J.P Wiser's Red Letter

This whisky is aged 10 years in American bourbon barrels and is then further "mellowed" in virgin oak casks. I say "mellowed" since virgin oak casks have capacity to impart some pretty strong flavour. It is bottled at 45% ABV, rather than the typical 40% found in almost all Canadian whisky. Additionally, it is non-chill filtered - both a process that isn't often stated on a Canadian label and a practice not that common within Canadian whisky - in fact this is the only non-chill filtered Canadian whisky at the present time as far as I know (I'm not sure what the craft distillers are up to!). This should give better weight and texture to the whisky as the oils and fatty components in the spirit are not filtered out to increase clarity. At the present time, this is the most expensive Canadian whisky you can buy in Ontario ($115), and is a limited edition with stock diminishing at present.

Nose: At first my nose picks up some fresh/baking rye bread notes, toasted oak, and toffee. Some cedar comes through, along with some wonderful earthiness that reminds me of moist soil with lots of vegetation and roots. Some vanilla and maple comes through as the nose sits some. It's intriguing, and deep, but a bit quiet. There's a bit of tawny port-like fruitiness and some interesting earthy vegetal notes of beets and celery root - though these are very slight. I smell a touch of sourness and spiciness, though it is slight. The nose seems fairly closed, and I find I get whispers of what might come rather than clear declarations. In that sense it is intriguing, yet also could be a little more outspoken. 87%

Taste: This one goes down easy! quite buttery in its feel and slightly sweet, with some spicy rye and a beautiful kick of spice at the end which keeps developing for quite some time. There is some sharp and grassy rye throughout, and with some vanilla and oak backing. The grains seem to shine through in this one as well, and you can taste the rye and the corn involved. Rye bread comes out quite nicely in this one, and the rye in this is just signature Wisers. It goes down quite easily, as I said, and is quite balanced. There are some citrus notes and grape-like fruitiness in the background, and are simply present just enough. You can sense the bourbon backbone of this whisky - it is fairly gripping especially towards the end - but I find I mainly notice this if I'm sipping it slowly, interestingly enough. I find just at the end of the palate the flavour drops off a bit and alcohol primarily comes through, which isn't quite what I'm looking for. However, overall, this is fantastic stuff. This score would probably be a touch lower if not for the incredible weight and feel of the whisky, which does help it out a lot. 93%

Finish: dry with the tannins, and a beautiful glimpse of rye and vanilla with just enough acidity to keep you quite interested - the spiced picks up, with some cinnamon and clove, and the movement continues for some time in the finish which is excellent. I find I get some apple peel after some time as well. Quite excellent. 93%

Intrigue: Frankly, I was a little disappointed with this when I first sipped it. It's balanced, and has fabulous texture, feel, and profile - but it just doesn't quite seem to speak loudly enough. I find I am straining to search for smells and tastes rather than them coming to me. I wish it just wowed me some more beyond the presence and feel in the mouth. Nice to see some advertised non-chill filtration i Canada. I hope some other distilleries catch on. 90%

Weighting the nose 25%, taste 35%, Finish 15%, and Intrigue 25% the overall grade is 93.

Wiser's Red Letter was apparently an old recipe that was re-bottled in 2007 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the old Wiser's distillery in Prescott ON. It was a limited edition of only 6000 bottles, all of which have been long gone, so this is now impossible to find. I had the fortune of being given samples from two different bottles. One of them has been open for almost five months; the other has been open for 2 1/2 years. My notes below are on the more recently opened bottle.

The colour is pale amber, almost cloudy. The nose is beautiful: sourdough rye bread, pepper, cinnamon, cigar box, green banana, mint, grapefruit, vanilla pods. A little water brings out more rye notes. Fantastic.

The palate is a burst of toffee and vanilla, followed by a rye sharpness of grapefruit pith, lemon and lime. And salty with some heat! More wood notes emerge (more of that cigar box), and seems to get more and more oaky with time. Mouth-drying. Water adds a silkiness to the mouthfeel and reduces the saltiness. So much going on with this one, it is enormously complex while still being easy to drink - no mean feat.

The finish is quite balsamic with lingering underripe fruits (bananas, apples, pears) and quite a bit of hot pepper. This is a real pleasure to drink - very complex and almost challenging - but endlessly fascinating. An incredible whisky, one of the very top Canadians I've ever had - if not the top! If this interests you, Jim Murray went ballistic over this, scoring it a 95 and awarding it Canadian Whisky of the Year in his 2010 Bible. If you ever happen across it (I'm pretty sure I saw it on the shelf in a whisky bar in Vancouver once), or it comes up at auction - buy it.

And the sample that has oxidized longer? It seems less sharp than the newly opened sample - I'm going to guess that it has oxidized too far and has lost of its freshness, vitality and spiciness. It doesn't have the complexity of the more recently opened sample.

Well, this is the last of my "Bunch of Canucks" series...until Canada Day that is, when I open a couple of quite rare whiskies I still have on my shelf...

yummy stuff!