Alberta Premium 25 Year Old

Alberta Premium 25 years old, distilled at Alberta Distillers Limited, in Calgary, Alberta, was released in about 2007 as a one time special edition. For years I looked for this whisky, asked about it, read about it, and wondered what it would taste like. No one I knew had been able to find a bottle, until recently

Nose: sharp, intense, pointed high and medium pitched flavours of maple, vanilla, and honey, followed by less intense flavours of spice and fruit from rye grain. Beautiful and strong, even at 40% ABV. Among standard Alberta Premium, Alberta Premium 25 yo, and Alberta Premium 30 yo, this is the best nose. A few of the best Canadian whiskies, such as Wiser's Red Letter, have this incredibly penetrating and searingly intense wood influence which just does not let up. This is one of those whiskies

Taste: silky smooth feel in the mouth is accompanied by vivid and delicious pointed flavours translating the nose to the palate. Great whisky

Finish: rather long finish, migrating toward the sweet side with also a little bitterness, but not enough bitterness to ruin the experience

Balance: this is one of the finest Canadian whiskies in existence. It's too bad there is not more of it remaining. I am grateful to have had a sample of it, at last

Compared to most batches of standard Alberta Premium this is more intense and penetrating, has much more wood influence, and is also less sweet. Compared to Alberta Premium 30 yo, the wood flavours are much better here--the 30 yo was left in the wood for 3 or 4 years too long for optimal flavour. Really all of the flavours are stronger and more robust for the 25 yo compared to the Alberta Premium 30 yo

Rated within the Canadian style against a field of Canadian whiskies only, Alberta Premium 25 YO would rate 95 for me