Forty Creek Triple Reserve (and Chronology)
Campari-owned Forty Creek has just released Chronology, a limited release celebrating the forty year career of the distillery’s Master Blender, soon-to-be-retiring Bill Ashburn. Priced at $299.95 and limited to a modest 2,208 bottles country-wide, it features spirits from all four decades of Ashburn’s career: a 31 year old single malt; a 20 year old corn whisky; a ten year old rye; and a five year old corn whisky.
Tasting the 45% alcohol whisky at its launch and again from the tiny sample the distillery provided, I was and am struck by the marvellous complexity and gentle fruitiness of the release, from the tropical tree fruit on the nose to compelling mix of caramel, vanilla, dried rather than fresh fruit, and suggestions of orange marmalade on the palate, right through to the dark and spicy fruit cake notes on the finish. As I said to Bill at the time, it strikes me as a bit outside of the Forty Creek norm in its character, an attribute he ascribed to the single malt content. At the same time, of course, the corn and rye bring it back home, making it an unapologetically Canadian style blend.
As impressive as Chronology is, however, I have elected to focus this review upon a slightly less aspirational release: the distillery’s cask-strength Triple Barrel Reserve.
Where Chronology has a distinct un-Forty Creek-ness to it, the Triple Barrel is utterly Canadian. In fact, I could go a step further, given that the third of the triple barrels is Niagara cabernet sauvignon cask, and say that it is utterly southern Ontario. If you’re familiar with the distillery’s Double Barrel Reserve, then you can think of this as that whisky proofed to 51% and finished in red wine barrels. And yes, it really is as good as that sounds.
On the nose is a gorgeous and chocolaty cherry aroma that made me reminisce about the old Hershey’s Cherry Blossom, a classically Canadian chocolate ‘bar’ – actually more of a lump – that a quick Internet search informs me was discontinued earlier this year. Alongside the chocolate and cherry notes are hints of candied orange peel, gingerbread, and just a touch of brown spice.
The palate begins sweetly – this is not a whisky for lovers of dry, unsherried Speyside malts – with caramel and chocolate notes leading to a spicier mid-palate that remains on the sweet side while still drying to a more oaky, vanilla-y, red fruit-accented character. The finish is drier still, spicier with the oak and red wine tannins showing brightly.
This whisky is everything I love about the classic Canadian style, sweet and sippable up front, dryer and mixable in the back. At this price point, it is a treat not to be missed.
93 ($95)
