Wiser's Oldest, 18 years old, 1970 /40%/ 0.75l

John Philip (JP) Wiser, a Dutch emigrant, began distilling whisky in Prescott, Ontario in 1857.

By the end of the century, Wiser was the third largest producer in the country, and the first to call his product “Canadian whisky.” Wiser died in 1911, and his sons did not inherit their father’s talent. Just a few years after the death of distillery manager Albert Whitney in 1927, the company was taken over by the H. Corby Distillery Co. and production of Wiser’s whisky moved to Corbyville, where it continued to use the original formula based on a high percentage of rye (a mixture of malted and unmalted). In 1991, there was another consolidation and another move of Wiser’s whisky production, this time to the Hiram Walker Distillery in Windsor, Ontario. There is no trace of the original Wiser’s Distillery in Prescott today, and the Wiser family residence is now a motel.

Wiser's Oldest debuted in the early 1950s (the first editions did not bear an age statement) and is still considered one of the pinnacles of Canadian whisky. Editions from Corby Distillery enjoy huge interest from collectors, with little auction supply. Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to taste the one presented here, we heard that its palette combines notes of toffee, vanilla, pepper, dark chocolate and tobacco with the sweetness of dried fruit.