Over the past several months I have sampled various distilled spirits to expand my palate beyond the basic cold beer. While nothing will replace an icy cold imported brew, I have discovered that my favorite distilled beverage is quite common, and nowhere near as expensive as I would have originally assumed it would be!

After sampling MANY distilled spirits over the past 6 months or so, it has become apparent that my favorite is one of the cheapest, and that doesn’t hurt my feelings one bit!

While I appreciate much of what is available, what I like the most is a blended Canadian whiskey. I have sampled everything from expensive to the cheapest, and to my surprise the cheap stuff tastes as good as the more expensive stuff, so spending extra for the name-brand spirits is not necessary for me at all!

At this moment in time, Canadian Hunter is my preference, neat, i.e., straight from the bottle; no need to mix with anything! I absolutely LOVE the flavor, and it is just as good as much more expensive brands! From the nearest ABC store it only costs me $8.00 per fifth, so the price can’t be beat either!

Out of curiosity I’ve sampled the more expensive stuff, but just don’t see any advantage in taste. In fact, one of the single-malt scotches that I tried, I poured down the drain after one sip, and it wasn’t cheap either!

Am I weird? Am I the only person who likes the cheap Canadian whiskey? According to the guys at the local store where I buy mine, they sell the heck out of it!!!

I recall a particularly horrible morning or two after having overly partook in cheap Canadian whiskey in my earlier years. We gave our 21 year old friend cash and asked for liquor. He pocketed more than he spent, in retrospect.

My impression was that it was a common theme with the stuff.

Then again, I expect you aren't partaking until you vomit these days

I prefer the cheaper/younger scotches out there. I find I prefer the more powerful process flavors that are smoothed out with aging. The oldest scotch I will buy is Lagavulin 16.

Used to drink mostly Canadians when I preferred mixed drinks. Now that I drink it on ice or with a touch of soda, the only thing I can stomach is Crown Royal. Everything else is bitter, harsh, or just plain tastes bad. So I went from Kesslers and Imperial to the top. On the other hand, I like Johnny Walker Red as well as any other scotch. Go figure.

my standard drink used to be CC & 7. Canadian Club and 7-up. I think my practice was to let the ice cubes melt a bit before I drink it and it made it taste sweet.

But when I tasted good scotch whiskey, then I understood how drinking was meant to be enjoyed. It made me realize why it's called rotgut.

I'm not much of a fan of Canadian Whiskey. I'll even go so far as to say that I hate Crown Royal.

I'm a beer snob, but I love Crown Royal and like CC.

Never had or heard of Canadian Hunter.

I am not personally a fan, but I won't belittle anyone else's choice. Crown is certainly non offensive, I just find it a bit bland.

Single malts are an acquired taste. You have to discover what flavors you like in your whiskey and then seek out Malts that fit your flavor profile. Then you can branch out into more...adventurous areas. I like quite a few of them.

My current open bottle is a bourbon. Russels Reserve Single Barrel. It's the only Wild Turkey product I like oddly enough, but I love it.

I have drank Canadian for years. I started with
Seagram 7, which is a blend, but switched to Lord Calvert Canadian and now prefer CR or one of the fancier CR labels. Good Bourbon is ok, but I prefer Canadian.

My son is a scotch drinker and has some very expensive samples, but I just do not like the stuff.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: maxwayne,

There are some very good Canadian whiskeys out the these days. I would try some 40 Creek, and Legacy-- both are tasty. Canadian club puts out a 9 year old that's pretty damn good too, as well as a decent 100% rye, if you're into that.
All of the above run $20/fifth or less her in Michgan, except the 40 Creek, which is a couple bucks more and totally worth it.

I drank a lot of Rich & Rare (R&R) over the years. It's dirt cheap and pretty dang good. If you've not tried VO, it's not bad either.

Once I could afford it I graduated to Crown and Crown Reserve. Wow that stuff is good.

But, I no longer drink the hard stuff and just stick with the occasional beer. I don't really like beer much, so I don't drink much at all these days.

Whistle Pig Rye is a Canadian blend bottled in the USA. It is top shelf sipping whiskey. Pricey but very fine.

COSTCO's Kirkland brand Canadian is very good. Not too dear at $31 for a 1.75 liter bottle.

RMD

quote:

Originally posted by Wreckless:
Whistle Pig Rye is a Canadian blend bottled in the USA. It is top shelf sipping whiskey. Pricey but very fine.

Whistle pig is alberta premium bottles in the states and sold for 3.5x more. Great business model but Im not paying it. Bought the 10yr, its good, not 70$ good. Looking up prices on alberta premium its about 1$ per year aged. I need to do a Canada run!

Another fan of the Forty Creek, my go to sippin whisky

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:
COSTCO's Kirkland brand Canadian is very good. Not too dear at $31 for a 1.75 liter bottle.

RMD

I like Crown, and I found the Kirkland Canadian tasted EXACTLY the same. However, they stopped selling it around here at Costco about a year ago. IIRC, it was $23 for a 1.75L. The label even looks like CR.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
I'm not much of a fan of Canadian Whiskey. I'll even go so far as to say that I hate Crown Royal.

Ditto. Every Canadian that I've tried had a "pine needle" overtone that put me off. I much prefer Irish. Bushmills Black Bush is excellent at a moderate price.

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:
<<snip>>
Never had or heard of Canadian Hunter.

Tastes practically identical to Canadian Mist, except it costs less...

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
I drank a lot of Rich & Rare (R&R) over the years. It's dirt cheap and pretty dang good. <<snip>>

Yes, I really like R&R also. Just discovered the Canadian Hunter last week and it's about $2 per fifth less, so will stick with it for now over the R&R as long as it is available to me.

Don't drink but maybe a couple drinks a month these days,but I drink black crown and ginger ale.
I have tried lots in my long life and this has the best taste for me.
Fifty years ago it was c c and water.