Review: Playboy Spirits Rare Hare Lucky Bastard Canadian Whisky 30 Years Old
Review: Playboy Spirits Rare Hare Lucky Bastard Canadian Whisky 30 Years Old
Playboy Spirits’ Rare Hare brand continues its Orphan Barrel-esque growth with this latest release: Lucky Bastard, a 30 year old Canadian whisky finished in Pineau Des Charentes barrels. (Pineau is a mix of grape must and Cognac, often aged for decades.)
As is often the case with old Canadian whisky, Lucky Bastard is a rumbling, grain-forward affair the instantly percolates on the nose with notes of sesame oil, gingerbread, and toasted coconut, giving the whisky a gently sweet but still dessert-like quality. Give it some time in glass and you’ll find there’s a sharpness that underlies the sweeter elements on the nose, hinting at some acetone notes.
The palate screams Canadian, popping with rye spice, plenty of the sweet (almost saccharine) sesame oil, and a grainy, breakfast cereal quality that floods the body soon after. Heavy with bubblegum and banana notes, the coconut here becomes almost candylike, the finish decidedly doughy — sugar cookies baked with a candy topping. What’s missing? Any real sense of the Pineau finishing. This tastes a whole lot like many other old Canadian (and single grain Scotch) whiskies I’ve encountered over the years, none of which have featured a Pineau Des Charentes finish.
At just shy of $600 a bottle (with 2500 bottles produced), this is ultra-rare stuff but, oddly enough, if this kind of thing is your jam, you can readily find very old Canadian whisky on the market for a whole lot less than this. If someone else is buying, it’s definitely worth sampling. But if you insist on having a Rare Hare bottle on your shelf, the 1953 bourbon expression is the one to pick up.
89 proof.
B+ / $599 / rareharespirits.com
Playboy Spirits Rare Hare Lucky Bastard Canadian Whisky 30 Years Old
$599
