sweeter taste here.
Taken together, I would personally have to score this rum-finished Pike Creek a couple of points lower than the original port-finished one (i.e., ~8.4). This would put it just up from the overall average Canadian whisky score in my Meta-Critic Database, which I think is fair.
Please see my old port-finished Pike Creek review for links to external reviews. I will update this review once reviews of this new rum-finished version come out.
I hunted down one of the last few bottles of the Port finish on SLGA shelves based on a number of factors including your preference, the scarcity factor and yeah-clearance pricing. I’ve not had either but figure I’ve lots of time for the Rum finish, which leads me to a question. Does the 8.74 with 0.20SD Metacritic average now posted in the database for the Rum finish include your own score? Still reading with interest.
Yes, the Meta-Critic now includes my own personal scores as well (for 200+ whiskies I’ve personally tried). I think the rum-finished average is a bit high, and the port-finished average a bit low, but that’s just one person’s opinion. It will be interesting as more reviews come in for the rum-finished one. BTW, the next update of my database will an extra review for the rum-finished, bringing it to 8.70 ± 0.19 on 5 reviews.
It is fun to do comparative taste sampling, especially side-by-side. When you have a bunch of buddies over, it might be a good idea to crack open both bottles and see what they think. I did that recently with the Midleton Very Rare 2016 and 2015, and everyone else definitely preferred the sweeter 2015. I suspect most would prefer the rum-finished Pike Creek as well, for the same reason.
Eventually. First a side by side with Dark Horse. They’re both affordable port influence (I’m aware of the Dark Horse “cheat” and it doesn’t bother me-taste is what matters)
Sorry-sherry for the Dark Horse. Close enough.
Hi, great article. I got a chance to sample the American release of Pike Creek port finished, and although it is a bit on the light side, I quite enjoyed it. Looking forward to trying their rum release – but sad to read that the port releases are no longer made. It is difficult finding a good and affordable, port-finished bourbon, so this port-finished Canadian whiskey was quite a find. Any others like it?
Thanks. Forty Creek did a port finish for one of their reserve offerings a few years back, but it’s long gone and I can’t think of any other Canadian examples off the top of my head. Port finishing is certainly not common here in Canada. Not the same thing, but Crown Royal has a nice fresh red wine cask finish as part of their new Noble collection (and of course Alberta Premium’s Dark Horse has actual sherry in it).