Canadian Mist
Review: Canadian Mist 80.5/100
a review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
Posted on July 31, 2011(Revised & Re-scored September 2016)
Canadian Mist has been on the landscape of Canadian Whisky since the 1960’s when Barton Brands, Inc. of Chicago, contracted with a Quebec distillery, (Melcher’s), to supply bulk whisky to the United States for bottling and marketing. Based upon the potential of the new brand, Barton established their own plant in Collingwood, Ontario. Sales caught on south of the border very quickly and Canadian Mist was soon the second most popular Canadian Whisky brand bottled stateside. In 1971, Brown-Forman Corporation bought Canadian Mist, and with further investments in marketing and promotion, Canadian Mist’s sales quadrupled in the ’70s and ’80s, to more than four million cases.
The brand is still owned by Brown-Forman, and it is still produced in Collingwood, Ontario. The whisky has always been produced for the American market where sales have remained strong. It is a triple distilled blended grain whisky made from corn, malted barley and rye. The water source for the distillery is the waters of Georgian Bay, part of Lake Huron, one of the largest (and purest) fresh water lakes in the world. The whisky is aged in charred oak barrels and blended in Collingwood, Ontario under the supervision of the Canadian Government.
Recently the brand has become available in Alberta, and I thought it was a good time to update my review of 5 years ago.
In the Bottle 3.5/5
Canadian Mist arrives in the clear tall long-necked bottle which was designed to be easy to hold, easy to pour, and easy to store on your bar-shelf. It is a satisfactory presentation although perhaps a touch too simplistic. The gold screw cap has only two threads, and lightly threaded enclosures always make me nervous.
I would also appreciate a little more information regarding the brand to be supplied upon the label which does not even mention the Collingwood distillery where the whisky was made.
In the Glass 8.5/10
Canadian Mist displays a rich golden amber colour in the glass. A tilt and swirl of that glass reveals long slender legs which move relatively quickly down the sides of that glass back into the whisky. When I brought the glass to my nose I immediately noticed a sweet (candied) corn (think Corn Pops cereal) aroma rising into the breezes alongside dusty grain smells and a few malt-like aromas (think Pilnser beer).
I allowed the glass to decant, and the corn appears to have melded into the wood spice with ripe grain, orange peel and butterscotch providing a nice accent. There also a light mustiness weaving through the air which reminds me of the smell of dry con husks. As the glass breathes some more I also notice some light bourbon notes building along with a nice accent of vanilla and almond.
In the Mouth 49/60
The initial entry in the mouth is lightly spicy with a flavour of soft, lightly dank corn leading the way. There is a penetrating sweetness and what I will call a honeyed spiciness which continues to make the whisky lively in the mouth. Vanilla and almond flavours swim in the currents with some alcohol astringency building alongside sharp orange peel and firm wood spice.
As I allow the glass to decant I notice that the sweet dank corn flavour has been building throughout the tasting. This flavour has a punky earthy flavour similar to the underlying flavour of a Tennessee Corn Whisky, as well as musty undertones which remind me of baby corns. Rather than ginger-ale, I have an impulse to add a little cola to the glass and after I do, I find that at a fifty-fifty mix the Canadian Mist and Cola tastes just fine.
In the Throat 11.5/15
The Canadian mist finishes with a bit of peppery spice heating the mouth and the back of the tonsils. Corn and vanilla leave their imprint on the ending which has a light burn; but things are smoothed out easily with an ice-cube added to the glass.
The Afterburn 8/10
The Canadian Mist is a nice whisky. It carries more corn flavour than spicy rye, and I suspect the accent on corn is a result of catering to American tastes for which the whisky was originally blended. But that does not mean that the whisky will not find a welcome home north of the border. It is a nicely crafted whisky with an easy-going nature that is easy to sip and even easier to mix. (That sounds pretty Canadian to me.)
You may read some of my other Whisky Reviews (click the link) if you wish to have some comparative reviews.
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Suggested Recipe:
The Canadian Mist Website has a great selection of recipes for the enjoyment of their whisky. However, I really liked the Canadian Mist when I mixed it with cola, and so I thought I should stay true to my own instincts. If you take the a typical whisky and cola highball and add bitters, it becomes a Buckeroo, and although the Buckeroo is typically made with bourbon, it tastes just as great made with Canadian Mist.
The Canadian Mist Buckeroo
1 1/2 oz Canadian Mist Whisky
dash Angostura Bitters
Ice
Cola
Slice of Lime for garnish
Build in a tall glass with ice
Complete with Cola
Garnish with a lime slice
Note: If you are interested in more of my cocktail recipes, please click this link (Cocktails and Recipes) for more of my mixed drink recipes!
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As always you may interpret the scores I provide as follows.
0-25 A spirit with a rating this low would actually kill you.
26-49 Depending upon your fortitude you might actually survive this.
50 -59 You are safe to drink this…but you shouldn’t.
60-69 Substandard swill which you may offer to people you do not want to see again.
70-74 Now we have a fair mixing rum or whisky. Accept this but make sure it is mixed into a cocktail.
75-79 You may begin to serve this to friends, again probably still cocktail territory.
80-84 We begin to enjoy this spirit neat or on the rocks. (I will still primarily mix cocktails)
85-89 Excellent for sipping or for mixing!
90-94 Definitely a primary sipping spirit, in fact you may want to hoard this for yourself.
95-97.5 The Cream of the Crop
98+ I haven’t met this bottle yet…but I want to.
Very loosely we may put my scores into terms that you may be more familiar with on a Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal scale as follows:
70 – 79.5 Bronze Medal (Recommended only as a mixer)
80 – 89.5 Silver Medal (Recommended for sipping and or a high quality mixer)
90 – 95 Gold Medal (Highly recommended for sipping and for sublime cocktails.)
95.5+ Platinum Award (Highest Recommendation)
The Rum Howler Blog 
Steve K. said
I have liked this brand since I found it in ’73 while in college at U Maine. It is so smooth and mellow. Rates very high in my book. I often have it straight, on the rocks rather than messing with that flavor.
Mike said
Good answer, Chip. Of course it follows that your reviews should reflect your opinion of the spirit rather than trying to describe some elusive measure of ‘intrinsic quality.’ I probably spend more time smelling whisky than drinking it but that is again a personal thing.
Mike said
Hey Chip, Collingwood recently became available in Ontario, which is said to be a sibling to Canadian Mist. I like it; it is soft and fruity at first but is backed by deep, toasty nut flavour and herbal bitterness. Any chance you’ll be reviewing that one soon?
I prefer the more modern look of the bigger bottle, personally.
A question for you (my apologies if I’ve already asked this): What is your logic in according a disproportionately small percentage for a whisky’s aroma in your overall score? Most reviewers treat aroma as being on par with taste in terms of importance, but you lump it in with the whisky’s colour and apparent viscosity. Don’t mean to criticize but I do find it odd. Of course I have always been a smell-oriented person so it would seem odd to me.
Arctic Wolf said
Hi Mike
I’ll have to see about Collingwood, I do not think it is available in my area but the Brand owners may want a review.
Your second question is a good one that I am surprised I am not asked more often. When I developed my system for reviews I looked at what others were doing, and I decided that primarily, other reviewer’s focus was on trying to tell their readers how good the spirit was from a quality point of view. I on the other hand try to tell my readers how much I like or enjoy the spirit..My scores in each section of the review are about how much I enjoy each part of the process and not about my perception of quality of the spirit I review (These are closely related but they are not the same.) My belief is that aroma and flavour are very much related, but it is when I am tasting the whisky that my enjoyment is at its very highest point. If facets of aroma are translating into great flavour then they are being accounted for when I actually taste them. I enjoy nosing a glass, but I enjoy tasting a whisky much much more than nosing it, hence my much higher weight to the taste than to the nose.
Although I realize that most of my fellow reviewers believe the nose is as important as the taste, my own belief is that how a spirit tastes in the glass is much more important from the point of view of enjoyment, than how it smells. (I do talk about the visual appeal and the viscosity; but to me these are very minor facets of the spirit. When I score ‘in the glass’ it is the aroma that gets the lion’s share of my consideration.)
Hopefully you can follow my convoluted answer but if you need something clarified just fire away.