Can/Am four grain whisk(e)y

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Can/Am four grain whisk(e)y

Unread postby Mike » Tue Jul 06, 2010 5:29 pm

Had me a sip of Lot 40 Canadian whisk(e)y a while ago and I like it. It says on the label that it is made with small grains which, I suppose, means unmalted rye, and with malted rye. It is 86 proof and has a nice mix of rye zip and grainy sweetness. It is distilled in a copper pot still giving it a bit of that metallic dryness I often find (and like) in copper pot distillate. At 86 proof it is not knock you socks off robust.........but it is hearty with a nice round sweetness from the barrel. The label give no age for this whisky, but it must be at least 4 or 5 years old.........but, I am not at all sure of its age.

I wanted a bit more force in my next sip so I added 20 ml of Weller Antique 7 YO 107 proof to the 20 ml of Lot 40 in the glass and made a very nice whisk(e)y. The Weller has a fuller barrel sweetness while the Lot 40 adds some spice............and some of the pot stilled metallic dryness.

This tasty vatting of about 96.5 proof seems older than it is, has some subltety along with a modestly thick mouthfeel, and has a long lasting cleansing cinnamony/spicy warm finish. The wheat soft sweetness works well with the harder rye sweetness.............most ably assisted by the barrel creamy sweetness drawn from the Weller.

My dog, who has on the new apron I bought him (has imprinted on it 'Will Work for Bourbon!'), has promised to deliver me another of these really nice sips...........here he comes now.........trying to act like a Canadian........but he needs more practice and his 'Eh', it doesn't have the correct ring and neither does his 'aboot'.

Only after I sip and say, 'hmmm', does he confess that he has changed the formula. He put 15 ml of William LaRue Weller at 117.9 proof and 25 ml of Lot 40.

This 98 proof whisk(e)y has even more barrel sweetness and a thicker mouthfeel..........but it retains the rye bite and metallic cast from the Lot 40 along with its cinnamony zip that carries through the finish. A really, really excellent sip is this concoction.

So, I tell Barleycorn that this last vatting is OK. I am not aboot to give him any sense that he can do ANYTHING better than me......he would tell all the neighborhood dogs and soon they would be snickering whenever I pass them. They have been respectful now for a while and I have not been pissed upon since March when I gave them a bottle of Old Crow for a poker party.

Wow, Barleycorn's vatting is mighty fine stuff!
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas
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Re: Can/Am four grain whisk(e)y

Unread postby gillmang » Wed Jul 07, 2010 9:51 am

Very good Mike. If you wanted to retain all that OWA 107 proof has but (in effect) make it into a rye-recipe bourbon, do a 3:1 combination of the OWA and Lot 40. I say rye-recipe even though it is 4-grain, because the rye is always much more assertive in whiskey than the wheat. But of course it is still a four grain. Perhaps 4:1 would be better. If you do this, you are again retaining the main profile of 107 but deepening it. It should taste something like Evan Williams Black Label, perhaps better...
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