American [Canadian!] Whiskey Club 

For September, the Healthy Spirits American Whiskey Club has headed north to Canada, via Louisville, Kentucky. The good people at Barrell Craft Spirits have supplied us with this fantastic pick, a Barrell Rye 14 Year Cask Strength Single Barrel sourced from Canada. 

Since 2013, Barrell Craft Spirits has built its good reputation on excellent blends of whiskeys sourced from a wide range of undisclosed distilleries. They consistently provide the ages and regions involved in their multiple annual blends. But the exact sources are contractually left to our best guesses. If a whiskey is identified as coming from Indiana one can assume MGP, and anything from Tennessee makes George Dickel a safe bet. But Kentucky? Let the guessing begin. Canada? Very likely Alberta Distilling, known to supply many American Non-Distiller Producers looking for quality northern ryes to bottle or blend. 

But we can’t know for sure. The main question stands: Is it good? 

Barrell’s excellent blending skills have been proven and awarded time and again. They’re generally considered a high-end brand, with most releases priced in the $70 to $100 range. Their appetite for experimentation is insatiable. Just look at last year’s Seagrass Rye release, with rye whiskeys sourced from Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Canada finished in a combination of Martinique Rum, Madeira, and Apricot Brandy casks. Reading the label, Seagrass seemed like a potential disaster of flavour overwhelm. But boy was it good! The most delightfully tropical rye I’ve ever had, practically a Tiki cocktail all its own. (We still have a few bottles left, so come by and nab one!) 

Most of their regular bourbon and rye blend releases are not quite as complicated as Seagrass. But they are certainly complex. Given the Barrell crew’s keen sense for flavour, their single-barrel program is an exciting prospect. What barrels might they pull out to showcase on their own, unblended with any other? Their reputation is too good to be sullied by merely sluffing off the rejects as single barrels. If Barrell puts a barrel out on its own, you know it’s going to be worth your while. 4 

You’ll notice right away that despite its age, this whiskey is quite light in colour, more like what one might expect from a scotch aged 14 years. Canada is far cooler than Kentucky, so the ageing process extracts less from the barrels by comparison. Rye is the primary grain for Canadian whisky, and their cold climate yields tough rye varietals, robust and hearty, and yet often delicate and sweet in flavour. 

Let’s jump into this glass and see what’s what. These notes were taken after letting the whiskey sit in the glass for about 20 minutes: 

COLOR – golden straw with glints of brass. 

NOSE – approach it slowly because that alcohol burn ignites easily; then comes fresh bright rye spice, tart apricot compote, buttery caramel, dry butterscotch, dusty oak, oak tannins. 

PALATE – a nicer burn here than on the nose, still prickly but not as pushy; a citric tartness, bright butterscotch notes, lovely bright rye spices like the rye is glistening in sunlight, toasted butter, oak. 

FINISH – a short flare of heat, then oak, butterscotch and rye spice linger for a long… long… time… leaving something like an old-fashioned cinnamon hard candy for one last surprise! 

OVERALL – spicy, butterscotchy, and bright. 

Canadian ryes often have this brightness. Here that aspect is amped up by the very forward heat from the 121.82 proof, so take your time getting acclimated to it. Letting it sit in the glass for 15 to 30 minutes can help take the edge off. A bit of water tames the heat and brings out variations in the flavours. 

That particular Canadian rye butterscotch note is also highlighted here. Canadian rye grain yields very warm and happy flavours. Sometimes Canadian ryes can be too cloyingly candy-sweet for me, personally. But this barrel’s sweetness is balanced by the drier, savoury oak and rye spice notes. 

I can understand why Barrell Craft Spirits released this barrel on its own, rather than blending it with something else. It’s both interesting and entertaining. It’s hot, for sure. So experiment with water, ice, or rye-based cocktails. And when drinking it neat, take your time. Sipped slowly it reveals its many moods—all of them seemingly bright and cheerful.