Murray makes Manitobans proud!

Speaking as a proud Manitoban gal, I’m always delighted when anything from my home province makes its mark positively beyond its borders.

However as a whisky explorer, I must admit Rye has never been my thing and the humble Crown Royal from my old backyard Gimli, Manitoba took a back seat long ago…

That said, I’ve begged family and friends to pretty please snag me an extremely reasonably priced bottle of the Northern Harvest Rye from the local Manitoba liquor store to be collected on my next trip to Canada… I’m always open to have my scepticism refuted! And happy to bring the novelty of Manitoban whiskey to Mumbai, Maharashtra.

So what is all the fuss? Skipping merrily past many marvellous Scotch whiskies, Mr Murray has established a clear non-Scottish top 5 with:

1. Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye (Canada) – £47  (Manitoba sells for only CND 32.99!!)
2. Pikesville Straight Rye (USA) – £33
3. Midleton Dair Ghaelach (Ireland) – £180
4. William Larue Weller Bourbon (Bot.2014) (USA) – £65
5. Suntory Yamazaki Mizunara (Bot.2014) (Japan) – £45

As for the Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye, here is what Mr Murray has to say along with his rating of 97.5/100:

Rye, that most eloquent of grains, not just turning up to charm and enthral but to also take us through a routine which reaches new heights of beauty and complexity. To say this is a masterpiece is barely doing it justice.

And here are what the folks over at Crown Royal share:

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye combines the distinctive flavor of Canadian rye grain with the unmistakable smoothness of Crown Royal for a truly exceptional Canadian whisky.

• Nose – Baking spices, cereal, light wood spices
• Palate – Gentle oak note, rich butterscotch, spiced vanilla, develops into soft peppery notes
• Finish – Smooth and creamy

So there you have it folks. As for this Manitoban? My father managed to ‘score’ a bottle from our local liquor store… which has wound its way back to Mumbai for an upcoming session with the Whisky Ladies.

I also had a chance to sample this whiskey:

• Briefly in 2015 during a lovely social Saturday evening in Singapore
• While getting distracted in Winnipeg’s Liquor Store in 2016 
• Part of a 2017 Speed Tasting session in Mumbai

Check out the other Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2016 winners here!

Related posts:

• Speed Tasting – Murray’s 2016 top 3 winners with 2 more surprises!
• The Mumbai Amrut Jim Murray Experience
• Canada’s Glen Breton 10 year

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