This story was recently published (in German) in Mixology Magazine.
Canadian whiskies have long been synonymous with rye in the mind of the public – because traditionally, rye was the predominant grain in the mash bill. But along the way the rye percentage dropped and the corn percentage rose. Most Canadian whiskies still use rye to an extent, but the lowered rye percentage has created a category that is largely unexciting – especially to the mixology community.
Classic Cocktails like the Manhattan and Old Fashioned originally called for Rye whisky – because the rye bite was integral to the flavour profile of the drink. As Rye whiskies became rare in the US, many bartenders switched to Canadian Whiskies which, while a shadow of their pre-prohibition Rye-forward profiles, still generally retained a peculiar rye-ness of their own.
Once the Rye-forward Bourbons became popular, bartenders began to move again – partially due to the growing popularity of the Bourbon category but also due to the increasing blandness of most Canadian Whiskies – as Canadian whiskies continued to displace rye with corn.
More recently, with the reemergence of Rye whiskies, many mixologists are returning to the Rye roots of these cocktails – leaving the comparatively bland Canadians literally on the shelf.
Has Canadian Whisky lost its rightful place – and a distinct identity – as a base for cocktails? Or does the light and pleasant flavour make it more accessible and mixable? We’ve asked some of our notable bartender friends for their opinions – which we’ll get to in a bit. But first a little background on Canadian Whisky.
A Brief History
The first Canadian distillery (producing rum) was established in Quebec in 1769 – predating the establishment of Canada as a nation by almost 100 years. While it is not clear when the first whisky distillery was opened, by the 1840s there were over 200 distilleries producing spirits of all sorts in Canada.