Also sign me up for newsletters so I can get special offers, recommendations, and expert advice to my inbox! The US version is younger because the producer felt that demand for the new brand would outstrip supply. Near the Windsor, Ontario banks of Pike Creek rows of squat buildings have been dusted with a black patina nicknamed “distillery shadow. Dark honey and mild tobacco appear late on the palate as the beautiful oak structure hits with soft oak tannins and a peck of rock sugar that drifts all the way from Windsor to Niagara.

The latest in my blog series on “Too Little, Too Late”, I now bring you a discontinued Canadian whisky! This new version of Pike Creek is still aged 10 years, but has been finished in rum barrels and the ABV increased to 42%Nose: a bit hot at first. I’m not really an expert on the technical aspects of distillation methods, but column stills do not “batch” like pot stills – the distillate runs out at the target proof – so I’m not sure HOW you double distill something on a column still, whether it’s made out of copper or not.The Definitive Guide to Canadian Distilleries by Davin de Kergommeaux and Blair Phillips is published on the Appetite by Random House imprint of Penguin Random House Canada, available now.

The whisky is bottled at the legal minimum of 40% ABV and has caramel coloring added for “consistency”. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent.

Resting in oak casks for a minimum of 10 years, while enduring scorching summers and bone-chilling winters, these dramatic swings in temperature give Pike Creek its unmistakable character, flavour and colour. The one, and only, piece of good news: This stuff can be successfully drowned in a cocktail with enough bitters and ice. Demand must not have been all that after all because both were discontinued and have been replaced by a single 10 year-old Rum Finish edition. We were looking for the cherry, plums, and dark fruits of the Cabernet Sauvignon casks to complement the green apple, vanilla and cinnamon notes of a 15-year-old whisky. I really, really hope that the new 10 year-old rum finished version of this is an improvement, but I’m now gun-shy about putting down actual money to try it.