Sweetness and Burn: The (Lack of) Bourbon Problem

Like some (many?) Canadians, I've been trying to buy Canadian (and if I can't, to at least not buy American) since earlier in the year. As far as my drinking habits go, I've been drinking local microbrew beers for years, no change in habit there; but when it comes to my other drink of choice, whisky, it's been a tougher nut to crack.

I sometimes drink Scotch (my annual bottle of Glenmorangie 10-year), occasionally Irish (Black Bush being my usual), ditto Canadian (I have a few favourites, but Alberta Premium, Gibson's Finest, and a couple others are my budget go-tos). But my favourite style of whisky is bourbon, and so the whole "don't drink American" thing has left me looking for some kind of alternative.

Maybe there are better options but I've been delighted by Lot 40's 100% rye whisky, which to me tastes really close to Buffalo Trace, my favourite cheaper bourbon from the before-times. I'm bad with nuances, but it tastes like a decent bourbon, and only runs around ~$40 CAD a bottle.

It was one of my friends in university who got me drinking whisky in the first place, offering me a glass of 10-year-old Glenmorangie at our favourite pub, telling me he'd pay for it if I didn't like it (he didn't pay for it). But I developed a taste for bourbon in the years after, as I got my career established in a new city, enjoying the sweetness and burn after coming home from downtown, a taste and feel I couldn't find in other styles of whisky. So I'm happy to drink something similar. I had mine today standing on the back patio, watching one dog sniff around the fence, the other race around the yard.