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| DavinTT2 samples #1 |
Forty Creek John's Private Cask No.1 (40.0%): Throughout the month of December we had the most amazing Canadian Whisky live twitter tasting and the scavenger hunt (codename: #DavinTT2) based on Davin de Kergommeaux's book "Canadian Whisky - The Portable Expert" moderated by Johanne McInnis and Graham MacKenney of Whisky Lassie . It was tremendous fun from the beginning to the end and believe or not I was lucky enough to win the big prize among many other respected and brilliant whisky bloggers and enthusiasts: Yay..! So, last weekend my unbelievably cool prize basket arrived with 16 rare Canadian whisky samples..! (Actually two of them are not whiskies [yet] but I will talk about it when I review them...) Anyway, I am so excited to taste and review every single of those samples in coming months. Let's start also to index and label them for future references: "DavinTT2 samples #1" it is...
Forty Creek John's Private Cask No.1 is a blend of rye, corn & barley whiskies. Let me give you a short explanation about John Hall's unique approach to blending if you are not familiar with it: All the whiskies at Forty Creek Distillery are distilled and aged as single grain whiskies. They are blended after their maturation to create the final expressions just before bottling. 9,000 bottles are released under John's Private Cask No.1 label. Probably we are talking about "casks" instead of one cask... I remember the raving reviews when it was released almost two and a half years ago but I didn't have a chance to taste it before. Cannot wait to experience it by myself. Color: Dark reddish amber with distinctive legs. Nose: First wave hits with rye aromas only. Sweet spices which can make you drool right away even if you are nosing it only: Ground ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Fresh and juicy Turkish figs, red grapes and prunes. After allowing it air a while corn and barley follow: corn bread, coconut cookies dough and shortbread. Everything is enveloped with fresh dark hardwood shavings. A few drops of water add beautiful earthy notes: wet garden soil and an early morning forest walk after a rainy night. Palate: Rich, thick and creamy mouthfeel... Creme caramel, Portuguese custard cups and candied ginger. Butterscotch and a little fire place smoke: the way your sweater would smell like after a romantic night in front of the fire place. Candied orange zest and rose petal jam. Water makes it loose its creaminess but adds more sweet doughy and and a little bit of acetone notes. Finish: Not aggressive but very long. A nice long farewell with subtle white pepper, salted pink grapefruit and fresh ginger. Overall: Now I understand what the fuss was about: This whisky is delicious indeed..! I wish I could find a bottle to purchase now but probably it's impossible. I will sip this wee sample today as long as I can instead. Kudos to John Hall again. Cannot wait for his new blends...
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| my gorgeous Canadian prize basket..! |
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