Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye with Matt & Dan

Yes, it’s *that* whisky! “Greatest whisky in the wold” some people have quoted, incorrectly. “Voted best!” others have also misspoken. Basically, what you’ve heard about this bottle of whisky is probably overblown.

Jim Murray is a pretty famous whisky guy. He publishes the Whisky Bible, a book which is popular among people who like rankings and whisky. His opinion carries heft; last year he named a Japanese whisky as the best and Japanese whisky had a fantastic year in sales. This year he has tapped the crown jewel of Gimli, Manitoba as this year’s best whisky, and it’s had the same effect – Crown Royal has been unable to keep up with demand. Which for followers and fans of Canadian whisky is both great news and a little mystifying.

We weren’t too impressed when we had Crown Royal De Luxe, aka the purple bag of angry in the back of everyone’s liquor cabinet. But the Northern Harvest was a definite improvement over its less-acclaimed stablemate, here’s what we thought:

colour
Dan – n/a
Simon – brassy amber, copper
Matt – n/a

nose
Dan – appley nail plish, full rye tartness, sweet, floral stuff
Simon – rye definitely, aloe vera, muskoil, caramel
Matt – pollen

neat
Dan – super hot on the tongue, slight spice w cedaresque sweetness
Simon – mint, pepper, chestburn, caramel lozenge, moss, thin burn, slight wood, rye spice
Matt – sweet, subtle, just sugar

finish
Dan – light and dry
Simon – tingling, medium, burn & smoke
Matt – subtle rubber band, smooth

splash
Dan – starts as your stereotypical rye (sweet, spicy dry caramel) then goes into a marshmallow chocolate
Simon – waxy chocolate, lingering sweet, less, thinner
Matt – little change

overall – A very good rye, if rye is your jam.
Dan – 7.5/10 (but 9.5/10 for ryes and 8/10 for “Canadian” whisky)
Simon – 7.2/10 (9.2/10, 7.5/10)
Matt – 7.5/10

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye – 45% 750ml – $34.95 – Manitoba

Try it? Yes! Buy it? Yes.