Canadian Whisky: Traditions, The New Guard, and Rejuvenation

A Misunderstood Classification

Canadian whisky may not have a lot of rules, but it has a strong tradition. New distillers are shaking this tradition up and the established are taking notice.

Whisky categories are set up to manage expectations and ensure a certain experience. Some are so constrained that everything ends up tasting the same, and others go the laissez-faire route. In the absence of narrow regulation, traditions are formed and methods can change organically with the times.

The traditional Canadian whisky style is a blended grain whisky, an industrial style where consistency in mass production is king. Different types of grain are mashed, fermented, distilled, and aged separately.  Distillers work with both malted and unmalted grain, and in the unmalted case, enzymes are used to convert starches to available sugars for fermentation.  

Distillers make several different spirit types, which usually include a high alcohol, lighter base spirit typically from corn, and flavouring spirits distilled to a lower alcohol, made from rye, barley, wheat, or more corn.  After ageing, the blender combines the different whiskies to achieve the desired flavour profile. Established Canadian distillers have been doing this for generations and are very good at achieving a consistent product. These are the whiskies you think of when you think of Canadian – Crown Royal, Wiser’s, and Canadian Club. Not necessarily the kind of whisky that inspires the nerds and the connoisseurs.

Often mysterious and non-transparent, especially with established producers, Canadian is the most broad of all whisky categories. It can be made from any grain, distilled using any method, and aged in any wood as long as it’s less than 700 litres and for at least three years. There’s a lot of flexibility for new ideas and innovation. However, a couple aspects of Canadian whisky are frequently misunderstood.

How can Crown Royal’s Coffey rye be only 31.5% rye?

In some parts of Canada, the word “rye” is used interchangeably with “whisky” when referring to Canadian whisky. This comes from the tradition of blending rye flavouring with a corn base to create “rye-flavoured” whisky. Misunderstanding of this concept, usually through the lens of American whiskey, has led many to see Canadian whisky practices as fraudulent. In fact rye whisky doesn’t have to use any actual rye grain in the distillate. Dr. Don Livermore, Master Blender at Hiram Walker, will tell you he can get plenty of spicy rye flavour (4-Ethylguaiacol) in his whisky without using rye grain.

Not exactly. The infamous 1/11 rule allows wine or other alcoholic spirits at least two years old to be added for flavouring, up to 1/11 of the total volume, or 9.09%. Seems strange, but ask yourself: what are distillers really doing when they fill wet casks that previously contained port, sherry, or bourbon? For obvious reasons, the connoisseurs don’t like this rule. Revision of this legacy regulation would go a long way to boost credibility, whether that is mandated disclosure, or removal entirely.

New Canadian distillers, such as Two Brewers and Shelter Point, are using more pot-stilled spirit, ageing in more active wood, and bottling at higher strength without adding colour or stripping flavour through chill filtration. More importantly, they are telling us about what’s in the bottle. Whisky enthusiasts love this most of all.

Today I bring you a selection of whiskies that highlight new producers and trends, as well as the impact they’re having on the established distilleries. To showcase the diversity of the category and the movement within, these are three very different whiskies, but all uniquely Canadian.

Review

Shelter Point Artisanal Single Malt, 46% ABV
$65 from the distillery

Shelter Point on Vancouver Island is doing it right (“right”, of course, meaning the Scottish single malt way) by running malted barley through a pair of Forsyth copper pot stills. They represent the leading force in a new wave of Canadian distillers leaning away from the old blending routine and towards the complex flavour of single malts and natural presentation. Side note: although this is a malted barley spirit, “malt” in Canadian whisky can indicate the use of any malted grain.

Nose

A strange stale vermouth note quickly dissipates and is replaced by dark fruits, orange marmalade, vanilla, baking spices, and general woody goodness. Cinnamon and candle wax.

Palate

Full bodied, it hits the sides of the tongue. Spicy oak, cinnamon, juicy fruit chewing gum, ripe melon, and syrup.

Score: 6/10

Review

Bearface One Eleven Oaxaca, 42.5% ABV
$48 from LCBO

Bearface is one producer that’s using the Canadian whisky landscape to their benefit in elevating a column distilled 100% corn base whisky. Widely believed to be sourced from the Sazerac owned Canadian Mist distillery on the shores of Georgian Bay, their standard offering is aged for seven years in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in French oak red wine and new Hungarian oak casks. Bearface is also experimenting with filling shipping containers with barrels and dropping them off in various locations to age in different climates, for terroir’s sake. 

Andres Faustinelli, Master Blender at Bearface, thinks the 1/11 rule is an amazing opportunity for innovation and Bearface was the first to openly celebrate the absurd technicality with this One Eleven release which blends 10 parts Canadian corn whisky with one part two year old Espadin mezcal from Oaxaca.

Nose

Gentle classic light corn spirit, green apple, caramel, citrus with a distant rubbery haze that gets closer as it sits in the glass.

Palate

Watery across the tongue but hits the back of the mouth. More apple, caramel, and citrus; some dry sherry notes, charcoal, and a nicely bitter medium length finish.

Score: 4/10

Review

Pike Creek PX Finish, 22 years old, 45% ABV
$90 from LCBO

From the Hiram Walker distillery that produces Canadian mainstays like Wiser’s and Gibson’s, the Pike Creek brand bottles traditional blends of corn base whisky and rye flavouring whisky with a non-traditional spin by finishing their blends in various casks.  Rum, port, and Cabernet Sauvignon casks have all been used in previous releases, but this 22 year old spirit was finished in luscious Pedro Ximinez casks.

Back to that disingenuous 1/11 rule; the Canadian age statement only speaks for 90.91% of the bottle contents. This whisky likely has some younger rye blended in, but if it’s less than 9.09% of the blend, the rules allow retention of the 22 year age statement.  

Nose

Very fragrant and jumps from the glass. Corn spirit notes with beautifully rounded edges; green apple and citrus rind. The PX cask brings sugar coated berries with cream.

Palate

Sweet and rich entry, vanilla and spice. Very tip of the tongue with chewy caramel. Stewed fruits and anise in the mid palate, the age and the cask finish give a roundness and depth to the texture. A fairly short but pleasant finish leaves you craving the next sip.

Score: 6/10

The Dregs

With Shelter Point, the excitement for Canadian single malt is justified. The distillery is always releasing new and innovative products and recently started releasing 10 year age stated expressions. For now they have cemented their place as head of the new guard and many are closely watching, myself included. I hope they can inspire some of the big distilleries to release single malts. Hiram Walker for example has a malted barley flavouring whisky stream that could be tapped. 

The mezcal really brings a lot to the table in the Bearface by adding levels of complexity to an otherwise unremarkable young, light corn whisky. Recommended for those who are intrigued by the concept of blending different spirits, otherwise I would stick to their less expensive seven year core expression, a more mature spirit finished in nice wood.

I always look forward to the (almost) annual release of extra-aged Pike Creek which shows what well-aged light corn whisky with a fun and trendy cask finish can achieve, and this one is very crushable.

Plenty of exciting new things are happening in the Canadian whisky scene, but unfortunately the supply of quality releases is vastly outnumbered by the run of the mill stuff, and not much of interest leaves the country. Nevertheless, things are looking good as the impact of new innovation is registering on the old industrial producers. We just need more supply – it’s not like we don’t have the liquid.

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. AM

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Whisky in the 6 - Shelter Point Rundown