Tasting Date: 2021-05-27
Region: Canadian Whisky
Type: Blended
Age Statement: 6 Years
Size: 1750ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Cask Type: Charred white oak barrels
Distiller: Unknown (rumoured to be Crown Royal)
Location: Unknown
Bottler: Unknown
Purchase Location: Costco
Purchase Date: December 2020
Cost: Approximately $55.00 including GST & Deposit
Tasting Notes From The Kirkland Website:
There are none. They do not list this product on their Canadian, American or Australian websites.
From the back of the bottle: This whisky is velvety smooth with an enormous bouquet of complex vanilla, honey , spice and toasted oak aromas. The initial sweet nutty character is followed by a rich creamy taste with a slightly spicy finish.
Colour: Orange amber
TransparentSmoke Review: So I am thinking that if you need Canadian whisky in a 1750 ml bottle you are either a shrewd value purchaser or you are having the whole family over. The first question to ask is, do you just go with the cheaper product? So lets look at this as a financial investment and crunch the numbers to find out, this 1750 ml bottle sells for about 55$ all in, that works out to $23.57 per 750ml. This week you can grab a 1140 ml of Crown Royal for $34.98 + GST and deposit (or $24.16 per 750 ml all in). So Kirkland wins on the value statement saving you 59 cents per 750 ml.
Next, how many similarities do these products have to even be compared? It’s not like we are comparing generic mustard vs French’s Mustard, where no one can tell the difference. We are comparing two whiskies that are different and only choosing to compare them because there are rumours and guesses on the internet that say the Kirkland Blended Canadian Whisky could be from the Crown Royal factory itself in Gimli, Manitoba. My research has stumbled across mash bill for one of the two products. The Kirkland Canadian Whisky is reported to be 95% corn 2% rye 2% barley and 1% sherry. Crown Royal is…. unknown: I tried but the information is not on the internet. Leaving the greatest provable similarity between the two bottles to be the font used on the letter “C”. Win to Crown royal for keeping their mash bill secret and using the fancy letter “C” first.
Finally how do they taste? Or more specifically how does the Kirkland Blended Canadian Whisky taste and does it hold up or surpass Crown Royal. Well to be brutally honest the Kirkland is a little off, in that it is blander than you would expect. Nothing offensive in the nose, but I caught banana and brown sugar off the first nose and then I couldn’t find them again. I can smell rye spice and straight sherry, but the vanilla evades me and exists more like a back ground smell just blending the nose of the whisky together.
First sip is Canadian whisky and rye spice on the finish. Yah I know! I too want to use more words and tell a story that transports you to a place where we all exist on the same plane of understanding. But all I get is generic Canadian Whisky and rye spice on the finish. More rye spice than a traditional Crown Royal Deluxe too BTW. Win by a hair to Crown Royal.
As I sit here and sip at this whisky, it occurs to me that reviewing it neat is not the intended use of this product, so much as people don’t typically sit sipping glencairns of Crown Royal. I can tease this apart and tell you what it tastes like on the edges of my tongue. This whisky is meant for you to pour a glass with Coke or ginger ale and hand it to Aunt Martha and have her go be quiet in the corner with the cats for the evening. This is a whisky for families and for events and it is why it only comes in a 1750 ml bottle.
Our Score: 59/100
Bottles on Hand: 
Kirkland Blended Canadian Whisky – Bottle front Kirkland Blended Canadian Whisky – Bottle back
