Thanks to the liberal legal restrictions placed upon Canadian whisky, Canadian whisky producers have a certain level of freedom almost unheard of anywhere else in the world. For better or for worse, up to 9.09% of the content of a given Canadian whisky can be something other than whisky, whether that be flavoring, coloring, or another liquid entirely, and whatever that is doesn’t need to be listed anywhere on the bottle.
This can mean interesting takes on what we know of as whisky, but it can also mean distasteful flavor shortcuts in production with little accountability. For me, this mystery 9% can put doubt into my mind before I even taste a Canadian whisky. For others, such as one Whisky Advocate writer, it can make for a fun tasting experiment.
For Canadian Tap Rye Port Finished Whisky in particular, this rule absolutely applies. Tap, also home to a sherry finished whisky and a maple rye whisky, claims to pot-distill their juice multiple times. With no age statement and no mashbill, we do don’t have much to go on. We do know that after multiple pot distillations, Tap is blended together from whiskies aged up to 8 years in ex-port casks and North American oak casks.
Whether those North American oak casks have been used before, or what their char status is, remains unknown. In the final blending, port is added as well, taking advantage of the 9.09% rule. The whisky is then chill filtered. Tap Rye Port Finished clocks in at 42% ABV.
Tasting Notes:
Appearance: Tap is a light honey gold in the glass.
Nose: The nose is at first quite dusty, with cough syrup, nail polish remover, and dark cherry. After some time in the glass, the nose expands to be slightly less unappealing. The nose moves from dusty to grilled cheese-y, with cinnamon sugar and acrid sweetness. The medicinal quality of the cough syrup remains, however.
Palate: On the front of the palate, Tap is super juicy, with lots of red grape and dark fruit. Very light bodied, Tap brings a lot of grape Tootsie-Pop to the palate. Mid-palate, classically cheap and sweet Passover wine Manischewitz comes forward. Finishing with grape candy and dime store chocolate, Tap is nothing if not liquid grape Tootsie-Pops.
The finish echoes the palate, with grape hard candy fading into sweet, Port-y notes.
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Conclusion:
I enjoyed this whisky because I like palate experiments, and the opportunity to question what whiskey is, exactly. I can’t exactly recommend this whisky to the average drinker, however. For me, Tap Rye Port Finished Whisky falls into the category of fun, silly whiskies that are fun to drink once but don’t appear to be beholden to any one identity, especially not the identity of whisky. If you are someone who very much enjoys palate exercises, this whisky might be for you. If you are someone who loves grape Tootsie-Pops, this whisky is definitely for you!
FINAL SCORE: 80/100
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