Forty Creek Evolution

Today we're going to look at two Forty Creeks (so Eighty Creek?), both fairly new. Our first one is their annual limited edition (their 8th so far), launched in September 2014. Most of the whiskies in 2014 Evolution are twelve years old, having been aged for three years in American White Oak, then actually re-distilled in a copper pot still. That spirit was then matured for nine years in French Oak casks that previously held Cabernet Sauvignon. Note however that the wine was actually Canadian, and was made by Forty Creek whisky maker John Hall (he is originally a winemaker, and Forty Creek used to be part of his Kittling Ridge winery). Then he threw in some whisky from other barrels, because why not? Only 9000 bottles exist; this is the first of their limited editions since Forty Creek was purchased by Campari in March 2014 for $CDN185.6 million.

The colour is a deep copper with blood orange highlights. On the nose, a mixture of rich dark fruits and berries: black cherries, figs, blackberries and rum-raisin. Vegetal, even a little mossy; add in the oak and you have a damp forest floor. A bit of cinnamon, nutmeg and tobacco. There is some vanilla back there, but fruit is the dominant note here. Add a few drops of water and finally the rye shows up to make an appearance! There is complexity here but overall seems a little flabby somehow.

On the palate, even fruitier. Extremely sweet with red grape (the Cab Sauv is front and centre now), raspberry and blueberry. And...not much else. Far less complexity than the nose, and completely dominated by the wine influence. Water helps bring some rye and spices forward, but not nearly enough. The wine overwhelms everything, unfortunately.

The finish is spicy with pepper and ground ginger, but still very winey. Well, this a major disappointment. Forty Creek is perhaps the most innovative distillery in Canada - and certainly the creation of this whisky speaks of innovation and experimentation. But the wine influence is so overwhelming that I wouldn't be surprised if he actually dumped some wine into the whisky itself (which you could legally do in Canada). About the wine: there's a reason Kittling Ridge isn't around anymore. It's terrible. John Hall was not a good wine maker (though he's usually an excellent whisky maker). Of course, I can't speak for the particular wine used in this one, but all of the Kittling Ridge wines I've had before were awful. I already have an aversion to wine finishes, but if you are going to do one - use decent wine, for God's sake.

This whisky, Forty Creek Evolution, is the 8th limited release from John Hall, whisky maker at Forty Creek. John Hall was originally a wine maker, and made his own Cabernet Sauvignon at Kittling Ridge, and, thus, in theory, had easy access to wine barrels. This release is roughly 12 years old, though it has a bit of a journey – 100% corn, 100% barley, and 100% rye whiskies, in the Forty Creek style, were aged in white oak for three years, re-distilled to concentrate flavours, as John Hall often does at some stage with his premium releases. They were then re-barreled into French Oak Cabernet Sauvignon casks where they were aged for an additional 9 years. A few other of John’s “favorite barrels” were also added to balance the flavors. The name, evolution, is to signify the whisky’s capacity to change over time. A fitting name, perhaps, too, because John Hall used a wine cask now to house whisky not wine, a sort of evolution in itself. And, on another level, Forty Creek was bought out by Campari last year which may allow a lot more opportunity for growth in the brand and production as well. It was only last year that Kittling Ridge Estates and Spirits finally made the full transition to spirits and moved out all of their wine gear, the wine portion of Kittling Ridge bought out by Magnotta wineries. As far as I understand, the basic production and sourcing regions for the wine are similar. For the fun of it, I bought a bottle of Kittling Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, assuming it is of roughly the same flavour profile as the wines originally in the casks used by John Hall for this whisky. to see how it was relative to the whisky which I reviewed further down.

Very briefly, some notes on the wine:

Nose: raisins, blackberries, black currants, green bell peppers, and dark cherries – it’s very brightly fruity, and there are very gentle wafts of light vanilla and oak

Taste: Raisins again are quite present, and it has a slight oxidized flavour with medium tannic levels and some light oak creaminess and a touch of bitterness. Lightly acidic but not as much as I often find in Ontario reds.

Finish: light and short, with a slight bit of fruit and a small tannic pull.

Now, on to the whisky!

Nose: Nutty, with some fruit chocolate aromas – raisins, dried currants, milk chocolate, toasted oak, olive oil, green bell pepper (as in the wine!), and some ruby port-type rich fruitiness and the oxidized notes of tawny port or sherry. It does have quite a bit of a wine edge to it – the tannic edge of red wine is in this one, and there is indeed some earthiness in the mix – like rooty, dark, damp soil . The olive oil is interestingly present and quite a significant portion of the nose, and they seem to develop into slightly earthy black olives. I find dates start to emerge, and I am just full of images of brandied fruitcake and fig and date bars. Light vanilla is present in the background, which is nice because it would be out of place otherwise. Terrific balance, and, indeed, it evolves – but, at least to my nose, not primarily in the earthy ways described by John Hall. However, one can think a bit of chocolate and nuts with port before getting distracted and chewing on some olives and then to dates and figs before finally settling down with some fruitcake. The spices seem to come, oddly, the most present at the end where we seem to get everything – some cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and gingerbread. A bit of a different egg coming out of Forty Creek this year. This is multi-dimensional, and quite a bit different, and very intriguing – the dried fruitiness has been elegantly balanced beside the interesting vegetal notes, nuttiness, and all the other flavours that stop along the way. I spend nearly an hour nosing this on my first sample, and kept discovering new things and “pairings”, indeed, that come in the nose. Upon successive nosings, I think this noses better in a glencairn glass than a wide-mouthed glass as it allows the development to happen a bit more slowly. 95%

Taste: Surprisingly sweet (but not too sweet), with lots of raisins, dates, and chocolate notes before some toasted oak, nuts (roasted cashews and peanuts), spice (cinnamon and nutmeg), and vanilla waves and a lightly tannic finish. Despite everything going on, it somehow works, and well, at that! The tannic edge on this just gives it a wonderful edge and shape that is little short of fascinating, and elevates the whole experience – and the toasted oak just works brilliantly with the rest. Absolutely wonderful! 95%

Finish: Cinnamon, tannins in a bit of the mold of a tannic red wine (though they’re not, of course, that intense), dates, lovely tawny port oxidized notes, and a resilient browned butter note all of the sudden. 93%

Intrigue: Is this a whisky or liquid fruitcake? I love fruitcake, port, nuts, and just about all that this whisky is about. I absolutely love this stuff. It is a brilliant whisky to analyze, but isn’t perhaps as approachable or as good of a casual sipper as, say, Forty Creek Confederation Oak, as you need to take some time to fully appreciate its brilliance, and you will probably enjoy this more if you like fruitcake and some of the tawny port notes.

To further state my enjoyment of this – an ounce of this held me to nearly two hours on my first review! Frankly, I resisted rating it so high ... but, the rating just kept creeping up and over my hours with the whisky went from a 91 to a 95, and the whole next morning I was still daydreaming about the whisky. On my two follow up tastings I had no change to make to my rating. Also, as a side note, this one makes an intriguing pairing with cheese. An absolute class act from Forty Creek, once again. 95%

Evolution is the 2014 special release from Forty Creek. As explained by the "Creator" of "Evolution", the whisky was originally aged 3 years then re-distilled and aged further, being finished in red wine casks.

This review comes after an initial tasting at the distillery. Tonight I opened a new bottle and reviewed it from a Glencairn Glass. The notes with water are entered in parallel to the neat notes, but occurred after 1-2 cc were added and the dram was left to sit for 20-30 minutes.

Nose:

Neat - First thing that hits me is Niagara Cabernet Franc icewine. Rich, warm, sweet and fruity. Then I get notes of Chocolate, a hint of almond extract (which I despise but it does not detract here), also a bare whiff of butterscotch and vanilla, and the smell of raspberries that are just starting to ferment (?rot), in a good way...

With water - the nose becomes more one-dimensional with just the icewine nose. After about an hour a whiff of chocolate. I prefer the nose neat.

Taste:

Neat - chocolate, sherry, sweet red wine, a very predominant wine influence on the palate. Hint of bourbon/vanilla, some fig/prune in the background

Water adds a slight tartness to it and I lose the chocolate. It increases the spiciness. I like the taste with water but I prefer it neat.

Finish - sherry, spice, sweet, Lasts longer than other non-single malts I've tried. Leaves you with some dry wine tannins coating your mouth. Nothing unpleasant here.

Balance: It is a bit heavy on the wine influence and a bit sweet.

In summary this is an excellent result for John Hall. I find it very different from last year's release, and no less or more enjoyable (though it may be helpful to put 2 or more special releases head to head). The more I drink this first dram from the bottle, the more I like it, but unlike the Heart of Gold and particularly the Confederation Oak and the Portwood, this is not a dram to just drink absent-mindedly. I think it asks for and deserves some attention. Sure, read, talk, watch TV, but when you raise your glass to your nose or lips, it's worth focusing on it.