Unfortunately I had to skip last Sunday’s edition of the #DavinTT Twitter tasting on Canadian whisky. But obviously I had the sample so here’s my review. Next Sunday is the last edition.
Danfield’s is marketed by Williams & Churchill but as often in Canadian whisky, it is only a brand name, and it’s made at a different distillery (The Black Velvet Distillery). Canadian laws allow them to state ‘Distilled and bottled by Williams & Churchill’ on the label.
Danfield’s is made from rye, corn and malted barley in a small batch process and “blended at birth” rather than blended after separate maturation. Also, as mentioned on the label, it is passed through a diamond dust filter – not sure how that should be noticed in the final product.
Danfield’s Limited Edition 21 yo
(40%, OB +/- 2013)
Danfield’s Limited Edition 21 yoNose: quite smooth, with quite a lot of silky polished oak. Really nice, close to what you can expect from an old Scotch in terms of oakiness. Also quite sweet and round, displaying caramel, baked apple with cinnamon, banana, vanilla cake and a little maple syrup. Close to bourbon whiskey, though with a typical rye dust / limestone note. Like!
Mouth: less sweet than expected. A lot of oak now, quite dry and slightly tannic / planky. Pepper, cloves, nutmeg and hot ginger. Good thing this is only 40%, otherwise it would have been over the top. The fruitiness and caramel is in the background now. Gets rather zesty in the end (grapefruit skin).
Finish: long but quickly getting thinner, with lingering pepper and citrus bitterness.
On the nose, this one is a great example of the possibility to have Canadian whisky at higher ages. But the palate is very oaky. Only available in Canada. Typically under € 40, how nice is that?
Score: 84/100