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Episode 08: Alberta Dark Horse or Rye Dark Batch Review

Today I pour an interesting rye from Alberta Distillers. In Canada this bottle is released under the name “Dark Horse”, but in the US it is labeled “Alberta Rye Whisky Dark Batch”. I have seen this bottle on shelves for a while, but for some reason, I had not picked it up. A friend at work mentioned it might be going away so I picked one up, and have poured a few over the last couple of weeks.
Alberta Distillers makes amazing rye. They have released their own older expressions years ago, but also sell an excellent product to companies like Whistle Pig or Masterson’s. This bottle is a mix of their own rye and a few other ingredients. Before I get there, maybe I’ll just give my impressions when pouring, nosing and tasting this whisky.

The colour of this liquid is exquisite. I really like the dark amber almost red tone of the bottle. Moving it around in the glass and letting it sit shows off some nice legs on the side and promises a great experience. On the nose I find this sweet and a little spicy. There is a hint of acetone or something astringent too, but interesting. The palate gives a wide variety of flavor. There is a lot going on here! I notice burnt sugar or dark caramel, then cooked fruits like plums or figs. The rye spice is there too, picking up on the edges of my tongue and waking me up. The finish is medium, that is where I pick up more oak or some wood notes. A few sips in though, this whisky begins to get bitter for me. It does not overwhelm me, but I notice it most if I have significant time between sips. Overall a good whisky, but it does fall apart over the night or me so I would give it 3 stars for sipping neat.

Now that I’ve shared some tasting notes, I should mention this is certainly a mixed whisky. Alberta distillers decided to make up the back bone of this whisky with a 12-year-old rye and a 6-year-old pot distilled rye. Then they added about 8% bourbon and 1% sherry. The industry is very familiar with aging or finishing whisky in barrels that previously held other spirits. The most common is sherry, but you can find almost anything out there now. However, I believe this whisky is one of the first to actually pour various amounts of other spirits into their blend and release it. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Of course, they can mix whatever they want, and our store shelves are full of flavoured whisky and other drinks. My question here is; should this be considered a Canadian Whisky? Or a Flavoured Whisky? Almost like a cocktail. I don’t really have an answer for that, and I’m not really qualified to give anything more than an opinion. If you would like to read more about this expression, I would go over to their website http://albertarye.com/ They have a fair amount of information and a few links about their story and reviews.

Dark Horse Rating: ✮✮✮✰✰
Video Review Link: https://whiskyneighbour.blogspot.ca/

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