...this whiskey may be sugared! For some strange reason over the past week or two I've had a few drams of CC Classic 12 - trying desperately to find some value in Canadian Whiskey. Mind you I've known author Davin de Kergommeaux for some years and I find him an open and intelligent man. To this day I am grateful for he was the first serious writer to promote the Petition to Save Caribbean Rum on his blog. When I first sent him a personal email pleading with him to promote the petition, Davin did his due diligence by contacting his fellow Whisky Magazine columnist, Dave Broom, who assured him the petition was accurate.
Both immediately signed the petition, Davin published a major article and to my recollection we got a huge bump in signatures for some weeks thereafter. The only thing we disagree upon seems to be the fact that the Canadian regulations allow up to about 9% of additives, including wine.
Davin states that despite this glaring loophole, that most Canadian distillers do not take advantage of the abiliity to adulterate. I maintain that if adulteration is possible, the profit motive demands its use.
So what about Canadian Club Classic 12?
Back when the Frozen One and I still maintained the remnants of a long email exchange, our furry Canadian friend had highly recommended CCC12 as a good example of the Canadian genre. So in a spirit of open-mindedness I bought a bottle, and honestly found that it seemed altered, ergo confirming my belief. Well that was years ago, but for some reason I decided to revisit the 12 and found it pleasant, but well - too pleasant.
Now with Johhny Drejer's method recently being discussed, I realized I had an alcoholmeter (0-200 proof) which while not ideal (the scale divisions are so close together to make reading difficult), can still be read, at least enough for fun.
My reading: 39% for a labelled 40% whiskey at 25 deg C. Corrected to the standard of 20 degrees, this converted to an actual 37%. As per Johnny's method, his sugar table indicated a sugar level of around 10 to 12g of sugar! Davin, are you reading?
Caveat: the gradations are SO close on a 0-100% meter, that my reading is rough - but - I can tell you it was definitely below 40%. For there be no sugar, at 25 degrees, the reading would have to be about 42.2%. Thus my reading of about 39% indicated some serious sugar.
Flat Ass Bottom Line
I'll repeat this test when I receive my new hydrometer which at 0-40% will have wider gradations and will be easier to read more accurately. But at an estimated 12g, even this rough look is disturbing. Hold onto yer hats...
