This first release has sold out in most jurisdictions (although is still available in some Alberta outlets), as only around 7000 bottles were produced. I was fortunate enough to manage to snag a bottle when it hit Ontario shelves early last month ($250 CAD at the LCBO). Bottled at 45% ABV, the whisky comes in a stylish presentation-style square bottle (which is actually a bit of a pain to pour from, truth be told).<\/p>\n
Here is how compares in my Meta-Critic Whisky Database:<\/p>\n
Canadian Club 20yo: 8.63 \u00b1 0.30 on 10 reviews ($$$) Let’s see what I find in the glass:<\/p>\n Nose<\/strong>: Subtle, but detectable from a distance. Light honey and corn syrup. Gummi bears. Candied orange citrus. Vanilla. Tree bark (likely from the extended oak aging). Definite acetone, contributing to an artificial sweetener\/candy note. But not offensive, seems to work with the other light sweet notes. Reminds me in some ways of Crown Royal Monarch<\/a> for the oaky notes (but with less overt rye here).<\/p>\n Palate<\/strong>: Corn, corn and more corn. Corn syrup. Hot-buttered corn-on-the-cob. Definite caramel now, adding to the vanilla – a salted caramel. Light dried fruits. Buttery and creamy texture, quite decadent – yet it still feels relatively light and bright for the age. Aromatic wood note that I can quite place (juniper?). Slight nutmeg on way out. Touch of tannic tea. Very easy drinking – dare I say “smooth”?<\/p>\n Finish<\/strong>: Medium length. Light corn on the tongue, with butter. Nutmeg and a touch of cloves. Plums and citrus. Caramel lingers to the end.<\/p>\n Caramel seems to build over time with successive sips. A rich, liquid caramel – by the end of the glass, you feel like you drank insides of a Caramilk bar.\u200e Slippery, buttery residue on lips also builds with time. Very distinctive, I would call this a dessert whisky.<\/p>\n Personally, I prefer the Wiser’s 35 year old<\/a> over this bottle, as it has a little more spice and character. But CC 40 really is a distinctive experience, so I urge you to try a sample if you ever get the chance.<\/p>\n Among reviewers, it gets outstanding scores from Jason of In Search of Elegance<\/a> and Davin of Canadian Whisky<\/a> and Whisky Advocate. Beppi of the Globe and Mail<\/a> gives it a very good score. Among Reddit reviewers, TOModera<\/a> and Strasse007<\/a> both give it an above average score, with muaddib99<\/a> giving it a more average one.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not one to be out done by Corby and the Northern Border Collection, or the various Canada 150 special releases, Beam Suntory has just released the oldest age-stated Canadian whisky in history: Canadian Club 40 year old. There is not a lot information available on this release, beyond that it was distilled in 1977, and aged in used American oak<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[158,21,26,25],"class_list":["post-4744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whiskies","tag-40yo","tag-canadian","tag-canadian-club","tag-rye"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4744"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4804,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4744\/revisions\/4804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nCanadian Club 30yo; 9.00 \u00b1 0.18 on 6 reviews ($$$$$)
\nCanadian Club 40yo: 9.01 \u00b1 0.48 on 6 reviews ($$$$$)<\/strong>
\nCanadian Rockies 21yo: 8.96 \u00b1 0.26 on 8 reviews ($$$)
\nGooderham & Worts 17yo Little Trinity Three Grain: 8.63 \u00b1 0.41 on 5 reviews ($$$$)
\nJ.P. Wiser\u2019s 18yo: 8.58 \u00b1 0.43 on 17 reviews ($$$)
\nJ.P. Wiser\u2019s 35yo: 8.78 \u00b1 0.67 on 8 reviews ($$$$$)
\nJ.P. Wiser\u2019s Union 52: 8.82 \u00b1 0.34 on 9 reviews ($$$)
\nLot 40: 8.90 \u00b1 0.34 on 22 reviews ($$)
\nLot 40 Cask Strength 12 Year Old: 9.25 \u00b1 0.09 on 7 reviews ($$$$)
\nMasterson\u2019s Straight Rye 10yo: 8.87 \u00b1 0.40 on 17 reviews ($$$$)
\nPike Creek 21yo Speyside Cask Finish: 8.68 \u00b1 0.27 on 5 reviews ($$$$)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Canadian.club_.40.jpg\")
<\/a>While there are some light rye notes here (which I suspect are coming exclusively from the wood), it is really the base corn spirit that shines through. I’ve never had such a well-aged, mellow corn whisky before – it seems younger and brighter. Certainly interesting as a concept, but I can’t help feel that a splash of Lot 40 Cask Strength<\/a> in here would really help wake this whisky up.<\/p>\n