White Owl Caramel

This was tasted as part of the Toronto Whisky Society. We were given this bottle from Highwood Distillers for the purpose of reviewing it. We take our reviews seriously, and do not give higher marks because something is free. I appreciate the donation from Highwood.

Assuming no one reads that, feel free to call me a shill in the comments.

A few years ago a friend of mine came to a whisky tasting. He was very excited, as we were doing World Whiskies, and as such, he picked Canada.

He showed up with White Owl. For those of you not in the know, White Owl, which make look like a vodka, is actually a whisky. A rye whisky, though please note that doesn’t hold the requirements that it does South of us, in the USA.

This is an aged grain spirit whisky that is aged for years in charred barrels and then filtered to remove the colour.

It also comes in Ginger Lime, Spiced, and now, new to the market, White Owl Caramel. It is flavoured with caramel flavouring.

Before anyone starts, let me just say it again: I’ve reviewed many flavoured whiskies. I feel if you’re going to call something a whisky, then I, a amateur whisky reviewer, am going to review it. You can look up my scores on my website or reddit.

Let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Price: Not available at the LCBO

Region: Canada

Abv: 40%

Colour: Clear

Nose: Fake caramel, ethanol

Initial nose is a sweet, but fake caramel. It doesn’t have the richness of a caramel, rather just some caramel-like notes.

Given time, there’s ethanol. This is an alcoholic beverage.

Taste: Water, charcoal, milk duds, cocoa

Initial flavour is watered down. The charcoal notes of white owl are here. Oddly enough it’s not a ton of caramel. Rather a waxy-type chocolate. And cooca. And earth.

Not my thing, if I’m being nice. Hell No if I’m being blunt.

Finish: Caramilk, chili peppers

Finish is a mix between the caramel flavours and the chocolate flavours of the taste. It’s a nice blend of the new, if for a second before it tastes like burning.

Not a fan.

Conclusion: This isn’t for me. If I was a betting man, this is meant for someone to use as a stronger caramel mixer in shots. That said, I’ve had worse flavoured whiskies. I’ve had worse non-flavoured whiskies. It’s not great, but it’s not bad.

End of the day, use this to make some shots that’ll knock you on your ass. Then have someone take care of you, be safe, and don’t drive.

24/100

World Whisky review #206, Canada reviews #71, Whisky Network review #961