I'm fascinated by Canadian whisky because it's so incredibly underrated. Until recently there has been way too much space taken up by the bottom-shelf mass-market brands, but things are changing thanks to craft distillers and some more interesting releases from the big distillers. When I was in Calgary this winter I picked up a bottle of this:
Source:
LCBO
If you've ever bought an upmarket American rye whiskey like Whistlepig, chances are it was made in Calgary, shipped across the border, aged and blended. Alberta Premium is often considered bottom-shelf but it's actually pretty decent and this cask-strength bottling really lets it shine.
Alberta Distillers also made Dark Horse which is one of my favourite Canadian whiskies, but apparently it has been discontinued.
Lot 40 is my go-to Canadian rye for both sipping and mixing. It's pretty much everything I want in a rye.
Otherwise, I find a lot of the big Canadian distillers aim for a middle-of-the-road profile that is a bit underwhelming. Gibson's 12 is a good example. I find it makes a great highball but it's a boring whisky to sip.
In a way, the Canadian whisky industry is similar to that of Japan, because it's dominated by a big few players that make everything from bottom-shelf swill to interesting releases aimed at whisky geeks.