Canadian Club Classic 15 Year Old Sherry Cask (42%)

In mid-November, Canadian Club launched a new line of whiskies called the Invitation Series, the idea being to entice whisky drinkers back to the brand and fuel the exploration of its numerous other expressions, such as the Classic 12 Year Old and the 100% Rye.

The first in this new series is this 15 year old, which is the Classic 12 aged an additional three years and finished in sherry barrels. That Classic 12, now approaching its 40th year as a brand, is distilled from corn, rye, and malted barley and rye.

(Canadian Club doesn’t reveal precisely how long the sherry finishing takes, but it is doubtful that it is the full three extra years, as several websites have suggested. It’s more likely measured in months, I’d guess.)

The sherry cask aging shows up immediately in the colour, which is a rich and attractively deep gold. On the nose, the spirit offers the nutty side of the sherry barrel, with toasted almond notes rising above aromas of date and raisin, off-dry toffee, black currants, and vanilla. The palate entry is anything but timid, opening immediately with flavours of sweet toffee and candied fruit before mellowing ever-so-slightly into a spicier body offering a complex medley of marzipan, Seville orange, vanilla, cinnamon, and a touch of pepper which dries the whisky as it draws towards its toasted oak and dried fruit finish.

Both the three extra years and the sherry wood finish have been very kind to this whisky, affording it a most impressive complexity and a lush richness. If this is how the Invitation Series begins, then I am very much interested in seeing where it goes from here!   

92 ($76 - $90)