I’m struggling to find any redeeming qualities in Canadian Mist. I’m also struggling to figure out why, besides being dirt cheap, this is America’s best selling Canadian Whisky and how in the hell it’s won so many gold medals. I’m flabbergasted at the stark difference between what I’m experiencing and the general consensus of America on this one. Maybe I really am a whisky snob…
Made from a blend of grain whisky (corn, rye and malted barley), rye whiskey, a “touch” of sherry that doesn’t seem to do anything at all for this whisky and “matured to taste” in ex-bourbon barrels this whisky is a slow-motion train wreck of cloying notes. The site, and related marketing, leans heavily on lightness in flavor and the whisky’s complete lack of bite as selling points and maybe that’s where the general American public and I diverge. I want bold flavors and aromas with depth, richness and complexity that’s bolstered by complimentary subtle notes that is a pleasure to drink neat despite any bite it might have. I don’t want to lay down hard earned dollars for spineless whisky.
Canadian Mist Info
Region: Ontario, Canada
Distiller: Canadian Mist
Age: NAS
ABV: 40%
Price: $9 (got mine on close-out for $4)
Canadian Mist Review
EYE
Yellow caramel
NOSE
Sickly medicinal and caramel heavy followed by watery butterscotch, waxy candy corn and artificial sweetener run rampant. An astringent, cleaner like, overripe citrus mixes with root beer taffy in the background and a turpentine underpinning holds everything up.
PALATE
Same medicinal caramel and overripe, cleaner like, citrus blend with some burnt toffee and raw grain. A thick note of raw alcohol and butterscotch limp their way over the palate dragging something oily, dirty and mechanical behind them.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
The sickly medicinal quality knocks this one on it’s side and the sticky syrupy feel and light body make it boring and uneventful, but at least their marketing is 100% accurate. There is absolutely no bite in this dram, it’s like drinking water.
FINISH
Again that medicinal caramel rears is cloying head and is accompanied by artificial sweetener and a watery maple syrup that lasts for far too long.
OVERALL
Canadian Mist is among the worst whiskies I have ever tasted. It’s like a borderline rancid bourbon was mixed with a bunch of artificial flavors, put in BPA riddled plastic jugs and left out in the Nevada desert to be eroded by the sun for a year before bottling. Everything smells and tastes young, raw, bleached out and artificial. It’s just not very good. Hell, even the MIST enthusiasts seem to prefer it mixed with something, anything, else and that friends, isn’t exactly what I’d call a good sign.
SCORE: 65/100
