Lot 40 Port Casks
Canadian Rye Whisky | 53.1% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Don’t strain your brain, just sip and enjoy
Rye and Port, what’s not to like?
Whenever an enthusiast-focussed bottling from one of Canada's big distillers is released and available in my area, I get uncontrollably excited. I need to have it. Immediately.
I know it’s overpriced and it’ll sit on shelves for a while. I know the marketing language and integrity proposition is often misleading, or at best sketchy. I know I’ve been burned many times by lacklustre Canadian whisky for too much money. But I’ll come back every time and shell out for the new bottle immediately on release without batting an eye because I want so badly for Canadian whisky to be good.
I want to connect with it the way I connect with single malt scotch. I want my taste buds and olfactory senses to be transported to another dimension and marvel as the liquid evolves indescribably in my mouth, in the glass, and in the open bottle over the months or years that it is in my cabinet. And most importantly I want to know what I’m drinking.
This past year or so I’ve been lamenting the lack of interesting releases from Canadian distillers. Things seemed more exciting for Canadian whisky a few years back with new distilleries coming of age and the promise of Canadian whisky taking a more elevated profile on the world stage. This is a reminder to myself that it’s time to go back and check in with the likes of Two Brewers and other micro-distillers to see how they’re getting on. However, this random mid-September drop by Hiram Walker distillery was a pleasant surprise.
Immediately upon getting this bottle home I was hit by another uncontrollable urge: I needed to make a Manhattan with it. I did Aengus' classic recipe - 2 oz rye, 0.5 oz sweet vermouth, dash of angostura, stirred not shaken with lots of ice, and served neat in a martini glass with Luxardo cherry. It was great - the best Manhattan I’ve had in recent memory.
A marriage of rye and port makes a fantastic cocktail, no surprises there. $100 for Manhattan juice is a bit excessive though. How does it stand on its own?
Review
Lot No. 40 Rye Explorations Release No. 2, Cask Strength Port Finished Canadian Rye, 53.1% ABV
CAD$100 paid (£60) available in Canada, limited.
Freshly released in Ontario comes this new entry in the “Rye Explorations” series from the Hiram Walker distillery. This is the second entry, and I have previously reviewed the first, which was a bit of a head scratching combination of rye and peated scotch whisky casks.
Lot No. 40 is a Canadian rye whisky made entirely from unmalted rye grain. It is first distilled in a column still before a secondary distillation in a pot still. The standard expression is matured in new American oak, and there have been a few versions, including the famous 12yo and 11yo cask strength releases. This one was finished in port-seasoned French oak.
With these two rye exploration releases plus other cask finish experiments from the Hiram Walker portfolio, I’m suspecting more and more these days that master blender Don Livermore is mostly a cask man. It would be interesting if some of these rye exploration instalments would feature studies on more distillate driven aspects, perhaps different yeasts, or malted rye in the mashbill like older versions of Lot 40. Anyways I’m excited to try this new release and make some notes - Giddy up!
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Don’t strain your brain, just sip and enjoy
Nose
Juicy red fruits and dusty rye. Fruit snacks gummies. There is a bit of that mustiness I often find in American ryes. Dill, anise, a bit of oak and wood char. Water doesn’t add anything new but mutes the luscious nose.
Palate
Icing sugar and glacé cherries. Raspberry jam and walnut. It drinks easily for the ABV and there is a seamless transition between the typically harsher rye elements and the darker and dried fruits from the port. Dried strawberries, prunes, and raisins. It’s delicious, but if I had one complaint it’s that the rye characteristics could be a bit more powerful. Water increases the alcohol burn and adds a hint of rubber tire.
The Dregs
So Don, how wet were those casks anyways? If you know Canadian whisky you know this question is irrelevant since this whisky could contain up to 9% actual port by volume without disclosure *Aengus gives a sideways glance at the suspiciously low cask strength ABV*. It doesn’t say 100% rye on the bottle the way the core releases of Lot 40 do either.
The 1/11 rule is, and should be preserved as, part of our blending history. However it would go a long way for credibility in Canadian whisky if the rules required blenders to state if any non-whisky components were added to their products. Some other blenders have taken the opportunity to celebrate the rule and successfully incorporated it into their marketing, but I’ll say it again: mandated disclosure please.
At the end of the day it’s all about the smell and taste experience and this one is undoubtedly good stuff. As enthusiasts we all like to know exactly what’s in our glass, but when it comes to Canadian whisky, don’t strain your brain - it often doesn’t help.
Here it is demonstrated that rye and port are a harmonious pairing. It would be interesting to try some home blending experiments as a replication attempt. Maybe next I’ll try blending some port in my Manhattan for a cheaper cocktail alternative.
Uncertainties aside, this is good whisky. It is a welcome change from the mostly malt drinking I have been doing in the second half of the year, during and after my trip to Scotland. Might I suggest that fall is rye season? No age statement Canadian whisky at this price point is typically a hard sell, but even so, I could see this release becoming a cult favourite.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. AMc
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