J.P. Wiser’s Alumni Series Guy Lafleur 10 Year Old

It comes as no surprise to me that the best selling member of the inaugural batch of NHL Alumni Series whiskies was the Guy Lafleur bottling.

Growing up in Montreal in the 1970s, “The Flower” was a true hockey icon. A right-wing forward with the Montreal Canadiens, his flowing blond locks (he never wore a helmet) and incredibly smooth skating style made him a fan favourite – and a sight to see on ice. As an aside, his middle name, Damien, earned him the french nickname “Le Démon Blond” (i.e., the blond demon). His popularity was guaranteed to ensure an interest in this whisky when it was released.

The defining flavour characteristic of this whisky is “smooth” – it is a 100% corn whisky, aged for 10 years in a combination of ex-Speyside barrels, ex-rum barrels or ex-bourbon barrels. Taken together, these features combine to make this whisky quite sweet overall, and thus likely to appeal to consumers. It is bottled at the industry-standard 40% ABV.

As a reminder, the Alumni whisky series is a joint effort for Wiser’s, where 50% of the profits are provided to the NHL Alumni Association to support former players in need (i.e., those who didn’t receive the large contracts of the star players). Each bottle retails for a very reasonable ~$45 CAD in most jurisdictions. I’m afraid this whisky is currently sold-out everywhere (as of November 2019).

This NHL Alumni series is full of “easter eggs”, or nods, to each player’s individual careers. In this case, the 10-year old age statement is a clear nod to Lafleur’s retired jersey number. And apparently, the roughly 1/3 proportion of the three cask types is an homage to his many hat-tricks with the Canadiens.

Let’s see how the Guy Lafleur whisky fares in my Meta-Critic Whisky Database, relative to the rest of the Alumni series and some similar style whiskies:

J.P. Wiser’s Alumni Series Darryl Sitter 10yo: 8.31 ± 0.11 on 3 reviews ($$)
J.P. Wiser’s Alumni Series Guy Lafleur 10yo: 8.49 ± 0.09 on 5 reviews ($$)
J.P. Wiser’s Alumni Series Lanny MacDonald 9yo: 8.46 ± 0.22 on 5 reviews ($$)
J.P. Wiser’s Alumni Series Larry Robinson 6yo: 8.52 ± 0.49 on 3 reviews ($$)
J.P. Wiser’s Alumni Series Paul Coffey 7yo: 8.11 ± 0.11 on 2 reviews ($$)
J.P. Wiser’s Alumni Series Wendel Clark 11yo: 9.01 ± 0.09 on 5 reviews ($$)

Crown Royal Blender’s Select: 8.57 ± 0.10 on 4 reviews ($$)
Crown Royal Bourbon Mash (Blender’s Mash): 8.16 ± 0.63 on 8 reviews ($$)
Pike Creek 10yo Port-finished: 8.33 ± 0.35 on 13 reviews($$&)
Pike Creek 21yo Double Barrel Speyside Cask Finish (2017): 8.64 ± 0.36 on 10 reviews ($$$$)

Let’s see what I find in the glass:

Nose: Sweet rum and popcorn. Maple syrup and baked apples. Peaches. Green grapes. Rum cake. Reminds me of a cross between a rum and older style of light Canadian whisky. Very slight organic smell – almost a saccharine artificial sweetness.

Palate: Sweet rum and light corn syrup. Maple syrup. Tropical fruits. Light, dry spices (cinnamon and nutmeg) pick up mid-palate. More rum comes up on swallow. Very easy to drink, no burn at all.

Finish: Rum (as always), then dry spices again. Dried fruits. Paper. Slightly saccharine at the very end.

Seriously, you could easily mistake this for a lighter rum instead of a whisky – the rum influence is just that great. Slightly less spicy than the current Pike Creek 10yo, but with a lot of similarities due to the rum barrels. A crowd pleaser for sure, it is a little too much on the sweet side for me. That said, this bottle was a big hit with my Dad when I gave it to him for Father’s Day.

There aren’t many reviews of this whisky – check out Chip the RumHowler, Jason of In Search of Elegance, or the Toronto Whisky Society. I find the Meta-Critic average score to be appropriate in this case.

3 comments

  • Hi there
    I am looking for GUY LaFlur whiskey for my brother inlaw for Christmas
    He been collecting all the old timers whiskey bottles And just missing Guy LaFlur
    Thank you so much
    Tim pestill

    • That will be hard to find, I’m afraid. My bottle is long gone, and I’ve seen only one go up for auction on Waddington’s – that was part of a Canadian lot, which went for much more than I expected based on the other bottles included.

  • I do have one. I’m waiting for the good offer

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