Skip to main content

Episode 11: Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye vs Lot 40 Rye


Today was a great Canadian day. Lots of light snow, powerful sun and no real breeze. If I had younger children we would have run outside to find the nearest hill. Instead, I sat down to pour two great ryes; Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye and Lot 40 Rye. This review will be lighter on specifics. Both of these have been reviewed by just about everyone. I am coming back to them today to bring them into my rye week or rye month and I have not poured them head to head before.

Crown Royal Northern Harvest exploded in the market after Jim Murray named it his best whisky of the year in 2016. I remember getting a bottle before the local market realized they had a gem, and then going back a month later and not being able to find it anywhere. The blend here is 90% rye and I imagine 10% corn, though I could not find anything specific about the last 10%. It has a nice nose, mildly spicy but sweet with pear, or peaches or even pineapple notes. On the palate caramel, vanilla with the fruit continuing. Some of the rye spice comes up but not overpowering. I catch the wood and even a hint of smoke or char on the finish. After having a few sips, I also notice a few citrus notes too in the nose and the taste.

Lot 40 Rye is 100 % rye. Today I am drinking from the 2012 release, which is 90% unmalted rye and 10% malted rye. The more current, green label release uses only unmalted rye and then adds enzymes to open up the grain for fermentation. Lot 40 has a big and beautiful nose. This is a whisky that should be poured and then talked over for a while before sipping. Baking spices come up, some floral notes, and a nice sweetness. Today, sitting outside, I thought it reminded me of cherries, but candied cherries in syrup. Oak or wood notes can be picked up in the nose too. Trying a sip brings out a gentle sweetness balanced with strong pepper notes and rye spice. The finish is medium length that nicely dries the mouth, hugs the chest, and leaves you thinking again about wood and gentle fruit. I did pick up a bit of bitterness on the finish today that I can honestly say I have never noted before. A big strange, but it was very minor and passed quickly.

These are two great Canadian Ryes. If you are a long time Canadian Whisky drinker who does not change much in your routine I would recommend Northern Harvest Rye. However, if you are new to Canadian Whisky and like Scotch or a stronger dram I would go with Lot 40. It is bigger and spicier and has more layers to play with. Enjoy Responsibly.

Northern Harvest Rye Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
Lot 40 Rye (2012 bottle): ✮✮✮✮✬
Video Review Link: https://youtu.be/_sFZTO5fbJs


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Episode 16: Bushmills Black Bush and Connemara Peated Whiskey

I felt like trying Irish Whiskey tonight. My friend recently traveled to Ireland and that got me thinking. I picked two for review and ended up liking one and not so much the other! Irish Whisky is known for it’s smoother character. That comes from the tradition most distilleries follow in Ireland of double or Triple Distilling their product. This generally removes more offensive compounds from the distillate, but it also can remove some rewarding flavours too. I think when they take their time with it and age it for 12 or more years in quality oak this can create some of the best whiskeys I’ve had. However, if it’s rushed or the oak is too old the result is a little flat or one dimensional. Looking at Black Bush first. Black Bush is a blended Irish Whiskey. It is made from about 20% grain whisky and 80% malt whisky. In Ireland that means that 20% is an undisclosed blend of grains run through a column distill, while 80% is moved through a pot still. With Black Bush this 80 % is t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Just deciding if I should continue the blog

Glad you clicked through or found the blog. Just looking at statistics I see 3 - 5 people read the blog while 100s of people watch my YouTube channel. The blog takes much more time to create so I'm struggling to find the time and see the value. I like reading what others have to say about whisky and I am not always in a place where I can watch a video. That said, this is a hobby and there is only so much time in the day. If you dropped in and would like me to continue writing up my thoughts, please leave a comment here or in YouTube. Thanks. Should I keep posting to the blog or just on YouTube?
Post a Comment
Read more

Episode 21: Dalmore 15 A great Sherry Finished Scotch!

With such a great sale going on in the Edmonton area at Safeway & Sobeys liquor stores for Dalmore, I thought I’d break out the only bottle I have and give it a taste. The Dalmore 15 is aged for most of it’s life in ex-bourbon casks then finished in ex-sherry. Instead of the usual oloroso sherry, Dalmore uses a combination of Matusalem, Apostoles and Amoroso sherry butts. I’m not sure how the combination works but it’s somewhere around 2 years in ex-sherry. I find this surprising as the scotch has certainly been heavily influenced by its time in ex-sherry. The nose is rich, with lots of dark almost leathery fruits. I find dark cherry or plum mostly and a deep citrus or orange in the background. This time I was surprised to find some chocolate too after leaving it in the glass a bit. The palate is rich too, but not as exciting as some. The fruits are drier and older, there is a little pepper in the mouth but not excessive and the orange comes through for me here too. The ...
Post a Comment
Read more