JP Wisers Triple Barrel

Recommended use: Mixer

Mixer Rating: ★★★★

Mixer Recommendation: Buy it

Type: Canadian whiskey

Origin: Canada

ABV: 40%

The bouquet is mild and inviting, with occasional gusts of grain and rye peeking through a thin cloak of demerara sugar, honey, caramels, vanilla and eucalyptus cough drops, coffee, chocolate and marshmallow; certainly a complex affair, but mostly muted and the volume turned down low. On the palate the whisky is sweet and sugary, and whatever oils cling to the tongue at first vanish as quickly as a drop of water to a sizzling frying pan; what a watery, boring, one dimensional whisky. There is certainly lots of brown sugar, vanilla, toffee, honey and the taste of a day old pot of dried out Turkish coffee with a toasty undertone. The finish is hardly worth mentioning. You are probably wondering why this whisky gets 4 stars despite its seemingly lackluster flavour profile, but to be fair that is precisely what makes it a good buy – it seems to be designed not for the flavour obsessed malt lovers who want fireworks on the palate (of which I am a member) but the vast majority of adults who just want a reasonably priced, smooth and tasty whisky to mix.

I was going to say that this whisky is “disappointing”, but that would suggest that I had high expectations for this whisky. I didn’t. It exceeded my expectations. JP Wisers Triple Barrel is a Canadian whisky which sells in Australia for $49 per bottle, and, to be honest, that is pretty darn cheap. With that price tag in mind, it seems clear to me that JP Wisers is not meant to blow your socks off nor does it seem to be designed for whisky connoisseurs. It seems to me that JP Wisers Triple Barrel is intended to be a nice smelling, and nice tasting, whisky which can be slurped neat or mixed without overpowering a cocktail or mixed drink. In that respect, JP Wisers Triple Barrel has proved to hold up well in a number of mixed drinks and cocktails; perfect this festive season to keep those outside the single malt connoisseur market happy. That’s it folks. JP Wisers may be boring for the connoisseur, but its mild bounbony style notes and subdued flavour is well suited to the world’s mixed drinks market – JP Wisers and coke, JP Wisers and lemonade with bitters, JP Wisers on ice and a dash of soda and lime, JP Wisers in the steak marinade. You get the drift. Watch out Jim Beam and Jack Daniels, is all I can say.  

JP Wisers Triple Barrel smells good, tastes good, and holds up in mixed drinks. Try it if you are after a refreshing change from bourbon or Tennessee whiskey.