Hugely complex with elegant tones of high esters, little green apples, clean lumber, brisk peppery spices, butterscotch, vanilla, rye-like barrel notes, cigar box, sour-dough, and dried baking fruits. Finishes with typical Canadian citric zest. ★★★★★

The longevity of J.P. Wiser’s 18 year old is a testament to its spot at the apogee of Canadian whisky.

Most people would be surprised to learn that a whisky this richly flavourful contains almost no rye or other flavouring whiskies. No, it is almost entirely corn whisky that has been distilled to high proof (94% + -) then left to mature for eighteen years in well-used ex-bourbon barrels.

So, most of those wonderful flavours come from the slow oxidation of the spirit in the barrel and from the even slower chipping away at the wood by the ethanol. The result is a hugely complex, multi-award winning whisky that belies its humble origins.

Look for pencil shavings, fresh-sawn lumber, sweet barrel notes, hot peppers, typical hard crisp peppery rye (from the wood, not the grain), vanilla, sweet fruits (prunes) and sour fruits (limes, kiwis), dry grass, faint pitchy notes and leathery Ontario tobacco. Very complex, and beautifully balanced with no dominant flavours, but a single well-synthesized whole.

Finishes with a typical Canadian cleansing bitter zest.

$70.00 at LCBO.

Very highly recommended

★★★★★

Another review here, this one from 2013. (Note, despite the references to rye grain, there is no rye in this whisky and those rye notes actually come from the oak.)