Reviews: Forty Creek Barrel Select
John K. Hall: Wine, Whisky and Mullet Enthusiast.
Forty Creek Whisky is the brainchild of John K. Hall who has been creating wine for over 30 years. In 1992 he decided to try his hand at making a brand new Canadian Whisky. Instead of simply following the well trod path of other small batch whisky makers, he fell back on his wine making skills. His crazy idea was to age barley, corn, and rye whiskies separately in whichever way was best for that particular grain. For Forty Creek he aged each whisky in a separate barrel with a different level of char for between 6 -10 years. After that John blended the results and then finished the aging in his own sherry casks. What he's given the world is a well aged whisky that really tastes like nothing else in it's class.
There are 6 of these videos...I recommend blowing the next 20 minutes of your life on them.
I think I was so thrown by Forty Creek in the beginning because it offers flavors that I've never tasted in a whisky before. I went into it expecting something closer to a bourbon. Forty Creek's flavor has Bourbon's vanilla, oak and spice, but also includes apricot, honey, and (most surprisingly) walnuts. The entire thing is wonderfully smooth and it even plays nice in a cocktail as you've seen from this previous post.
As I said before, I'm really excited now to see what else Canada has to offer in the way of whisky. I'm almost sad that I started with what some say is the best Canada has to offer. It really is going to be a tough act to follow. Overall Forty Creek is not at all what you might expect when you hear "whisky" and that's a very good thing.
Our Grade: A+ Price: $20 Find Forty Creek online at www.fortycreekwhisky.com also www.kittlingridge.com
December 28th, 2010 - 11:16
Hmm. Never heard of it. The idea of good Canadian almost reminds me of gourmet Spam, but for $20 you can’t go too wrong.
Sounds interesting. Hopefully it’ll show up behind a bar around here so I can try it that way.
December 28th, 2010 - 15:31
I get what you’re saying about the Canadian whisky. Not to say that it’s all bad but I’ve had some bad experiences with it. Forty Creek is very unassuming. From the bottle (which looks rather cheap) you would not expect such an innovative whisky. You really do have to keep an open mind when you first taste it because it’s so different. The best way I could describe it is, if you’re a bourbon drinker, imagine the first time you tried a single malt scotch. It was probably quite a shock. Forty Creek isn’t so much a shock as it is something that grows on you; unexpected, but a welcome change of pace.
December 31st, 2010 - 21:35
I will have to see if I can find it around here. You tempt me. Although I must say that while most Canadian is fairly insipid to my tastes, Pendleton is quite good.
I will do my best to find the Forty Creek in Cali.
January 3rd, 2011 - 01:50
I’ve never been a huge fan of Canadian whisky (read: I hate the stuff) but I might have to give this a try. One of the nice things about Canadian whisky is that it’s always cheap. Thank the gods above that they’re not packaging this stuff at three times the price like some scotches.
January 3rd, 2011 - 12:27
Yeah, some people are saying this one is right at the top of the Canadian Whiskys. Since I haven’t tasted that many I can’t say for sure, but it’s definitely unique. You might not like this one either at first taste. But if you stick with it, it grows on you.
I’d really love to hear what you’ve learned about the pricing of Scotch in your studies. Most things are priced based on what the market will bear, which is sad. I think Forty Creek’s price is obviously based on the price of production. I appreciate that and think its a better business plan overall.
January 4th, 2011 - 22:05
Why is it sad that it is priced at what the market will bear? That is the perfect pricing model. It makes you money, possibly, or tells you to quit making it. If it is making you a lot of money, it then encourages others to make their own. This is what is driving our lovely explosion of small distillers. There is money to be made. And the we reap the benefits. Think about it. Commy! (Wait, did I say that out loud?)
January 9th, 2011 - 02:00
It’s not sad. You’re right, Nables. I think I mis-spoke. I am a proud capitalist pig and am happy when anyone can make a buck off their booze.
Still, I can’t help but feel slightly prejudiced against spirits that “shoot for the stars” with their business model. By this I mean the companies that make an average spirit, jack up the price, and try to get as many famous people to hold it as they can in order to justify that price. They may still be good spirits; I just don’t have as much respect for those brands. Mostly because I don’t have much respect for the people they get to hold them.
On the other hand…there are a lot of small batch bourbons priced at what I’d call ridiculous prices. The difference is that with start up costs, aging, ect. they MUST be priced this way just to make them profitable. I’m glad someone is buying them and I hope more distilleries keep opening, but they are simply out of my price range. At the same time I hope that when the small batch folks have recouped their investment costs they will bring the prices down a bit so more people can enjoy them.