Great Plains 22yo Cognac Cask
Canadian Corn Whisky | 58% ABV
How Should Legacies of the Past be Handled?
Scarcity is something we haven’t been talking about much in the global whisky scene. With a seemingly endless number of new distillery releases and breaking-ground announcements, not just in Scotland or Ireland but in the USA, Canada, China, and the rest of the world, we are about to be swimming in whisky for the next couple of decades.
But what about the scarce liquid, the stuff of legend, of days long past, or from closed distilleries no longer operating, especially those that never will?
With the glut of whisky investment, and I’m not talking about casks here, but from the wealthy and elite into purchasing bottles of particular vintages and distilleries, us normal people are facing a scarcity problem for whiskies we may have fancied, or been saving up for, but can no longer afford due to the shift of elite-level spending.
While many of us won’t overly lament the fervour surrounding older Macallan’s and other whiskies, there is inevitable spillage into the sector as a whole as older age-stated whiskies are purchased for shelf candy or party gifts where everyone is peacocking and trying to demonstrate how large their you know what is (credit limit of course!).
This includes many closed distilleries. If I use my imagination, one could almost imagine pulling a weathered but good condition bottling from a closed distillery out of the gift bag, proclaiming that they’ll never find a bottle like this around. I’m picturing a James Bond 007 style scenario where vintages of Dom Perignon champagne are tossed around with such reverence and gluttony that as a bystander you believe these no-longer-available beverages to be akin to drinking liquid gold.
"My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perignon '53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Sean Connery, Goldfinger
Now these Great Plains releases are all sourced liquid, and sourced from the long-closed and never-to-be-resurrected Potter’s Distillery in Canada. How should precious liquid of increasing scarcity be handled? What would we, as enthusiasts, do if we came across a parcel of 15 or 20yo Banff, Imperial, Caperdonich, Glen Mohr, or other produced liquid slumbering in an ex-bourbon barrel of some sort?
Would we leave it in there? Would we try and manipulate it somewhat, perhaps re-racking it into a fortified wine (sherry, port) or keep it simple and toss it into another fresh ex-bourbon barrel? What about American oak or European, or go nuts with something like Mizunara? If we try to manipulate the spirit, are we nudging it along or bludgeoning it with new flavours?
Read on to see what my take was on how this closed distillery’s spirit was handled…
Review 1/2 - Broddy
Great Plains 22yo, Cognac Cask, Canadian Corn Whisky from Pitter’s Distillery (closed), Batch 1: 17 years in barrels, 60 months in three cognac casks, 58% ABV
CAD$125 paid
Nose
Big hit of vanilla. Hot corn dust, snort full of cinnamon. Maybe some hot canola oil with chilli peppers. Stick your schnoz in too close and that cinnamon chilli mix will make you sneeze. Upon first pour, I get a big whiff of hot textiles or denim, not unlike overheating your clothes while ironing. It definitely needs a few minutes in the glass.
With a healthy splash of water, the nose doesn’t get better, just dials down the intensity of everything while somehow still keeping the nose tingling aspect.
Palate
Relatively quiet entry despite the ABV, the barest touch of characteristic corn notes for a fleeting moment, then hold on your britches! A bull rush of vanilla and intense chili heat comes rushing in, before a slightly tannic and drying bite tries to ward off some generic refined fruity sweetness. The texture is buttery, it has that going for it! The finish is slightly numbing and short, with a slight bitter astringency and tannic drying effect before a lingering refined sugar sweetness.
With a healthy splash of water, this turns into a sweet vanilla bomb with a touch of chili oil at the back end. The finish is still short with some astringency.
The Dregs
I’ve previously taken a swipe at Great Plains’ 18 yo brandy cask and found it enjoyable. Not mind blowing, but definitely deserving of a solid 6/10. So I was excited to see how this older whisky fared. Overall, this is a disappointment.
It’s a singular experience, one led by the cask. Five years in Cognac was far too long, especially compared to the more balanced and younger 18 yo that ‘only’ spent 12 months in brandy casks. I do like to enjoy some of the underlying spirit with my whisky and the casks here have trodden over the spirit, and in this case, completely erased all traces of the now-closed-and-never-again-to-open Potter’s distillery. Great Plains could have grabbed some corn whisky from one of the mega-million-litre Canadian distilleries and done the same cask finishing exercise rather than using a very rare distillery.
This whisky wasn’t cheap, and much like Dougie and his thoroughly underwhelming foray into an Amarone Tomatin at a very similar price point as this Great Plains, I feel betrayed. $125 CAD is not chump change and therefore the liquid needs to meet a certain level of experience to even justify an average score.
Alas, I gave the cheaper and younger release a 6/10, then this gets a 4/10 and very nearly a 3/10. Not my cup ‘o tea so trying to be balanced.
I sent Aengus a sample of this to get his thoughts…
Score: 4/10 BB
Review 2/2 - Aengus
Great Plains 22yo, Cognac Cask, Canadian Corn Whisky from Pitter’s Distillery (closed), Batch 1: 17 years in barrels, 60 months in three cognac casks, 58% ABV
(sample share)
My whisky ardour was certainly aroused when I received this sample from Broddy, who is alway more than generous in his shipments.
Great Plains is a bottler that has been on my list to try for some time now. Independent bottling of Canadian whisky is a business model that needs to be exploited to a fuller extent since we’ll never see most of the great barrels that exist in warehouses across the country bottled in a pure state. That could be a way to increase availability for the niche enthusiast crowd while possibly also providing some indirect marketing for distillers.
This one arrived in a large box with a few bottles that I had purchased from the whisky mecca that is Alberta which Broddy had picked up and sent to me, not before packing it to the gills with a dizzying array of samples and a couple of bottle splits. Broddy doesn’t mess around when it comes to sharing his stash.
Nose
Subdued, with a darker sweetness than typical for a Canadian corn whisky. Plums, steamed carrots (?!) But mostly sweet candy corn under a blanket of Cognac. Water mutes the nose further.
Palate
Sweet with a nice bite and some good oomph, presumably from the Cognac. Stewed dark fruits, vanilla, mouth watering and a bit moreish. There’s a little harshness but it doesn’t feel like it’s due to the ABV. Water brings out a bit of burning tires.
The Dregs
Although it’s a decent drinker I struggled a bit with the notes for this one. Other than sweetness, corn, and cognac there’s not a lot going on for me. There’s no off putting notes or anything that detracts from the experience, it’s just a bit mid, as the Gen Zs would say.
The 18yo brandy cask offers more in terms of flavour experience, and better preserves the character of well aged Canadian whisky.
I didn’t pay for this one, so I can’t feel betrayed like my coauthor Broddy. These days, whiskies have to be exceptional or at the very least interesting to get into the ever shrinking Aengus McCloud collection. I’m glad I had the opportunity to try it, but also glad that I haven’t bought a bottle. Average.
Score: 5/10 AMc
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. BB / AMc