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Seagrams V.O.

Price

$20.62/750ML

Bought at

Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (Halifax)

Ahh, Seagrams V.O., the third member of the Rye Whisky trinity, along with Crown Royal and Canadian Club. It was the second Rye I ever tried, after Canadian Club, bought at a friend's request for the new year celebration of 2005--- over two years ago already--- a celebration in which we were destined to kill this bottle as well as many other unfortunate containers. This Rye really opened me up to the world of Ryes and is for that reason member of my personal Pantheon of sentimental first drinks, along with Jameson's and Grants.

V.O. exudes a pleasant and light fragrance of flowers and oak with perhaps the slightest shadow of berries and vanilla, unlike countless Ryes which lay it so thick you feel you might drown in it, no ripe bananas or mortuary here, but the soft smell of a country lane at dusk. The taste starts mildly flowery with whiffs of the previously mentioned vanilla, it then gets sweeter and creamier as it hits the tongue gaining a freshness not unlike that of a watercourse in the process. The sweetness could prove too much, if unchecked, but it is promptly mitigated by the entrance of the oak, which plies its bitterness to that effect, thus leading to a pleasantly balanced, slightly grassy finish. These characteristics make V.O. one of the most refreshing Ryes out there, one which the casual and serious Rye drinker alike are bound to enjoy. Its slight sweetness, light-heartedness and balance often remind me of blended Irish Whiskies, as do most of the better Ryes I have tasted. Definitely one of my favourites, and dangerously easy-drinking.

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Crown Royal (Special Reserve)

Price

$43.67/750ML

Bought at

Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (Halifax)

A free sampler of this came with a bottle of Black Bush I bought last Christmas. Though I did not write a full review on it, I took the following notes.

Smell: flowers, oak, vanilla

Nice, smooth texture, starting light and then deepening to blossom out with sweet flowers, toffey, and a fruitiness uncommon in Rye; the sweetness is then partly countered by a slight green oakenness. Light, well-balanced and fragrant, definitely one of the very best ryes; but is it really worth the price?

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Golden Wedding

Price

$20.62/750ML

Bought at

Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (Halifax)

This is one of the Ryes I have been avoiding, mostly because the name is cheesy and I happen to know they produce a Vodka named Silver Wedding; but as a sample of it came with a bottle of Black Velvet I bought some time ago, I now have the opportunity to review it. The smell it exudes is strong in alcohol and is somewhat sweet, reminding one of raisins; not a tonne of subtlety there, for sure, but nor is it in any way unpleasant. In fact, the taste is definitely less pleasant than the smell, as it exhibits the characteristic which I like least in some Ryes: that vague sweet oakenness reminiscent of bad Rums. Luckily, it isn't as strong in this Whisky as in others, but it is indubitably there, lurking, and so I can quite easily say that I would not buy a whole bottle of this. The finish is nice and light-hearted, though, reminiscent of a ground strewn with fresh flowers on a cool summer morning. Unfortunately, it gets spoilt as what I shall call the rumminess takes over for the after taste. It seems my unwillingness to buy this Whisky has caused me no loss, though I see how someone not minding the slight rumminess might enjoy the crisper side of this drink.

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Alberta Canadian Spirit

Price

$18.49/750ML

Bought at

Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (Halifax)

It seems the gods wanted me to shine a somewhat kinder light upon Rye than I have in my last review: last week, we picked up this bottle on a day of debauchery on no other merit than the fact that it fit the budget and offered the possibility, however remote, that it would provide a not only tolerable, but positive drinking experience. It did! Canadian Spirit has a rather subdued smell, all roasted grains with a hint of sweetness here, of oak there, and tiny flower petals all over; it's light and gently intriguing. The taste is similar in many ways, being light and fragrant; the flowers are present at the beginning, but quickly fade out to leave the floor to the same grain and oak which were detected in the smell, the sweetness however is closer to caramel or even honey than to the almost cane-like taste I often bemoan in Rye. The experience ends nicely with a good, but in no way deadly burn, and a nicely light aftertaste reminiscent of the roasting pan. It's nice, simple and clean, and lets itself be drunk with a minimum of fuss, so long as one agrees to take it as it comes. This is my idea of what a Rye should be: dirt cheap and very highly drinkable. Pick a bottle up next time you see one.

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Wiser's DeLuxe 10-year-old

Price:

$22.99/750ML

Bought at

Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (Halifax)

This is a bottle of Rye which we got some time ago but the end of which we have let linger, awaiting review. I was suffering from one of my Rye cravings and picked this bottle, hoping for a glimpse of what an older rye might be like, and a different experience. This hope, as it turns out, was not destined to be fulfilled. The smell is pungent with ripe fruits, even on the edge of spoiling, especially plums and bananas; not, however, the bananas one finds in Irish Whisky, but something closer to Jack Daniels. The dryer smell of roasted grains helps temper the pungency, but the end result is still a heavy smell, by no means disagreeable, but not exactly intriguing all the same. The texture is very nice, rich and smooth; the taste starts out with a breath of flowers before it hits the palate proper, at which point it becomes solidly oaky and sweet, reminding strongly of rum, a characteristic which I do not like in Rye (hence perhaps my harshness towards this one), worse yet, I do not find that the taste evolves much as the experience progresses, the intensity merely increases. Luckily, the aftertaste is a redeeming point, the overbearing oak dying quickly and the sweetness refusing to linger as it so often can, thus leaving a flavour of grain and orange which is rather pleasant: without this saving grace, I have little doubt that drinking more than one or two drams at a time would have been difficult.

Along with this bottle of Wiser's came a small sample of their eighteen-year-old version of the same product, giving me a chance to compare the two. The lack of difference in the smell led me to fear the worst at first, but the taste proved to be something else: there is little difference as such, rather, it mostly lies in the lightening of those characteristics which I found most overwhelming in the ten year version. The sweetness is very much humbled, perhaps balanced out by a new saltiness that is now present; the oak is still there, but, instead of sticking out like a sore thumb, it is now married with the rest of the aroma, lending the Whisky a quasi-smoky character which I found appealing, if not striking. In comparison, this is a much more pleasant drink, though one finds it disturbing that one should need wait eighteen years before finally being able to enjoy this Whisky.

On the whole, I was rather disappointed with this Whisky: Mr. Wiser's words, Quality is something you just can't rush, had rather appealed to me, but I'm afraid they turned out to be more marketing than fact. The eighteen years version is rather good, don't turn down a glass if it is offered you, the DeLuxe version isn't altogether bad, just forgettable: I would really recommend Gibson's instead. But then, I am beginning to think that Rye is good as a cheap drink (i.e pay $20 'n get somethin' decent) rather than a premium drink, and I have noticed that, as the price goes up, the gap between the experience you get for Rye and what you get for, say, a good scotch blend increases significantly.

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Gibson's Finest; 12 year old Canadian Rye Whisky

Price

$26.64/750ML

Bought at

Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (Halifax)

I bought this one because I wanted to try out a more refined Rye, as I mostly tend to buy Rye when in quest for a decent cheap drink, unless I have a specific urge towards it. The bottle was somewhat puzzling, with its tinfoil seal concealing a fake wooden stopper (which is really a plastic screwcap), but the content clears up the mind nicely. The texture is very nice indeed with a sweet silkiness, and the smell is quite strong and fragrant, with oak, flowers, and a touch of wild honey mingling. The taste at the front of the mouth is quite nice, with less of that grain taste than other Ryes tend to sport, and quickly mellows out and gains a somewhat fruity character, while the nose is full of vanilla and a point of bananas. It all finishes out nice and smooth as the oak claims its place with a solid but pleasant aftertaste. This is good stuff, perhaps not amazing, but certainly honest; something to provide you with a reliably enjoyable drink, time after time.

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Deluxe Black Velvet Canadian Whisky

Price

$19.99/750ML

Bought at

Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (Halifax)

This Rye, I picked up in the liquor store the other day, being in search of both Rye (I get urges for a specific type of Whisky sometimes) and mystery, and all of it on a budget. This one certainly fit the bill. Although I have come to think that mystery Ryes can often yield extreme surprises, sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always extreme, this one has proven me somewhat wrong in that it is highly drinkable without being altogether amazing. The texture is good, almost keeping up with the boastful name, but I found the taste at the front of the palate somewhat reminiscent of cheap rum (a problem I've noticed in some Ryes). Thankfully, however, the sweetness is not too overpowering and is swiftly counterbalanced by the bitterness of the oak. The taste appears simple at first, but can prove unexpectedly subtle at times, with overtones of vanilla and fruits. The nose is very pleasant, with sweet, floral hints, but the aftertaste is fairly straightforward, mostly resolving into oakenness. This is a good, highly drinkable Rye, but it did not leave a lasting impression upon my sensorial memory the way many Whiskies do, and so, I would rather recommend it for casual drinking than for a deep drinking experience.

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