[Review] Lot No. 40 Rye and Lot No. 40 Cask Strength 12 Year Old Rye

 

So for my first reviews of something that's not a malted barley whisky, I decided to review two of my personal favorite rye whiskys from my home country of Canada.

These two come from Hiram Walker Distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada who are best known as being the main distillery owned by Corby's Spirit and Wine who produce the J.P. Wiser's Canadian Whisky brands as well as many other different spirits.  Corby's have been around since 1859 since they were founded in Corbyville, a small community in Belleville, Ontario and are currently majority owned by Pernod Ricard. 

The idea for these whiskies came from master distiller Mike Booth when in the 1990s the company was looking for an answer to compete in the growing high end spirits market. The whisky was named after a plot of land Booth's ancestors used to own to celebrate his rye farming heritage. However, the original Lot No. 40 along with the rest of the "Canadian Whisky Guild" series under-performed leading to them being discontinued. In 2012 Corby's decided to bring Lot No. 40 back after whisky connoisseurs who enjoyed the original in the 90s kept asking about bringing the whisky back, but this time the whisky became a coast to coast smash hit and won Whisky of the Year at the Canadian Whisky Awards in 2013 and now has become a mainstay on shelves across the country.

And funny enough, the legacy of Lot No. 40 and its revival is also how the cask strength version came about. After many whisky connoisseurs continued to show interest in a higher premium Canadian whisky from the distillery Hiram Walker's current master distiller Dr. Don Livermore decided to tease some Canadian whisky commentators with a sample of Lot No. 40 straight from the barrel. The response was overwhelming, the people who tried this cask strength Lot No. 40 wanted more! About a year later, Corby's and Dr. Livermore delivered not only a cask strength Lot No. 40 but a 12 year old version for the Canadian market at a respectable price in Ontario of $70 which is unheard of for a cask strength 10+ year old whisky in this day and age.

Now the question is for those of you who haven't tried these whiskies before, well how do they taste? Let's find out!

The first one we'll look at is...

Lot No. 40 Canadian Rye Whisky

 

This is a 43% ABV bottled 100% Canadian rye. 10% of the rye used to be malted rye until 2016 when they changed to 100% rye which is the version that I reviewed and did tasting notes for. This whisky is aged solely in virgin oak for apparently around 6 years or so and retails in Canada for around $40 CAD.

• Colour: Amber
• Nose: Rye spice, red fruits, sweet oak, vanilla, caramel
• Taste: Rye spice, vanilla, toffee, cherries, soft oak, banana
• Finish: Medium with allspice and red fruits

This is truly a solid 100% rye the depth and sheer complexity does not fail here after another try especially for the price. This is definitely a bar standard for me,

80 pts

 

And now I get to the whisky that I've been truly waiting to try...

Lot No. 40 Cask Strength 12 Year Old Rye

 

This is a 12 year old Cask Strength version of Lot No. 40 barrelled at 55% ABV and retails for a cool $70 CAD. It's aged solely in virgin oak and while this would be a concerning thing if this was a malted barley spirit for a grain like rye its a perfect combination. So let's see how this fares to all those other blogger's praises.

• Colour: Rich Amber
• Nose: Really strong potent nose, red fruits, vanilla, wood spice, grass, toffee, chocolate, citrus
• Taste: Rich rye spices, apples, red fruits, vanilla cream; toffee, very spicy and full bodied
• Finish: Long with woodspice and caramel apple

This is nice, in fact this is REALLY REALLY REALLY NICE. As good as if not better than some mid to low years of Thomas H. Handy bottling I had the pleasure to try back in the summertime. However, note that Thomas H. Handy is considered one of the best ryes in the world and this Lot No. 40 Cask Strength is not far behind. This is probably the best Canadian whisky I've ever tried to date and easily the best body on a Canadian rye I've had the chance to experience.

 90 pts

 

Phenomenal stuff and I strongly encourage anyone interested to go buy a bottle right now! Corby's and Dr. Livermore have been doing some great stuff for Canadian whisky and I can't wait to explore more interesting stuff happening in Canada that I can share with you for the future.

And believe me, there is lot's to say about the direction Canadian whisky is going. But let's save that for another day.

Current Review Scoring System:

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

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