Tis the season.  That’s a perfect excuse to spend a little extra cash to get a really good bottle of liquor.  How about a bottle of Gentlemen Jack Daniel’s?  No, don’t buy this as a gift to a friend.  Friends don’t deserve this, only you do.  If you have not met Gentleman Jack, you are truly missing out on one of the best sipping whiskeys around.  I have enjoyed several bottles of this stuff in the past, and I was quite excited for BoozeBasher to review it.  It couldn’t have happened at a better time.  It’s the holidays!  Yeah, that means there is lots of traffic and tons of people in my way shopping.  Here’s my idea of Christmas shopping: wait ’til the last minute, fill up the flask with Gentleman Jack, pick up a few gift cards, then head straight to the bar to catch the bowl games.  Okay, enough about that.  Let’s get familiar with our new friend.

    Gentleman Jack whiskey is distilled at the good ole Jack Daniel’s Distillery located in Lynchburg, Tennessee.  What sets Jack Daniel’s Whiskey apart from the rest is that it is mellowed through ten feet of sugar maple charcoal.  This process refines the whiskey’s flavor to that great taste Jack Daniel’s fans love.  The maturing process takes place in barrels that are actually hand-crafted by the Jack Daniel’s Distillery.  Inside these toasted oak barrels, the whiskey draws its distinctive flavor, finish, and rich amber color from the barrel walls.  In the case of Gentleman Jack, it gets even better.  The Gentleman goes through the mellowing process twice, making it the world’s only “twice mellowed” whiskey.

    Let us put this “Rare Tennessee Whiskey” to the test with our BoozeBasher panel of drinkers.  The “on the rocks” test yielded a kick-ass beverage that has few rivals.  That’s right!  It’s that good. Gentlemen Jack takes smoothness to an all new level.  Just imagine old No. 7 but super-smooth with the same good charcoal wood flavor and a touch of fruit and sweetness.  For the next test, a splash of Coke was added. Unfortunately, Jack and Coke doesn’t quite equal Gentleman Jack and Coke.  The BoozeBasher panel agreed that Coke actually took the great smooth taste of the whiskey and tainted it with a slight sourness.  This stuff was ment to sip straight.

    Now for the infamous drunkability test; this one was going to be extra fun because it happenned to be my birthday.  The pours of Gentlemen were heavy, averaging around two plus shots per drink.  After enjoying several, I felt soothed and mellow.  This stuff is really great to sip.  I just sat back and relaxed while everyone else made the terrible mistake of playing that shot game.  You can read the rules of Hunter and Wade’s shot game here on our forum.  Anyway, throughout the night, the Gentlemen drunk was severely tainted by many other types of liquors, but the hangover was not too bad at all.  Gentlemen Jack will hurt you just like old No. 7, but it’s not any stronger.  If caution is exercised, then the lucky drinker should feel fine the next day.

    Gentlemen Jack was a pretty big hit with the BoozeBasher staff.  It will most likely be a part of our liquor stash from time to time.  A 750ml example will set you back about $35.  Yes, it is a bit pricey, but the holidays are upon us…so why not treat yourself or a special someone?  Just keep in mind, it tastes great, and it will disappear fast.  Since your friends will probably come over and drink it all anyway, they don’t deserve it for Christmas!  Have a safe and happy holidays everyone!

Sipability – 8.5

Mixability – 5.5

Drunkability – 8.0

Hangover-ability – 6.0

Bang for the Buck -  6.0

Overall -  7.0   

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    Ohhh, Canada!  You have givien us so many things…hockey, the moose, that delicious bacon, women with hairy legs, that funny way you say ‘aboot’ instead of about, and so much more.  Now we have another gift from our friends to the North, Canadian Mist.  Canadian Mist is a very afforable blended whiskey.  And much like the hairy-legged women, it’s something you can learn to enjoy, especially on those cold sober winter nights.

    Corn and barley malt are used to make Canadian Mist.  The corn is ground and mixed with water and spent stillage to extract the starch.  Then the corn slurry is pressure-cooked to make more starch.  The starch is what gives Canadian Mist its light taste.  After that, it takes a little whiskey magic and a few secrets before the whiskey is ready to be aged.  Canadian Mist uses the finest white oak barrels that are charred to impart a smooth vanilla flavor during aging process.  Each barrel is filled and stored in a special temperature-controlled facility.  This means the whiskey can mature year-round rather than simply in the spring and fall.  As a result, Canadian Mist is more fully matured and smoother in taste than other whiskies.  It’s also what makes Mist so mixable and equally enjoyable over ice or with water.

    So how does Canadian Mist really taste?  It’s hard to describe.  There is no real upfront flavor when drinking it on the rocks.  There is just a faint sweet, sugar-like taste, but once swallowed, all the other flavors come to the forefront.  The overall flavor is a sweet, corny, whiskey, woody, barrel taste with an unfair alcohol burn.  I say unfair burn because the flavor is so weak and not special.  There’s nothing special to stick out and make you say, “Damn that was good whiskey!”  The taste of Canadian Mist is just boring.  It’s like getting a birthday card with nothing in it.  I kept expecting something great to happen, but in the end, I just ended up throwing it down and cursing the person who gave it to me.

    It seems to me that the people at Canadian Mist weren’t out to make a blended whiskey as much as they wanted to make whiskey flavoring for ordinary drinks.  When Mist is mixed, it can give any regular beverage a whiskey aftertaste and kick.  From Coke to water, it makes everything taste like someone was trying to make a crappy drink good.  I suggest you try this in an Irish coffee (your choice of coffee and a shot or two of whiskey).  This seems like the real reason they even sell this stuff.  It tastes just right.  With Canadian Mist’s price tag usually around $13, it makes a better accessory for coffee than cream or sugar.

    Unless you have a lot of time on your hands, don’t expect to get drunk off Canadian Mist.  Its says 80-proof on the bottle, but I’m willing to question it.  After four shots, I started thinking that if I had three more shots, I might be able to get a weak buzz.  That’s never good.  So after I took three more shots I was exactly where I thought I would be.  I was buzzed, annoyed, and wanting to drink something that could get the job done.  At this point, I was thinking I’d rather have one of those hairy women, so I could have something better from Canada.  Well, I awoke the next morning feeling the same way I felt the night before…unsatisfied and wanting something better.  I had no headache or body pains, just a feeling of disappointment.  I’m not sure if that feeling was from the Canadian Mist or just my everyday life, but the fact remains the feeling was there.

    Canadian Mist is a good enough cheap liquor but something like Canadian Club or Crown Royal would be a better buy.  If you are a serious whiskey drinker, you are going to want to steer away from this one and get something with more flavor and a lot more punch.  As for everyone else (especially us poor drinkers), this is a good buy.  You will be able to  afford enough bottles of it to get you where you want to be.  Plus, it would be a great party booze because of the low price.  The morning after the party, you can get up, make a few Irish coffees, fry up some Canadian bacon, and enjoy it all with the girl with the hairy legs who ended up in bed with you.

Sipability – 5.5

Mixability – 5.5

Drunkability – 3.5

Hangover-ability – 9.0

Bang for the Buck -  10.0

Overall -  6.0 

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    Here we have another Canadian whiskey, only this time everyone knows about it.  Most of the folks who read this review are probably already well experienced drinkers of Crown Royal.  If you fit that category I can understand this review boring you a bit.  After all, this stuff is everywhere, from almost everyone’s personal home bar to every single restaurant, bar, and club in the country.  It seems to me that when it comes to whiskey, the average Joe can only think of Jim, Jack, and this stuff.  Those poor bastards have no idea what they are missing, but that’s okay.  Crown is good stuff.  First, let’s talk about some Crown Royal facts, then we’ll see how it faired with the BoozeBasher crew.

    Crown Royal is distilled at the Gimli Distillery located in Gimli, Canada.  The distillery utilizes natural local grains, pure water from a local source, and the perfect climate that supports the distillation process.  Aside from Crown Royal, there is the Cask No. 16, Extra Rare, and Special Reserve.  Crown Royal is the baseline whiskey of the brand and is derived from a blend of premium whiskies.  The individual whiskies are matured in special oak casks, blended, and set aside for aging.  The result is a rich, golden-colored whiskey with a smell of fruit and vanilla that boasts a sweet oak and vanilla taste.

    I have to admit, I wasn’tsurprised that the BoozeBasher staff had mixed opinions for the taste tests.  First up was a pour of Crown on the rocks.  The taste of alcohol seems to overpower the whiskey flavor.  After the initial bite, we noticed a sweet floral flavor followed by a mild sour aftertaste.  Overall, it doesn’t seem like Crown Royal on the rocks lives up to the hype.  This may cause some controversy amongst Crown fans, but our consensus is that there are simply much better whiskeys out there for sipping over ice.  Are you upset now?  Do you hate us?  Well, I hope this makes you feel better. 

     The next test was performed with a splash of good old Coke, resulting in that mixed drink we all know and love.  These two liquids were simply meant for each other.  Crown and Coke is a great mix.  The mixture produces a good floral whiskey flavor with about half the bite of the pour on the rocks.  It’s quite tasty and refreshing.  In fact, this drink tastes so good that even the ladies tend to dig it.  No disrespect to the whiskey drinking ladies, but let’s face it, most women don’t like whiskey.  Nevertheless, if Crown Royal makes the ladies happy, then it makes me happy, because sometimes it makes them make me really happy.  I’ll end it there.

    After enjoying four drinks each mixed with Coke, loaded with at least a shot and a half, I was feeling great.  The drunk was very smooth and energetic but not extreme. While some of the BoozeBasher staff and I were out, I did my best to stick to Crown Royal in an effort to keep a pure drunk.  I think I can add about four more to the total count.  By the end of the night, I was pretty intoxicated, but I was able to function quite well.  Crown made a good showing in the drunkability department.  Even after the good drunk, the hangover from Crown was surprisingly mild.  I noticed just the typical hint of dehydration, but I was up and about pretty quickly the next morning.  I’ll have to highly recommend this stuff if you really want to get trashed while not risking death the next day.

    One of the only things that brings Crown Royal down is the price.  Let’s face it; it’s not that cheap compared to other whiskeys.  A 750ml bottle averages around $20.  That isn’t ridiculously pricey, but it would be nice if it were a few bucks cheaper.  Nevertheless, Crown Royal is pretty good stuff, and most drinkers tend to like it.  So if you have a few extra bucks and are in the mood for a good whiskey, why not invest it in a bottle of Crown Royal?

Sipability – 6.0

Mixability – 7.5

Drunkability – 8.0

Hangover-ability – 7.5

Bang for the Buck – 6.0

Overall -  7.5   

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