Review by: The Muskox

This one was found in the back of my grandfather’s liquor cabinet. I’ve never seen the man drink anything except wine, but back in the 70s he made a habit of bringing a bottle of spirits from the duty-free back with him when he went on vacations. Those bottles have sat mostly undisturbed and unopened in his cabinet since then. I’ve already cracked into a J&B Rare from the 70s, which was shockingly delicious. On my last visit, he gifted me this miniature with an intact 1972 tax seal.

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Distillery: Blend.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region/Style: Canada/Blended Canadian whisky.

ABV: 40%.

Age: No age statement. Bottled in 1972.

Cask type: Unknown.

Price: N/A.

Color: Colour added. Chill-filtered.

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Nose: Despite the excellent fill level and very intact seal, there’s lots of old bottle effect. Papery and gluey. Dusty fibreboard. Some sweet corn notes hiding in there, along with some wood spice and vanilla.

Palate: Medium-thick texture. Arrives quite sweet with brown sugar, peach, and green apples. Fossilized spicy ginger and some rich oak on the development. Rather musty and a little solventy throughout. Melted butter.

Finish: Lots of vanilla, cream, sour peach candies, apple skins, and some sappy wood. More old paper and metallic notes here. Very musty, with a little bitterness.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Smuggling antiques across the Detroit River”

Conclusion:  50 years in a bottle has not, in fact, turned cheap blended Canadian whisky into ambrosia. Not that I expected it to. In fact, this is actually very bad – about on par with modern cheap Canadian whisky, I’d say. The nose is extremely musty and somewhat unpleasant, but the mouthfeel is unexpectedly good, and those peach and buttery notes are rather nice. At the end of the day, it’s not a great whisky, but it’s an interesting historical piece, and ultimately good enough for #1000!

Final Score: 62.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.