Appearance: 1.3, Russet

Nose: Very much a bourbon nose; vanilla, caramel, toasted oak. I also get a fair bit of fruitiness and almost some floral notes too; white grapes, pear, mango, and fresh linens.

Taste: Hits with a slightly astringent bitter oak note, developing with lots of wood spice, black pepper, cinnamon, clove. I also get vanilla and caramel, unsurprisingly, with some apricot and banana.

Finish: The oak is dominant in the finish; dry oak and lots of wood spice. Quite long.

Notes: This is just a fantastic dram. For some, it might come across as slightly over oaked, but I don’t mind bourbon’s (and make no mistake this is a bourbon in all but name) that tend to lean slightly that way, provided they don’t overdo it. That being said, the oak is by no means the only star here. The underlying spirit has a great fruity and slightly floral quality to it that makes for a great interplay with the heavy oak. I think Wiser’s is doing some of the most exciting stuff in Canadian whisky these days, and they really give me hope for the future. Bravo Wiser’s, and keep stuff like this coming!

Score: 86/100