Hirsch 20 Year Canadian Rye

[mrgrotto]

Recently got some in stock and finally brought a bottle home. Very, very interesting. First off, the color is a golden/straw hue that resembles a Sauterne. It was almost glowing next to the much deeper colored whisk(e)y around it. I'm dying to know how a 20 year old whisky is that brightly colored. (My under-informed theory is that the climate in Nova Scotia, where it's distilled, doesn't change as dramatically from season to season as much as it does in points further south, thus maybe the casks don't breath like they would in more varied climates?)

Having not had a ton of decent Canadian whisky, I can't attest to how true to form it is. Having had a ton of Scotch and American whiskey, I can say that this is an entirely different animal. Much lighter in flavor (grain and mineral, a touch of butterscotch) but with a very interesting texture (round and almost oily). The finish is classic rye - pepperminty, with a lingering vanilla sweetness that you'd expect from a 20 year spirit.

This is definitely an interesting bottle of booze and I can't seem to find much about it online. Has anyone had this before and/or know anything about it? I'm aware that it's a Preiss Imports product that it may have been bottled at Glenora and that it may or may not have anything to do with A. H. Hirsch (although it sure looks like it does) other than the same supplier... I'm at a loss.

[TomFogarty]

I can say with absolute certainty that this is not a Glenora product. They do not distill it, nor do they age it. I was chatting with Daniel Maclean (the still master at Glenora Distilleries) during the bottling period and he explained that the whiskey was simply shipped to him to bottle before being sent to the states. His impression was that this was done so the company could put Glenora's name on the label simply to gain more credit from their reputation.
He had also bottled a batch of 8 year old (I could be mistaken on the age, all I know is that it was considerably younger) from the same distillery, and it was considerably darker. He mentioned he much preferred that to the 20; it had much more body and character.
Hope this helps!

[JMF]

Probably the reason it is so light is because the Canadian laws allow blending in as much neutral spirit as you want into a rye or any Canadian whiskey. It only has to be 10% whiskey!

[TomFogarty]

Be that as it may, if that were the case for this whiskey they would not be permitted to call it a "20 year old". Canadian whiskey falls under the same regulations for ageing; even if 500 barrels of 20 year old are married with 1 barrel of 3 year old, it MUST be labelled as being 3 years old.
Glenora marries much older barrels in their 10 year old rare, but make no indication of it on the label.

[sku]

I think the only thing it has to do with AH Hirsh is that they are both Preiss products. AH Hirsch was originally a Bourbon made by Michter's Distillery in Pennsylvania. That distilery shutdown and Preiss now owns the last stocks of Hirsh Bourbon. I assume they also purchased the naming rights and have used them to market the Hirsch Canadian and other Hirsch whiskies.

http://recenteats.blogspot.com/2008/0...

[mrgrotto]

Thanks for the reply.

As far as I can tell, you're right regarding their mutual owner and not really having much more to do with one another than that. And I'm inclined to jump to the same conclusion: Preiss has the naming rights and are now, somewhat underhandedly, using it to market another spirit altogether. It's just strange that there's little or no information out there to corroborate or dispel this assumption.

I knew the history of A. H. Hirsch but can't seem to find anything specific on this Canadian bottling. Mainly curious what other folks think about it but would also like some more background.

I also forgot to mention that the bottle was only $64 which is kind of a steal for a 20 year whisky.

[sku]

The rumor is that, as you note, the whisky is Glenora, though I've heard it's bottled in Kentucky.

It may be strange, but it's not uncommon. It's an unfortunate tradition in the US for whiskey companies to make it difficult to figure out where their product is actually made. There are distilleries that have massive brand proliferation and there are bottling companies which also put out many brands and won't say where they got the whiskey.

That extends to the small but growing number of American companies that bottle Canadian whiskies.

[mrgrotto]

Yeah. While it's common practice, it's a bit lame, if you ask me. That being said, if it wasn't for some of those conglomerates, we'd be missing out on a lot of great whiskey. I'm just of the mind set that when a brand name changes it's process (grain bill, type of stills used, location and everything else in between), so to should the name be changed. Also, buying a name and lending it to other products because of the brand's prestige shouldn't happen. I know how naive that sounds and that it'll never work that way. But dammit, it doesn't mean I have to like it.

[sku]

Hey mrgrotto, you're preaching to the choir here. I think all bottles of whiskey should have to list where they are distilled. All of the brands and bottlings, especially of American whiskey, are confusing to the consumer and I like to know what I'm drinking.

As an illustration, I took a friend of mine to a liquor store once and had him look over the vast selection of Bourbons. How many Bourbon distilleries do you think there are in Kentucky, I asked. He looked at the shelves and responded 20 or 30. He was surprised to learn that there were only nine.

[mrgrotto]

Totally. What's even more hilarious is checking out the Irish whisky section while knowing that there's only three (3!!!) distilleries in Ireland! Madness...

Full disclosure!