Rye
whiskey has come and gone into favor over the centuries
and guess what? It's coming back again! In the late 1700's
and early 1800's distillers were selling one half barrel for
each man, woman and child in the country. Prohibition pretty
much killed off rye production in the USA and that dearth
of rye continued on into the 1960's. Rye has been enjoying
a small but growing revival in the USA with more producers
experimenting with rye whiskey and several even marketing
aged rye whiskey.
We
kind of sort of know a bit about how this rye is made but
we haven't got a clue as to its age. First and foremost it's
100% rye which greatly exceeds the minimum content requirement
of 51% rye in the USA. Canadian Club then ages its rye in
new white American oak barrels, once used bourbon barrels
and Canadian whiskey barrels and then blends to taste. American
rye has to be aged at least 3 years in order to be called
rye while Canada does not seem to have such a requirement
so your guess is about as good as mine as to how old components
of this Canadian Club rye might be.
Well,
enough of this guessing and supposing and prognosticating,
let's go ahead and try this stuff. It comes in a squat and
sturdy looking clear bottle with a green label and neck. The
contents, a honey colored spirit, compliments that green label.
The nose is quite soft and well rounded and features subtle
traces of oak, honey, vanilla and pepper. The palate presents
pretty creamy and warm with caramel and oak and rye and cloves.
The finish is just barely spicy and leaves the flavor of rye,
oak and vanilla and caramel in the mouth for a medium amount
of time. This is a well balanced rye that is both sweet and
smooth and could be served straight up or on the rocks as
well as mixed into a decent Manhattan, Old Fashioned or even
a Sazerac.
Canadian
Club 100% Rye launched in the USA market in May 2016 with
a suggested retail price point of $19.99 for a 750ML bottle
at 40% ABV (80 proof).
By George Brozowski
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http://www.canadianclub.com/us/agegate.html