Select Club 91 Special Reserve Canadian Whisky Review
By Father John Rayls
Rating: B-
“There is no bad whiskey. There are only some whiskeys that aren’t as good as others.”
Raymond Chandler
“My own experience has been that the tools I need for my trade are paper, tobacco, food, and a little whisky.”
William Faulkner
(Credit: John Rayls)
These are famous whiskey quotes coming from well-known wordsmiths, and most of us can relate to them. If you are reading this, whiskey likely plays a big part in your life, and good whiskey in particular. But the question is: what is good whiskey?
Of course, we all have our favorites. Low cost and availability are two of a handful of my priorities, and as a result I’m always scrounging the bottom shelf for “hidden gem” whiskeys. It’s risky, but sometimes the rewards are great (this is how I found Old Grand Dad 114).
Select Club 91 Special Reserve Canadian Whisky is one of those bottom-shelf dwelling whiskies I decided to take a chance on. I’ve had many finds in that category I recommend to friends, but Select Club 91, in all probability, will not be one of them.
Very little information is available other than MexCor International apparently is the bottler at 91 proof and it’s Canadian. The source remains a mystery.
The Whisky
The whisky’s coloring is of light gold, while the highlights reflecting around the glass almost appear as white. The legs are easily observed and are prolific, but are thin and run quickly. The nose is medium with oak, leather and light wood grain alcohol.
The initial mouthfeel was fairly light with a short and sweet caramel presence. A minty presence appeared underneath the sweetness. These flavors disappeared quickly and the experience immediately transitions into a medium to long finish, one that was actually the best part of the tasting, as it had an assertive presence which was surprisingly spicy. It began with cinnamon, vanilla and caramel, but then begins alternating between cinnamon and pepper. Most of the action took place mid-mouth to the tip of the tongue.
The Price
I found this bottle in South Texas for under $26.00.
I got a bottle of Select Club “Southern” for Christmas 2020. I was curious too, where it comes from. Let me share.
I’ve done a little research and found out a few things about Select Club.
First, they aren’t a distiller, they are a bottler. They buy most of the stuff from MGP of Indiana. Select Club puts out about 50 labels. They have flavored whiskeys. They have stuff they try to pass off as VO, or Select. One of their big deals is they started putting out a label for each state in the Union. They really hit the Southern states, but there are labels like Indiana, Wyoming, etc. too. Great gimic. Who can resist buying a bottle of whiskey called “.. my home state…” whiskey??
The reason it’s kinda called “Canadian Whiskey” is that the is primarily what MGP produces. At one time, the MGP plant was the Seagrams plant. MGP is now one of the biggest distillaries in the world. You see their stuff wrapped in a thousand different labels.
To get back to Select Club. It is just about the worst hooch I’ve ever tasted. And man … I have tasted a lot of stuff over the years. I could tell you stories.
Select Club is very astringent. When you do the nose test, the first thing that pops into your head is isopropyl alcohol!! It makes you jerk your nose away from the glass!!! You take some in your mouth, and it’s like trying to gag down rubbing alcohol!
I got it for Christmas 2020. I am about 3/4 of the way though the bottle now, because I keep thinking maybe I didn’t give it a fair shake.
I used to drink Canadian back in the 80s. I’ve had my Scotch phases too. I’m thinking: maybe I just need to adjust back to drinking Canadian style, after drinking bourbon for the past 15 years. Nope. Every night is the same experience. Select Club literally nauseates me. And, I’m too cheap to throw it out! LOL