Canadian Club 43 Year Old Chronicles The Speakeasy

A bullet hole in a basement wall below what used to be Hiram Walker’s office hints that this was once more than just storage space. Ask Canadian Club ambassador Tish Harcus to explain and you soon learn that during prohibition, this space served for both negotiating and celebrating clandestine sales. 

Here, American businessmen such as Al Capone cut deals to import Canadian Club whisky into the US. The room quickly turned from negotiating hall to speakeasy once the deal was done, as they enjoyed the pleasures of their trade. 

Tish is not certain who fired the shot that left this scar of the illicit whisky trade on the speakeasy wall, or why, so we can’t know if it bespeaks a moment of anger or celebration. What we do know is that some years later, in 1977 to be precise, a worker at Hiram Walker distillery filled a full bond (batch) of barrels with the same liquid that had drawn Capone to Walkerville. 

A warehouse worker dutifully tucked those spirit-filled barrels away in a maturing house where they sat undisturbed for 40 years. Then, in 2017 Hiram Walker’s successors decided it was time to bottle that whisky. At forty years of age it was spectacular. But there was more to come.

Since then, Canadian Club has released a new batch each fall, and this year, in 2020, they are bottling another. The whisky, now 43 years old, is a tribute to that secret room, and they have named it The Speakeasy. 

The Speakeasy becomes the oldest Canadian whisky ever released and it is everything you might expect. Flavourful, elegant, refined, and – simply put – perfect. Bottled at 45% abv it is bold enough to thrill the palate but gentle enough to allow every nuance to reveal itself.  Take your time and savour it. This uncommon whisky sets its own standards for sheer luxury and enjoyability. 

 Tasting note:

The nose opens slowly to reveal high esters, cinnamon, eggnog and sweet soaring floral tones high above the glass. Don’t sip too soon as stone fruit and applewood smoke soon drift in. The first sip is creamy, almost viscous with lovely mint notes and grey dried lumber. Such a wonderful introduction is bolstered by a restrained herbal spiciness, mildish peppers, soft caramels and a just gorgeous mouthfeel braced on silky oak tannins. Hot Christmassy spices turn hotter and peppery as they slide down the throat, leaving sweetish herbs, hints of burly tobacco, mild dark fruits, soft yellow fruits and oaky barrel notes to play in the front and middle of the mouth. The long finish reprises hints of sweetness, glowing hot baking spices and dry oak tannins that urge another sip. Time spent with this elegant old-timer is well rewarded as each glass-slipper step slowly reveals its hidden path. 

Very highly recommended.  ★★★★★ $320