I want to connect with it the way I connect with single malt scotch. I want my taste buds and olfactory senses to be transported to another dimension and marvel as the liquid evolves indescribably in my mouth, in the glass, and in the open bottle over the months or years that it is in my cabinet. And most importantly I want to know what I’m drinking. Have you got your tree up yet? We always leave ours to the last minute but the trouble with this kind of sylvian brinkmanship is that you might get to your friendly local tree dealer and there will only be unhappy stunted little bushes available. Or no trees at all! Then you’ll have to get one of those silver plastic ones from the supermarket. But then again, they don’t drop needles and you can use them over and over again. So in some ways you win. Maybe stop worrying and have a look at what’s behind the next door of your advent calendar. Lot 40 Cask Strength whisky enjoys a cult following among Canadian whisky drinkers, one that is spreading worldwide as it continues to win awards. Lot 40, in all varieties, is 100% rye whisky. It’s aged in new oak and is more similar to American ryes than traditional Canadian ryes.

This hardly tastes like a rye at all, much less one from Canada. The floral bouquet notes and springtime essences are all gone replaced by what amounts to a rich and creamy cappuccino. This is nothing like the previous year’s 11 year old version and would make more sense if it was a rye bottled by Woodford Reserve and finished in a second barrel (which does exist by the way!). This is not to say that this is a bad whiskey. On the contrary, it is actually very unique. I’ve never had cappuccino flavors paired with a rich creaminess to this degree before, not even in bourbons that were finished in a second new barrel.

A truly stellar aspect of Lot 40 for me is its nose – a rich bouquet of baking spices (cinnamon and nutmeg in particular) and fragrant floral notes (including heather), with some dark fruits evident underneath. You can also smell the candied sweetness that is the characteristic of new charred oak barrels. Rich and complex, there are absolutely no false notes here­. Honestly I could smell it all night long (which, as my lovely wife has opined, would certainly make it last longer!). 😉 Rye is something of a loose category in Canada: it could mean anything from 100% rye to just containing some. Other slightly odd Canadian practices include being allowed to add 9.09% non-Canadian whisky into their blend. This could be fortified wine like sherry or port, or foreign whisky like a peated single malt Scotch whisky. Still, if it makes the whisky delicious, that’s all that matters. Here’s what we thought of it. Tasting note for Lot 40 Rye whisky

Freshly released in Ontario comes this new entry in the “Rye Explorations” series from the Hiram Walker distillery. This is the second entry, and I have previously reviewed the first, which was a bit of a head scratching combination of rye and peated scotch whisky casks. Greg B mentions the original iteration used to be better. I have not had the opportunity to try it so I can’t comment on the taste, but the original did contain malted rye to supply the enzymes for starch conversion, whereas the present version uses 100% unmalted rye and use commercial enzymes for conversion. Sadly not as expressive and flavorful as I had hoped for, what with it being pot distilled and worm tub-condensed. I guess the big boys really know how to take the fun (flavor) out of their products, even if they’re marketed as a small batch.

Vouchers and More

However, over the course of the year, they have starred releasing certain select specialty bottlings individually (often with very limited numbers). The first was the Pike Creek 15 Year Old Finished in Ontario Cabernet Sauvignon Barrels (limited release at the LCBO in August 2020). This was followed in early November with a limited online-only Ontario release of a few cases of their second aged cask-strength blend under the J.P. Wiser’s brand – a 22 year old bottling, finished in Port casks. I missed that one, but a wider release of it is planned “in the new year.” Lot 40 Canadian Rye Whisky comes from the same distillery and the same mashbill as the Lot 40 Canadian Whisky and to be honest I’m having trouble finding what the difference between the two are online. This one is likely younger, I’m getting a rougher delivery and it’s missing the elegance of it the 2012 release, outside of my senses I’m having a hell of a time finding concrete info on this guy. This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services.

In our case that is a Drinks by the Dram World Whisky Advent Calendar and we’ve pulled out a delicious Canadian whisky, Lot 40 Rye Whisky . This delicious rye has something of a cult status because it offers massive amounts of flavour for the money. So much so that when the parent company tried to discontinue it in the 00s, there was outcry from Canadian whisky fans. Immediately upon getting this bottle home I was hit by another uncontrollable urge: I needed to make a Manhattan with it. I did Aengus' classic recipe - 2 oz rye, 0.5 oz sweet vermouth, dash of angostura, stirred not shaken with lots of ice, and served neat in a martini glass with Luxardo cherry. It was great - the best Manhattan I’ve had in recent memory.

Try a Lot 40 Cask Strength 3rd Sample…

Palate: Very aromatic, big spices with chocolate, and toffee. Actually tastes a bit like Dr Pepper. Year Old cask strength 2018 (9.3) > 12 Year Old cask strength 2017 (9.2) > regular Lot 40 (9.1) > Third edition cask strength 2019 (8.9) > Lot 40 Dark Oak (8.8). At the end of the day it’s all about the smell and taste experience and this one is undoubtedly good stuff. As enthusiasts we all like to know exactly what’s in our glass, but when it comes to Canadian whisky, don’t strain your brain - it often doesn’t help. Corby (distributor) lists this, and only this, under its Lot 40 “brown spirit” brands so I’m thinking this is nothing more than just a new label. The bottle is the same and the proof is the same, but as you’ll see in the Lot 40 Canadian Rye Whisky review below the quality of whisky is definitely not the same. Whiskey Review: Lot 40 Canadian Rye Whisky

That is the award Joel was alluding to when describing the man in the Panama Hat and his Whisky Bible. 🙂 Out of all the releases, the original Lot 40 Cask Strength of 12 year variety was my favorite. For my palate specifically, it hit perfectly. Score wise, it’s still one of the better whiskies I’ve had.

The planning approval to develop Project Utama had been given by the State Exco over the first seven (7) phases consisting of 706.922 acres. Except SP Baiduri own project, SP Baduri is one of the appointed contractor and sales agent with Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB). More than 1000 unit house has been built and sales to buyer. It is certainly an interesting concept, but it takes the already fairly spicy Lot 40 and amps it up to very heavy levels. I would only recommend this release if you like your rye whiskies very spicy. Personally, I prefer the regular lot 40 and the previous cask-strength releases (although it is close in quality to last year’s French-oak finished cask-strength release). To put that in context, and using my own scores (on the Meta-Critic scale), I would personally score and rank them all as follows: To celebrate the holidays of 2022, a bunch of my relatives and I decided to visit Vancouver. This would be what I’d consider my first real trip to Canada, as I’ve previously been to Victoria for only a few hours about a decade ago.