Canada’s rye passion hits new heights

‘CRAFTSMANSHIP’

last bottle — needing police to be called in to restore order.”

This year, Murray named another rye, Booker’s 13 Years, 1 Month, 12 Days, which is American, as his world whisky of the year, and named Northern Harvest Rye his Canadian whisky of the year.

Rye, in short, continues its dominance, which is great news for Canada’s whisky industry.

“It’s getting Canadians to fall in love with rye again,” said Rob Tucker, senior brand manager for Canadian whisky in the Toronto office of Japanese-owned Beam Suntory, which owns Canadian Club.

Tucker singles out three hot ryes: Northern Harvest, 40 Creek and Canadian Club 100% Rye, which launched one year before Northern Harvest Rye.

“Those three brands have driven tremendous growth in a short time,” he said. “They told a story that Canadians really wanted to hear about craftsmanship and authenticity.”

Murray, who favours metaphors that compare his affection for whisky to passion for a woman, is a discerning lover. He almost anointed Northern Harvest Rye top honours for a second year running. Unfortunately for Diageo Canada, which distils and sells Crown Royal, he tasted another batch of Northern Harvest Rye and found it “not quite” as good as last year’s, his beloved batch L5085 N3.

“You see, your girlfriend may have many sisters,” he writes in his 2017 Bible. “But it is only her you love.”

Nevertheless, Diageo remains tickled pink at the latest accolade for Northern Harvest Rye.

“We are thrilled again with the recognition brought to us,” said Joanna Scandella, Crown Royal’s master blender at Diageo’s lab in LaSalle, Que, whose blending “library” contains about 1,200 samples (bottles), representing more than one million barrels that the company has maturing right now. “It is something that we

Corby Spirit and Wine Ltd., said Canadian whisky’s profile is on the rise around the world.

“My phone is becoming busier and busier,” Livermore said. A recent release, J.P. Wiser’s Last Barrels, “flew off the shelves,” he added. “And someone wants me to speak in Sweden. People are starting to awaken to the quality and the craftsmanship.”

Whisky taster Murray is certainly awake. He broadly hints in his latest bible that he may have a new Canadian sweetheart: J.P. Wiser’s Legacy, distilled at the Hiram Walker facility.

“I was seduced like a 16-year-old virgin schoolboy in the hands of a 30-year-old vixen,” Murray gushes of his first sip. The drink is, “an entirely disarming Canadian which is almost a whisky equivalent to the finest of the great French wines in its rich, unfolding style.”