Seagrams 6 Years Old V.O. Blend ~ 40% (Seagrams) (1970’s bottling)

• Blended Canadian whisky
• 40% ABV, Currently £25 for 70cl
• Score: 87/100

What they say:

Seagram’s VO is a classic Canadian whisky blend, made with spirit of at least 6 years of age. It is said the blend was created after a post-prandial conversation amongst the Seagram family; the letters “VO” might well stand for “very own”, as in, their very own blend…

Nose: Juicy, spicy rye grains, dried apricot, lemon curd, oak and gristy sweetness.

Palate: Spicy and creamy, medium-bodied with honey, caramel and coffee. A touch of orange marmalade and pannacotta.

Finish: Medium length, spicy and sweet.

What I say:

Sampled during Water of Life Society (WoLS) meeting 30/01/2014 – Edinburgh Whisky Blog (EWB) Prohibition Tasting

During prohibition Canadian whiskey came into prominence as U.S. distilleries were shut down. Canadian Rye was popular with bootleggers and mobsters alike who set up a huge supply chain of the stuff into the U.S. to keep their customers happy. For example Al Capone was associated with smuggling in thousands of casks of Canadian Club during the prohibition era and making himself famously rich in the process. This bottling of Seagram’s V.O. – rumoured to stand for Very Own blend as it was born out of a post-meal conversation between members of the Seagram family – contains blended Canadian Rye whisky of a minimum of 6 years old. This historic bottling appears to have been imported into Italy (from Canada) in the 1970’s during which time the town of Evanston (home of the FEW distillery above) was likely still dry due to prohibition! So technically this is a Prohibition-era whisky! A very nice blended rye – interesting to see how the modern day equivalent tastes.