John Sleeman & Sons Traditional Straight Whisky (40%)

Welcome to Tariff Times.

Unless you have been forcefully ignoring the news this past weekend, you likely will have heard about the tariffs the US president has just slapped on Canadian goods, and the retaliatory measures Canada has taken in return. In several provinces, Ontario, BC and Québec included, one such measure has been the removal of all US products from the government liquor stores.

On the beer front, unless you are a die-hard Sam Adams fan, this will likely have little impact. US brands of beer have been in steep decline on this side of the border for years now, save for those with American names and Canadian production, such as Coors Light and Budweiser. Where wine is concerned, there are obvious alternatives, although I will leave the specifics of those to people more qualified to comment upon them than am I.

However, where whisky is concerned, or rather whiskey, the removal of all US brands leaves a rather obvious gap. So in the spirit of Buy Canadian nationalism, and in recognition yet again of my belief that the Canadian whisky market is one of the most dynamic and exciting in the world today, over the coming days and weeks I am going to be offering commentary on domestically-produced whiskies for purchasing in place of bourbon, beginning with this one from Guelph-based John Sleeman & Sons.

Made to bourbon standards, this was the young distillery’s first whisky, the logic behind it being, according to Cooper Sleeman, “so we can have Canadian-made whiskies that belong beside other whiskies from around the world.” Deep gold in colour, it has a sweet aroma of cooked stone fruit, particularly apricot and plum, vanilla, toasted and burnt oak – the barrels are virgin oak with a number three, or medium to high, char – and cooked raisin. On the palate, it begins sweet and round, with caramel and baked peach, adding cooked vanilla, baking spice, and a hint of raw cacao on the mid-palate, finishing off-dry, with lingering nutmeg and cinnamon notes.

Undoubtedly in the bourbon family, I’d class this as a slightly reticent take on the category, not quite ready to burst out in flavour and body. It certainly could be a candidate for longer aging, but presently I’d rank it more as a whisky for mixing into Old Fashioneds and whisky sodas, although for those fond of a lighter style of bourbon, it will also fare well as a sipper.

78 ($55)