Canadian Club 42 Year Old Chronicles Issue No. 2 Review
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Canadian Club continues to move forward to fifty years with their Canadian Club Chronicles series with this year’s release; the 42 year old. The Canadian whisky industry is a blender’s paradise, and this is another great example of what can happen with ingenuity. More importantly, the allotment of barrels this whisky comes from is probably one of the oldest allotments available at quantities to produce a collectable product of this magnitude.
So what is the Chronicles series? In summary, Canadian Club has these ancient barrels of whisky distilled from the late 1970s. These barrels are largely saturated reused oak of whisky imparted some light gentle notes, and a little bit of colour. The 42 Year Old is really light in tone, and has not had any caramel colouring added. The makers at Canadian Club blend these old stocks of whisky with a little bit of cognac, and sherry, and some old 100% rye whisky to produce this product.
It’s an expensive whisky, and so few will buy it (though several thousand will), and the question will be is it worth the money? If this price is in your wheelhouse, then the answers is absolutely yes.
Canadian Club Chronicles 42 Year Old
Hiram Walker Distiller
Category: Canadian whisky
Score: 93
Nose: Nice sweet hard candy lemon and caramel note. A little bit of floral rye, and some peppery spice. In time, an orange citrus comes through. The caramel note is a hard candied caramel melting in one’s mouth. The nose is subtle and welcoming.
Palate: Great peppery brown sugar caramel notes come through at first, with a beautiful lemon tart buttery middle palate. The finish is citrus sweet and peppery, with plenty of fatty notes to carry through all that flavour. This is a Canadian whisky, but it finishes like an old scotch.
Conclusion: Another beautiful whisky from the Chronicles series, that’s a little more mild on the pepper spice, and a little more subtler than the previous year. It’s going to fit right in, though, within that line-up. It’s a little closer to the 40 year old Canadian Club released (which is not part of the Chronicles series), then last year’s 41 year old. If you loved previous releases (and plenty did), you’ll join in right on this one.
Disclaimer: Thank you to Canadian Club for providing me a sample of this whisky with no stated expectations.
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