Bison Ridge Special Reserve 8 year old Canadian Whisky plus a similar looking bourbon

July 29, 2014 Eric Burke

Buffalo Trace Bourbon. Produced by Crosby Lake Spirits out of Princeton, Minnesota. This fine imported Canadian Whisky has been aged for 8 years…

Wait a minute! Bison? Minnesota? 8 Years? This isn’t Buffalo Trace! This label says 8 years on it and we all know Sazerac is working very hard to remove age statements from their products!

But I kid. (Mostly.) I make the joke because earlier this year, Buffalo Trace sued the importers of Bison Ridge for creating a product that looked and sounded too much like their flagship bourbon. There are similarities to the name and the label, but I’m not a lawyer so I won’t really get any further into it than that.

One of the things that I actually like best about living in Minnesota is that we have a lot of Canadian Whisky that crosses the border and doesn’t go much further. So when I hear a recommendation on canadianwhisky.org for a new one, I tend to wander into my local liquor emporium to see if it’s made it here.

I originally noticed this brand as a mini in the “99 cent” bin on the store counter. I picked it up and thought it was ok. So I looked it up to see what Davin had to say about it. He didn’t mention the one I purchased, but did have a review of an 8 year version. Since both were imported by a company in Minnesota, I made a note to pick it up the next time I stopped in.

Bison Ridge Special Reserve, 8 year old

Purchase Info: $15.99 for a 750mL at Haskell’s Burnsville

Details: 8 years old, 40% ABV

Nose: Grassy, soapy, delicate hints of cinnamon red hot candies

Mouth: Fairly thick and chewy. Very sweet. Demerara sugar, hints of anise, cinnamon candy and Dawn dish soap

Finish: gentle heat, slight white wine aftertaste to go along with the ever-present soap

Thoughts: I love good Canadian Whisky. This, however, is not that. It’s not terrible, but I’m not partial to the dish soap flavor I got throughout. For me, this is just meh.

Partway through my tasting I found the actual bottle of Buffalo Trace up in the overflow closet and thought it might be fun to taste these together. See how disappointed someone would be if they bought Bison Ridge thinking it was Buffalo Trace as their lawsuit contends is possible.

Buffalo Trace Bourbon

Purchase Info: $15.99 for a 750 mL at Haskell’s Burnsville (on sale)

Details: 45% ABV

Nose: Citrus peel transitioning to an earthy garden soil. Damp earth and green plants. Under that is a sweetness tinged with faint baking spices.

Mouth: Maple candy and cinnamon red hots pair nicely with an acidic liveliness.

Finish: Nice and warm. Lingering caramel and baking spices that fade to reveal a stoney mineral flavor underneath.

Thoughts: Even at full price I like this one. I may not agree with the decisions of Sazerac’s marketing department, but I have to say they make a damn fine bourbon.

If someone told me to buy Buffalo Trace and told me there was a drawing of a Buffalo on it and I bought Bison Ridge by mistake, I would wonder what the fuss was all about. Bison Ridge isn’t terrible, but Buffalo Trace is a really good whiskey for the price. Whether it was an intentional ploy to trick people or not is for the lawyers and/or the courts to decide, but I can see why Buffalo Trace sued. I gotta give Bison Ridge a little credit though. They at least got the name of the animal correct.

A Competition of Canadian Clubs, Regular Release vs Sherry Cask

July 22, 2014 Eric Burke

December 1, 2013 was an interesting day for me. I was driving from Indiananpolis to Minnesota.

This is not the interesting part.

I had been scheduled to take part in an online Twitter tasting going by the name #DavinTT2 but obviously couldn’t take part due to that aforementioned driving. The group had two whiskies to sample and I had tasted mine the previous evening in order to have notes ready to tweet out during the event. I had really liked both of them and was excited to find out what they were, what other thought of them and most importantly if I could get them in the US.

Due to extremely intermittent internet connectivity (thank you AT&T for seemingly not building a tower along a large stretch of Interstate 94 between Madison and Eau Claire, Wisconsin) I found out what the second whisky was first. And that it was a Canada only release. Drat.

The first one, I didn’t like as much as the second, but I still liked it enough to search out if available in the US for a decent price. Imagine my delighted surprise when I found out that it was Canadian Club Sherry Cask. I’d seen that practically everywhere.

I’d seen it everywhere but had dismissed it in large part due to the fact that it was Canadian Club. I had a vague recollection of not caring for Canadian Club back when I was young and very much not into whiskey.

It’s amazing how old prejudices stick with you even when you’ve forgotten why you have them. Isn’t it? But that’s the value of blind tasting. I knew these whiskies were from Canada but that was it. It got me to taste something I had literally passed over dozens of times. And I liked it. Now I just needed to find it so I could taste more than an ounce and see if I really liked it.

I ran to the store once I got home and…they were out. Odd. I looked at the other stores I frequent. They were out or didn’t carry it. What the hell? I looked every time I stopped at a liquor store. Nothing. It got so bad that I finally ended up grabbing a bottle at Binny’s on my next vacation. Of course, when I got home, it was everywhere. And cheaper.

Knowing that this was a tasty drink got me to wondering what the regular release tasted like. Was it something that I might want to keep on hand? I mean, it’s cheap enough. I bought a bottle to sip on during the Mad Men season premier this year. It was tasty enough. So now I had two Canadian Club whiskies. One that went for almost $30 and one that went for about $15. Was one twice as good as the other?

Canadian Club

Purchase info: $14.99 for 750mL at Ace Spirits, Hopkins, MN

Details: 40% ABV

Nose: Delicate nose with notes of ripe cherries, wet stone and dusty old wood

Mouth: silky texture with a malt-like sweetness. It has strong floral notes. There is a bit of mineral flavor along the sides of the tongue.

Finish: Sweet and gentle, but with just enough heat to subtly remind you you are drinking whisky.

Thoughts: There is absolutely nothing wrong with this whisky. And, if you love delicate flavors, I can see this being a nice inexpensive bottle to keep on hand. I prefer my whisky to be a bit more in-your-face and not so eager to please so, although I wouldn’t turn down a glass if offered, I doubt I’ll be buying this one again.

Canadian Club Small Batch: Sherry Cask

Purchase info: $29.99 for a 750mL at Binny’s, Bloomington, IL

Details: 41.3% ABV. Batch: C12-232

Nose: Floral soapiness, wet stone, dusty wood, sweet caramel and raisins.

Mouth: Thick and sweet. Fruity caramel paired with dark chocolate.

Finish: Sweet and of a decent length. Lingering fruitiness that fades to bitter. Dries the mouth nicely.

Thoughts: This is a good conversation whisky. Buy it to have with your friends for those times you’d rather think about your friends than your whisky. It’s not a complicated whisky, but I like it. Just not for every pour.

In the end, the Sherry Cask is better than the regular release. Is it twice as good? No. But then whisky math is seldom that straightforward. If I pick this up again it will be as a change of pace whisky. It doesn’t perfectly line up with my palate, but it’s not far enough off that I wouldn’t want a glass now and then.

Things I learned in Canada and a Review of Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve

September 22, 2013 Eric Burke

Well, I've been back in the United States for about a week now. I'm fully recovered from the early mornings, late nights and long drives. But looking back on it, I learned a lot while I was there. Some of it about Ontario, some about me. Some of it is minor, some...well not profound, but certainly less minor.

Things I learned about Ontario & it's people & me

Driving:

They do not "Merge" while driving, they "Squeeze." And I find that delightful.
Toronto will never, not be under construction. (I have that on good authority by an employee of the government.)
Ontario speed limits are extremely SLOW!!! 70-90 KPH? In the most extremely non-urban areas? Are you kidding me? I'm used to 70-80 MPH as a minimum.
Temporary orange lines for temporary lanes in a construction zone! Genius!
Canadian construction barrels are really skinny. But people still run them over.
I never want to drive in Toronto again.

Money:

Ontario is expensive! (Across the board: soda, booze, attractions, public transportation, coffee...but not beer. hmmm...)
Pennies are stupid. Rounding feels better and less ticky-tacky. (but I still hate dollar coins...except for vending and tolls and bus fare and...)
Serious looking people in suits saying Toonie is just a bit silly.

Food:

Hamburgers in Toronto come with unannounced mayo.
Although vinegar on pizza is not a thing, I hope I helped to make it one. Also vinegar as a condement is totally a thing there.
I want the St. Lawrence Market by my house.

People:

Toronto people do not say ah-boot instead of about (at least not those I met)
The homeless will thank you for not giving them money and tell you to have a nice day.
Canada is empty. The folks I met with claim that 75% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border. My limited experience seems to bear this out...though I doubt I was ever further than 100 miles from the US border.
Just as not every Minnesotan loves hockey (me), not every Canadian loves hockey.
Elton John got married in Toronto (acording to our tour guide on the sightseeing tour)
Everyone I talked to in Toronto had a slightly different accent.
The accent I picked up lasted most of a week before tv and Minnesota brought it back to normal.

Drinking:

When a Canadian says "Let's meet for a dram," it's likely they will bring two full boxes of whisky. Or so my one-time experience tells me.
Bourbon is a rip-off in Ontario ($75 for a bottle of Bookers, WTF?).
Government run liquor stores are generally bad for a varied selection, but centralized inventory lookup is really convenient.
It is way cheaper to bring booze home from Canada than into Canada if you are over your duty-free allowance. And that is good, because they really do keep the best whisky at home.
Forty Creek lived up to it's (unofficial) advertising. They make tasty stuff pretty much across the board. Though the maple liqueur was a bit much for me.

Miscellaneous:

Ontario is really big. It's 354,342 sqare miles of land area is roughly the equivalent of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Washington DC, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. It goes from New York to Minnesota and then to Oh-My-God North. (The part we drove through was roughly the size of West Virginia.)
I could never take a cruise. I got restless on a beautiful, two-hour ferry ride across a tiny part of Lake Huron.
The CN Tower is older than me and glass floors that high up make me way too nervous.

The two most important things I learned in Canada are as follows:

Canadian whisky folks are amazing people and are worth the trip even if you were to do nothing else but visit them and then hide in your hotel room for the rest of the visit.
I really need to meet more of my online whisky friends in real-life. Let's all plan to meet at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival next year, ok? Or maybe just drop by my house here in Minnesota. I'm sure my wife will be fine with it.

I brought three whiskys back from Canada with me. Two, I reviewed during the #DavinTT tastings in May. So here is the third:

Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve

(Lot 1867-B) 40% ABV

Nose: A lot of alcohol on the nose at first. After sitting a bit I get a big hit of buttery maple along with a bit of wet ashes. After a while longer the maple fades and is replaced by some sourness.

Mouth: First sip is sweet, almost cloyingly so, on the tip of the tounge becoming increasingly sour as it moves back in the mouth. Subsequent sips: bring more of the butteriness from the nose and some spice.

Finish: Short burn, very easygoing with a lingering sweetness in the back of the throat.

Thoughts: Overall, I like this but with a few reservations. First, I'd love this at a higher proof. The flavor is just a bit too delicate for me. The finish is almost non-existent and higher proof might help that as well. Finally that sour note was just a bit too much for me this time around. So while I like this, it is not quite in line with my palette. I'm pretty sure he wasn't aiming for bourbon drinkers though. That said, it was fun to taste a whisky aged in Canadian White Oak barrels. Who knows if I'll ever get the chance to do that again.

#DavinTT Week 3 - A fantastic mystery whisky

May 19, 2013 Eric Burke

I was running late this week. I sat down at my computer with eight minutes to go before the start of week three of the #DavinTT twitter tasting and realized I hadn't taken the photo yet. After spending 7 minutes taking a photo I was happy with, I was ready with one minute to spare.

Did this phase me? Did it cause me worry? Make me think that maybe I wasn't prepared? No, because I knew that this was a group of people who were smart, accepting and well prepar...

Shit.

So I got there with a moment to spare. Some people call that "on-time." I did. I said my hello. I read a few questions and remembered one that struck me as I finished re-reading the assigned chapters this morning. Yeast. It almost sounded like one of the distilleries didn't appreciate the immense difference yeast brings to the table. I almost begged Davin to "Say it isn't so?!?" (In a truncated and abbreviated manner...I only had 140 characters...)

And he did. He assured me that Canadian distillers hold yeast in the same high regard that US ones do. And the question inspired a discussion that continued until the alloted half hour had past. We were still talking when the others had started nosing.

Because that's what whisky geeks do.

Yep, these folks would have intelligent questions, they would have noses and tongues that would find things that I could identify after the fact, but never smell or taste on my own. The good news: these folks are good, but they are accepting as well. The simplest, half remembered and off the cuff question can spark a discussion that lasts more than the allotted half hour. They are excited about whisky and it shows. And I'm glad that I am counted as one of them.

So what did we taste?

Mystery Whisky 3

Nose: Floral with the sweetness of caramel. This one starts off smelling like a bourbon. After a while it slowly picks up some cedar notes. I'm sure it would have evolved further, but I was too excited to taste it...

Mouth: Toffee and cloves initially. Evolving into a peppery tingle. Just the right amount of spice for me.

Finish: Lingering pepper tingle in the back of your throat balanced by a cloying sweetness and some bitterness. I like this.

Thoughts: I love this. It tastes great, but the finish is really the star for me. I kept sipping just so I could get more finish.

So what is it? This is the Danfield Limited Edition 21 Year Old. This whisky is highly recommended for bourbon lovers with access to Canada. Because sadly, once again, I believe this is only available there. In fact I heard someone say it wasn't even available Canada-wide. Good thing I'm heading there later this year. I hope there is still some on the shelves when I get there.

So this is probably my last #DavinTT post. Next week, due to the holiday weekend I will be spending it out of cell service range and so most likely unable to participate in the last tasting. What does that mean? It means that if you've been getting your overviews of the event from this blog, you will need to just pop in and watch it first hand. Sunday at 2 pm Central time. Search for #DavinTT.

I want to thank Davin de Kergommeaux and Johanne McInnis for inviting me to participate. I've had a blast and can not wait to taste next week's sample and find out what it is.

#DavinTT Week 2

May 13, 2013 Eric Burke

So. Sunday was week two of the #DavinTT on twitter. Did you make it? Did you go buy the book, read up and ask a question? Did you at least follow along? I hope you did, I had a blast.

As with last week we spent the first half hour or so asking questions of Davin de Kergommeaux. He did his best to answer them all. And even though I read the book (parts of it twice) I still learned something. The beauty of this type of group discussion is that the information that is in the book inspires different thoughts in each of us. And so some people ask questions that I hadn't even thought to ask and I might ask questions that others hadn't thought of. It's kind of like tasting whisky in that manner since we are all informed as much by our own experiences as by the info that was presented to us.

After about a half hour or so our hostess, Johanne McInnis of the blog: The Perfect Whisky Match called those of us lucky enough to have been included in the samples down to the business of discovering what the little bottle I've shown above held.

Mystery Whisky 2

Color: I don't often comment on color, but this one was really pretty. A bit more red in it than the various Amber tones I'm used to.

Nose: At first all I got was sweetness and rubber. Almost like a Sharpie marker, but not quite. After a little longer I discovered a bit of a sulfur smell in there. And then after those settled down a bit there was a bit of maple. We had a discussion online as to if it were a vanilla or a maple, but to me it went more maple-ish.

If you're a bourbon person like me, these scents are going to sound really odd. But as strange as they sound, they do not come across as unpleasant, just different. It was a very interesting nose.

Mouth: This one starts very sweet. But then it takes a left turn into a definite sourness followed by molasses. It was odd. Had an off flavor that I didn't find pleasant.

Finish: Bitter tannins and spice fading into lingering molasses.

Overall: This is not a bad whiskey. I don't think something went wrong or it was not well done. It isn't terrible. But it isn't to my tastes. For me, it's just meh.

So what is it? This week we tasted Alberta Premium Dark Horse. This is a very different whisky than last week. I'm noticing that there are many facets to Canadian whisky. I find that very exciting and can't wait for next week.

If you missed Sunday's tasting, search for the the twitter hashtag #DavinTT to get caught up. And please make sure you follow along each Sunday at 2 pm Central time between now and May 26th using that same hashtag to live vicariously though us as we expand our knowledge and palates.

#DavinTT Week One + a book and a whisky review

May 5, 2013 Eric Burke

Until recently, I knew nothing about Canadian Whisky. Sure, I'd bought Windsor Canadian when I was in college to swish my mouth with when I had a toothache and couldn't afford a dentist. I didn't like it, but then I didn't like any whiskies. I'd never had anything else produced by our Neighbor to the North. And, honestly, based on that experience I wasn't in a hurry to remedy the situation.

As part of my whiskey education, I'd learned that Canadian Whisky was the product of blending whiskies. I had a vague thought that it was "blended whisky" like American blended whiskey. (You know, where they mix straight whiskey with neutral sprits (vodka) in order to make a lighter product.) This misconception did not make me in any more of a hurry to expand my whisky knowledge to Products of Canada.

So, yes, I knew nothing about Canadian Whisky but a dimly remembered dislike of a downmarket product and a series of vague misconceptions. But, recently, all that changed. You see, I'd been offered a wonderful opportunity to broaden my horizons with respect to whisky produced by our Northern Neighbor. Johanne McInnis of the blog: The Perfect Whisky Match arranged a Twitter book review/author Q&A of Canadian Whisky: the portable expert by Davin de Kergommeaux.

In fact she scheduled four of them. One each Sunday from May 5th through May 26th. Each Sunday at 2pm Central Time we spent/will spend about a half hour asking questions inspired by our assigned reading from the book. After that we crack open a "Mystery Whisky" sample that had been sent to us and we do an online tasting.

Book Review:

Canadian Whisky: the portable expert by Davin de Kergommeaux has been on my Amazon wishlist for the last bit of forever. The minute I heard about it, I knew I wanted to read it. This is a book that busts the many myths and misconceptions that most citizens of these United States have regarding Canadian Whisky. That "blended whisky" one from above? Yep. Untrue. A blend of whiskies is not a blended-whiskey. Hiram Walker? Turns out there is more than just those florescent liqueurs you see on the bottom shelf of the cordial section of most liquor stores associated with that name. This is a book fully worth buying. I'll admit, I was sent a review copy of the book for this project. I'm thinking really hard about buying the Kindle version though just so I can have it with me on the iPad at all times. Go buy the book. Today if possible, but as soon as you can if it isn't.

And if you buy today (or any day) as an added bonus: since those pesky Canadians keep most of the really good stuff in country and there are more tasty whiskies made in Canada than those of us in Middle North America have probably ever realized, Davin was nice enough to provide tasting notes in the book so that we are fully aware of just what we are missing out on.

And are we ever missing out. If Mystery Whisky number one is any indication, I need to visit Canada a lot more often.

Mystery Whisky 1

Nose: I'm first hit with a sour/acidic smell balanced by a hint of sweetness. After some discussion online and with my wife, I'll settle on pickles. Not strong and overpowering, but there. I also get some pine, vanilla and after a while cloves.

Mouth: Velvety and thick, spicy with a good strong rye flavor. Later sips reveal an underlying vanilla/caramel sweetness. After adding water, the spice is muted to reveal some citrus.

Finish: pickle juice is back along with pine and cinnamon spice. This is a good finish.

Thoughts: I love this whisky. It is elegantly balanced with a thick, velvety mouthfeel. I prefer it with no water as I love the spiciness it presents. Others, including my wife, prefer muting that with water and allowing other flavors to come to the front. To each their own, I guess.

So what is it? After about an hour, the reveal happens: this is called Lot No. 40, is produced at the Hiram Walker distillery, bottled at 43% ABV...and (as near as I can tell) is not available in the US. So that makes the opportunity to taste it even more special. I want to thank Johanne and Davin for the opportunity to participate in these twitter tastings and greatly look forward to next weekend!

If you missed today's tasting, search for the the twitter hashtag #DavinTT to get caught up. And please make sure you follow along each Sunday at 2 pm Central time between now and May 26th using that same hashtag to live vicariously though us as we expand our knowledge and palates.

2019 UPDATE: I took another look at Lot 40 in August of 2019. It has completely changed. Read about it here.

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