Alberta Premium Dark Horse with Davey & Alex

This is our third tango with a product of Beam Suntory’s Alberta Distillers. We’ve had their Premium, which isn’t, and we’ve had their Springs, which made a fantastic rye & ginger. The Dark Horse comes in at a higher abv and budget than the other two; we’ve been meaning to try this for a while.

According to Canadian Whisky – who I still don’t know where they get their information from; they probably go to ridiculous extremes like calling these companies – this whisky is a blend of 12y and 6y rye whisky, but also 8% corn whisky. My uninformed guess is that this might be where the extra 5% comes in. CW also mentions being aged in charred barrels, but we were suspicious that the depth of the darkness might indicate caramel colouring. Which would just make this more of a classic, dog’s breakfast “Canadian” whisky blend.

There is astonishingly little official webstuff on this brand. If this was ten years ago that might seem to add some mystique, but nowadays you have to wonder. There’s probably a guy in a corner office at the distillery who says he’s the web guy but has been clinically dead since 2001. Inexplicable, at least to me, but maybe I spend too much time online. Here’s what we thought:

colour
Davey – red ale
Simon – transmission fluid
Alex – some other refined oil

nose
Davey – rich, treacle, natural
Simon – vanilla, maple
Alex – boozy, dark sugar, real maple, molasses

neat
Davey – faint, cinnamon
Simon – best “canadian” yet, subtle
Alex – cinnamon hearts

finish
Davey – kick, cinnamon
Simon – wood, heat, warmth
Alex – warming, fire

splash
Davey – still good
Simon – spicy, pepper
Alex – holds up, still maple

Alberta Premium Dark Horse – 45% 750ml – $29.95 – Alberta

Try it? Yes. Buy it? Yes.