Rupert’s Exceptional Canadian Whisky (40%)
In early September of this year, I was invited out to Calgary to take part in the barley harvest at the Eau Claire Distillery. Although, truth be told, both the ‘take part’ and ‘barley harvest’ portion of that sentence push credibility quite a bit!
What in fact happened on my visit was a small Thursday night reception at a downtown Calgary hotel, a very pleasant Friday spent at the distillery – which proved to be both larger and smaller than I had thought, but more on that later – followed by a Saturday loading already cut barley into various horse-drawn wagons which then delivered said grain to an old threshing machine in the middle of the field. The day was considerably more fun than it perhaps sounds, and culminated in a terrific outdoor dinner with distillery staff, other visitors, and loyal customers.
In the end, I returned home with a much greater understanding and appreciation of Eau Claire, which is absolutely one of the stand-out distilleries on the Canadian Prairies. As for that ‘larger and smaller’ comment, I was led to believe that Eau Claire was a more significant operation than I had previously thought after hearing their plans for U.S. distribution on Thursday evening, and then surprised that it was the modest size it is when I visited on Friday. But as any whisky drinker knows, it doesn’t take a whole lot of equipment to make a considerable quantity of spirits.
While Eau Claire is making some lovely single malts these days – I have a review of their delicious Yours Truly, a malt crafted by the distillery’s female employees for International Women’s Day, coming out soon in Canada’s 100 Best magazine – Rupert’s is a blend from, I was told, roughly 80% base whisky and 20% flavouring whisky. (I believe the base whisky is sourced.) The flavouring whiskies are all single malt and pot distilled.
Light to medium gold in colour, the nose of Rupert’s is sweet and just a little bit spicy, with candied apricot and ginger notes, hints of malted grain, a whiff of maple sugar, and a touch of grassiness. The overall character of the aroma captures beautifully the approachability that has made Canadian whisky as a category popular with drinkers and occasionally maligned by whisky snobs, but does so with a refreshing complexity that might, just might be enough to silence said snobs.
On the palate, the whisky remains sweet and somewhat candied, with notes of caramel and candied citrus peel up front, with perhaps the vaguest hint of coconut, leading to a round and rich body with a flavour more toffee than caramel, laced with notes of milk chocolate, vanilla and buckwheat honey, a suggestion of tanned leather, and a slight spiciness on the drying but not fully dry finish. A very pleasant and balanced Canadian whisky well suited to mixology, but not at all disappointing served neat.
81 ($36 - $40)