While I was out at the store recently I found myself thinking about Canadian Whiskey, and how my regular mixing brand has been Canadian Club for many years. However it’s a fairly basic and easy to come by garden variety bottle, and I was looking to switch it up for my restock. When I saw the uniquely shaped bottle of the Pine Creek and the word “rum” on the label I decided to have a closer look.

Pine Creek Canadian Whiskey is a 42 proof 10 year aged whiskey with a finishing age in rum barrels. I found this very interesting as I’ve had rum aged in whiskey barrels, but not the other way around. Additionally their first aging in traditional oak is specifically not in climate controlled storage offering an extra level of complexity between each batch, and at a reasonable $24.99 I was pleasantly surprised.

On the nose you’re warmed with oak with some caramel notes so nothing out of the ordinary for a general whiskey. However the flavor profile is another story. On the front end it’s very sweet, mid palette hits you with a traditional oak which reminds me a lot of a Bourbon, and on the finish creeps in warm molasses. There’s still a little finishing burn, but that’s to be expected with any spirit, and this product doesn’t pull any punches in that regard. The rum barrel finish that you get in the flavor is very mild at full strength, but I imagine with a little vermouth this could make an excellent Manhattan!

Overall it’s certainly not your garden variety Canadian Whiskey, instead it’s almost a “Canadian Bourbon,” which for me is a welcomed change. I don’t know if it’s good enough for me to switch to it as my regular, but if you’re looking for something a little different than your basic bottle, consider picking up one of these.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10