Canadian Whisky Awards 2022

Last week, the 12th Annual Canadian Whisky Awards were announced and as always, British Columbian whisky did not disappoint. With an amazing plethora of whiskies from so many amazing distilleries across, the province. Below are the BC winners of 2022.

AWARDS

Artisanal Distiller of the Year – Okanagan Spirits

Best All-Rye Whisky – Shelter Point Single Cask 6 Rye 

Best Single Malt Whisky – Shelter Point Smoke Point 3

Best Single Grain Whisky – Shelter Point Single Cask 6 Rye

Best Mixed-Mash Whisky – Okanagan Spirits BRBN Bourbon-Style Whisky

Best Single Barrel Whisky – Shelter Point Single Cask 6 Rye

Best Cask Strength Whisky – Shelter Point Smoke Point 3

Best Barrel Finished Whisky – Odd Society Maple Whisky 

Best New Whisky – Odd Society Maple Whisky

Whisky Value of the Year – Domestic – Okanagan Spirits BRBN 

Sippin’ Whisky of the Year – Domestic – Shelter Point Smoke Point 3

GOLD MEDALS

Devine Glen Saanich Cask Strength Wine Cask Finish

Odd Society Maple Whisky

Okanagan Spirits BLK BRBN

Okanagan Spirits BRBN

Okanagan Spirits Laird of Fintry Black Label

Shelter Point 10 YO 46%

Shelter Point Single Cask 6 Rye

Shelter Point Smoke Point 3

SILVER MEDALS

Devine Ancient Grains

Devine Ancient Grains Cask Strength Single Cask

Devine Glen Saanich Cask Strength Single Cask

Dubh Glas “No Mask Required”

Odd Society Peated Whisky

Okanagan Spirits Laird of Fintry

Okanagan Spirits Laird of Fintry Black Label

Shelter Point 10 YO Cask Strength

Shelter Point Double Barrel #6

Shelter Point Ripple Rock Batch 1

Shelter Point Single Cask #7 Peat

BRONZE MEDALS

Arbutus Distillery Rye Whisky

Stillhead Distillery “The B Word”

Stillhead Distillery “Potent Port-ables”

Odd Society Commodore

Dubh Glas “A Beautiful Man”

Devine Glen Saanich

Okanagan Spirits Rye Whisky

Odd Society Prospector

Shelter Point Artisanal Single Malt

Shelter Point Montfort

Shelter Point Prohibition

Shelter Point Smoke and Oak

Shelter Point The Forbidden #2

Stillhead Distillery Blackberry Port Finished Rye Whisky

Stillhead Distillery Sneaky Peat

Liberty Distillery Trust Ancient Grains

Liberty Distillery Trust Burgundy Cask

Liberty Distillery Trust Madeira Cask

World Gin Award 2021

This week has been a huge awards week for BC Spirits and amazing spirits from across the country. From the World Whiskies Award to the Canadian Whisky Awards, BC Distilleries have a lot to celebrate and be thankful this week. Here are the winners from the awards this week.

Best Canadian Classic Gin / Gold Medal – Ampersand Gin

Contemporary Gin Gold Medal – Sheringham Distillery Kazuki Gin

Best Canadian Flavored Gin / Gold Medal – Stillhead Distillery Wild Blackberry Gin

Flavored Gin Gold Medal – Stillhead Distillery Rhubarb Gin

London Dry Gin Bronze Medal – Shelter Point Hand Foraged Botanical Gin

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World Whiskies Award 2021

Recently the World Whiskies Awards were announced and British Columbia but more importantly Vancouver Island cleaned up with some amazing accolades. Support local distilleries and track down and buy these for your collection.

Grain Whisky

12 years and Under Category Winner

Shelter Point Distillery Smoke Point Batch 2

12 years and Under Bronze

Shelter Point Distillery Double Barrel Batch 5

New Make and Young Spirit

New Make Category Winner

Macaloney's Caledonian Poitín Triple-Distilled Potstill

Young Spirit

Silver Macaloney's Caledonian Oaken Poitín

Young Spirit

Bronze Devine Distillery Ancient Grains Quarter Cask

Single Cask Single Malt

12 Years and Under Category Winner

Shelter Point Distillery Single Cask Peat

Single Malt

12 Years & Under Category Winner

Shelter Point Distillery Artisanal Single Malt

No Age Statement Category Winner

Macaloney's Caledonian Glenloy Single Malt Whisky

No Age Statement Gold

Glen Saanich Single Malt Whisky

American Distiller's Institute Craft Spirit Awards

The American Distiller’s Institute announced the winner’s of the 2020 Craft Spirit Awards and Spinnaker’s new distillery along with Victoria Caledonia took home some serious metal. Congratulations to both.

Best of Category              

International Liqueur  - Spinnakers Chocoholic Creme de Cacao        

International Whiskey - Victoria Caledonian Distillery Benrinnes & Glenlossie Speyside STR

Gold Medal        

International Whiskey - Victoria Caledonian Distillery Benrinnes & Glenlossie Speyside STR

Silver Medal      

International Gin - Spinnakers Botanical Beach London Dry Gin

International Vodka - Spinnakers Breakwater Vodka

International Liqueur - Spinnakers Chocoholic Creme de Cacao        

International Whiskey - Victoria Caledonian Distillery Glenloy Single Malt Whisky "Island"   

International Whiskey - Victoria Caledonian Distillery Peated Mac Na Braiche            

Bronze Medal   

International Gin - Spinnakers Navy Strength Gin

San Francisco Spirits Competition Award Winners 2020

The San Francisco Spirits Competition announced it’s winners today and British Columbia really shone through the huge amount of spirits tasted. Click the links to purchase these award winners!

Gold Medal Winners

Esquimalt Wine Company Rosso Vermouth

Macaloney's Caledonian Twa Cask Islay STR- Caol Ila & Bunnahabhain

Macaloney's Caledonian Twa Cask Speyside STR - Benrinnes & Glenlossie

Macaloney's Caledonian Twa Cask Highland STR - Blair Athol & MacDuff

Silver Medal Winners

The Liberty Distillery TRUTH Oat Vodka Distiller's Reserve

Bronze Medal Winners

The Liberty Distillery TRUST Single Grain Whiskey

The Liberty Distillery TRUST Southern Whiskey

Shelter Point and Macaloney's Caledonian Distillery win at World Whiskies Awards 2020

Vancouver island’s very own Shelter Point and Macaloneys’s took away great wins at the World Whiskies Awards, full list here

Best Canadian Grain

Category Winner - Shelter Point Smoke Point

"Medium amber in colour. Complex nose with clotted cream, ginger, tropical fruit, also smoky. Palate is creamy, more ginger, vanilla pods, medium spice balanced with a smoky tone. Finish is gentle, cinnamon, some oak”

Best Canadian Single Malt

Category Winner - Shelter Point Old Vines Foch Reserve

"Medium amber in colour. Nose is dark caramel, vinegar, lots of oak. Palate is oaky, dates, bovril, cloves. Finish is more bovril, cloves, pepper, oak”

Gold - Shelter Point Single Malt

"Nice malty structure, wood integrated, fresh lumber. Late palate. Good grain structure. Vibrant drops into pencil shavings onto the finish. Custard, vanilla”

Bronze - Macaloney's Caledonian Distillery Glenloy Classic Single Malt Whisky

"Medium golden in colour. Nose is tropical, fruits and papaya, banana, caramel, malty. Palate is creamy mouthfeel, hot, estery. Finish is more tropical fruits, all spice”

Best Canadian Single Cask Single Malt

Category Winner - Macaloney’s Caledonian Invermallie Single Cask STR Red Wine Barrique Classic Single Malt Whisky

"Good malt notes, vegetal, sweet malted barley. Wood spices. Honey, very rich. Hot bodied, every oaky.. Very pleasant fruity and balanced.”

Okanagan Spirits named World Class Distillery at World Spirit Awards 2020

Recently at the World Spirit Awards held in Austria, Okanagan Spirits took 14 medals including Regaining the World-Class Distillery. Congratulations to the team.

Awarded Designation: World Spirits Awards World-Class Distillery 2020

 Double-Gold Medal:

Laird of Fintry Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky (Whisky Worldwide/Single-Malt Cask Strength Whisky)

 Gold Medals (Category/Style):

Laird of Fintry Single-Malt Whisky (Whisky Worldwide/Single-Malt Whisky)

BRBN Bourbon-Style Whisky (Whisky Worldwide/Corn Whisky)

BC Rye Whisky (Whisky Worldwide/Rye Whisky)

Laird of Fintry Rhum Cask Finish Single-Malt Whisky (Whisky Worldwide/Canadian Whisky)

Taboo Genuine Absinthe (Absinthe/Classic Distilled)

Haskap Liqueur (Liqueur/Non-Flavoured)

Cherry Liqueur (Liqueur/Non-Flavoured)

Blueberry Liqueur (Liqueur/Non-Flavoured)

Silver Medals (Category/Style):

Family Reserve Gin (Gin/London Dry Style)

Evolve Gin (Gin/New Western Style)

Aquavit (Aquavit/Herbal-Exotic)

Blackcurrant Liqueur (Liqueur/Non-Flavoured)

 Bronze Medal (Category/Style):  

Family Reserve Vodka (Vodka/Western Style)

A Bitters by any Other Name

Amaro, Amer or Bitters are the seasonings of the bar world; whether potable or non-potable, any cocktail bar worth it’s smoked Himalayan sea salt will have a number of both lined up in the bar. Classic Amari from Europe has become a hot commodity in British Columbia in the last few years; from the dry, religious handshake of Fernet Branca to the sweet and alluring bitterness of Amaro Montenegro. Each has its place in the cocktail kingdom and of course, with the creativeness of local distilleries, it wasn’t going to take long before our own interpretations of Amari started hitting the market.

Amaro is a relatively easy liquor to describe; using a relatively neutral spirit base, you infuse with a variety of herbs and spices. Each amaro from Europe is usually very specific to the region it is from, pairing with the food and their eating and drinking habits. Each brand has its formula of ingredients (usually heavily guarded) and slight variances in production but the end results are bitter forward.

First on the market was the Wood’s Amaro, this was created due to the Campari shortage that befell British Columbia a few years ago, heavy on rhubarb and grapefruit, this amaro is created using a rotovap or vacuum distillation; this ensures the bright flavours in the ingredients are still vivid in the final product. Mia Amata from Odd Society was the next addition to the mix, from the creators of the Bittersweet Vermouth giving it a sibling that shows that master distiller Gordon Glanz isn’t done with recreating old recipes found in dusty books. Thick, viscous with a balanced bite of bitterness and herbal tones; it is remarkably different from the Wood’s Amaro. Lastly, Naramaro will be making an appearance very shortly after printing; the last endeavour from Doug & Dawn of Legend’s Distilling. Naramaro is set to recreate Amer Picon, a very rare, classic orange heavy amaro from France that is the necessary ingredient for the Brooklyn.

These three set the tone for the market to expanded rapidly and changed the amari and bitters selection behind many of British Columbia’s bars. Bitterhouse from Goodridge and Williams brought us their bitter aperitif line of DaMan, LaDame and Rubato, showcasing grapefruit and pomelo, bitter orange and rhubarb respectively. Focusing heavily on the balance bitter and sweet of classic Italian aperitif bitters over the deeper amaro style, Bitterhouse is made for mixing. The drier styles of amari that arrived were deep, complex and with little to no residual sugar; Long Table’s Linnaeus and Arbutus Distillery Amaro, both are great subs for your fernet style amari that give the Toronto its kick. The Linnaeus is developed in with Cole Benoit of Apothecary Bitters and Long Table, very dry, complex woodiness that lingers long after you finished. The Arbutus Amaro takes it up a notch (as Michael, the distiller loves to do), ageing their locally sourced botanical amaro in used bourbon barrels for a full year. This mellows all the earthy botanicals and gives the final product a unique and distinct Arbutus flavour profile.

The scene in British Columbia is expanding so rapidly, continuing to push the boundaries beyond the vodka and gins that defined it during its infancy. Get bitter for all the right reasons.

Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition - BC Awards

Canadian Artisan Spirit of the Year

Sheringham Distillery – Kazuki Gin

https://www.sheringhamdistillery.com/

Gold Medal • Best in Class, Gin – Contemporary • Distinction • Excellence in Terroir

 Selected Judges' Notes

• Gorgeously floral nose, with dialled back but present juniper and a note of earthy savouriness. Intriguing roasted/savoury, almost umami flavour note with very bright intense citrus (yuzu or lime peel/oil) and a palate-freshening, almost mentholated quality to the juniper.

• The nose on this gin is bright, delicate, complex and lively. There are some gorgeous floral notes with some peppery herbal spices.

• Mild gin nose. Light herb. Palate is quite soft and mild, too, although clean, with citrus and other gin flavours that are typical, as well as nice floral notes.

• Aromas of green tea, white blossoms, juniper, sweet resin and tree bark. Soft green tea flavours with a mild sweetness and firm bite from the alcohol.

Exploring BC Vermouth

Vermouth has begun to expand in the province, as the craft spirits culture has matured and the diversity of spirits, liqueurs and products has grown. Selections of vermouth for most bars has long been confined to the classics, Noilly Prat, Cinzano and Martini; in recent years, imported vermouth have been making inroads into BC and has shown that the market is there for experimentation and different styles. British Columbia’s vermouth revolution started a couple of years ago with the release of Odd Society’s Bittersweet vermouth and in recent months, multiple styles coming from Esquimalt Wine Co., Marrow and Beaufort Wines have set the tone for the category in the future.

Odd Society Bittersweet

One of the first in Canada, if not the very first; the Bittersweet is based on based on an old Italian sweet vermouth recipe found in an antique notebook, this reimagination combines 25 botanicals including orange, arbutus bark, cherry bark and wormwood infused into fine BC wine fortified with their malted barley spirit. The balance in the vermouth is a perfect mixing ingredient, bold enough to partner with brown spirits but fragrant enough to blend with gin. With Odd Society also producing the Wallflower Gin along with their amaro, Mia Amata; combining all three makes a fantastic deep Negroni variation.

DEVINE Spirits

DEVINE Spirits is a small distillery located on a beautiful property on the Saanich Peninsula, the farm to bottle mentality along with Ken Winchester’s constant researching allows them to create an amazing array of spirits using a variety of raw materials. Their two vermouths, the Bianca and Moderna are French and Italian styles respectively; the Bianca utilises island grapes and is fortified with their honey spirits, it is elegant with bright apricot, chamomile and jasmine with a nice aromatic spice underneath, perfect for classic Vesper styles. The Moderna style harks to Turin styles like your heavily aromatized with over 30 botanicals that gives you orange, clove, cardamom, rose and juniper with the medium bitterness of wormwood.

Ampersand Vermouth

Ampersands Imperative was the first classic styled, dry vermouth in the province; a partnership between Ampersand and Rathjen winery, it uses Ortega & Auxerrois grapes and is fortified with their wheat-based vodka, Per Se. The botanicals include wormwood grown on Ampersand’s farm, and roasted dandelion root, chamomile, marjoram, and orange peel leading to a bright, flavourful dry vermouth that is perfect for using as a substitute for the classic styles. The Imperative was released in early 2018 and has since been popular throughout the province, becoming a house dry vermouth for many local farm to table restaurants and bars everywhere.

Marrow Vermouth

Shawn Dalton’s passion for natural wine started years ago on the plains of Saskatchewan years ago, while figuring out how to create his own vermouth while managing a bar in Regina led him to explore aromatised wine and vermouth further. That spark fuelled the trips to Spain and discovering that vermouth represents a place, that drinking vermouth over ice in the Spanish sun is a experience unto itself. After exploring the styles, he arrived in the Okanagan and realised that it was the place to build on his wine and vermouth knowledge and create his very own. Marrow Vermouth launched in early 2019 combining wine from Sage Hills and 26 botanicals to create a classic Spanish inspired drinking vermouth; since then he has released a couple more vermouths and an amaro, a small brand making big moves in BC.

Esquimalt Wine Co.

From the duo that brought you Rootside Sodas in 2015, started developing their own vermouth after attending a vermouthcentric event at Odd Society in 2017. This sparked the creative couple to begin the exploration into aperitif wines and vermouths, they spent the next two and a half years researching botanicals, recipe development and wine making that lead to the creation and release of their Rosso in mid-2019. Their traditional style Italian rosso vermouth has a distinct Vancouver Island character, it blends clover blossom mead with schönburger from Venturi-Schulze Vineyards and spirit from Stillhead Distillery along with 32 different herbs and spices. The rosso has been hugely successful since it’s release with more styles coming this year.

Beaufort Wine

Katie Phelan spent years in Italy enjoying vermouth on the rocks, she set out to recreate that style of aperitif here on Vancouver Island. It starts with 11 botanicals each individually extracted in Sheringham Vodka and then combined with a base wine which is a single varietal, Vancouver Island grown Madeleine Sylvaner from their winemaker at Beaufort, Freya Timmermans. The full list of botanicals is a secret, but the recipe includes wormwood, rosemary from Beaufort, juniper, lemon, real vanilla beans and then balanced to off-dry with cane sugar. This amazing Vancouver Island interpretation of a bianco vermouth showcases what can be created with international knowledge and local know how.

The rise of craft spirits that has led to the expansion and diversity of products available in the province, something that wasn’t expected five years ago. Having the products to be able to recreate provincially inspired classics such as the Negroni, the Manhattan and Martini was never envisioned. Now, British Columbia has matured to a point that you can now open a venue focussing strictly on local spirits and be able to build a considerable cocktail menu. Explore BC vermouth as soon as possible.

BC Whisky takes serious accolades at Canadian Whisky Awards

The Canadian Whisky Awards were held on 18th of February at the Hotel Grand Pacific during the Victoria Whisky Festival. In it’s 10th year, the Canadian Whisky Awards were first created by Canadian Whisky expert, Davin de Kergommeaux to showcase the national spirit. Since launching the awards, the whisky culture in British Columbia has blown up and 2020 showed the spread of amazing whiskies winning awards. Davin de Kergommeaux said, “I see a great future for BC whisky. It is beginning to come into its own with several distilleries releasing big, flavourful drams. We are also seeing real innovation in BC with Shelter Point for example experimenting with barrels and grains, Sheringham using heritage grains, and Pemberton being the first distillery in Canada to peat it’s own malt AND, they use peat from their own property. Lots of potential here for sure.”

On that note, BC whiskies look poised to dominant in the future

AWARDS

Whisky Value Domestic

Goodridge and Williams Western Grains

Best Whisky Spirit

DEVINE Wine and Spirits Ancient Grains

Best All-Rye Whisky

Shelter Point Single Cask Rye

GOLD MEDALS

DEVINE Ancient Grains

DEVINE Ancient Grains Cask Strength Strath Exclusive

Goodridge and Williams Western Grains Canadian Whisky

Shelter Point Single Cask Rye

Shelter Point Smoke Point

SILVER MEDALS

Dubh Glas Against All Odds

Dubh Glas Empathy

Lohin McKinnon Cocoa Aged Single Malt Whisky

Lohin McKinnon Niagara Wine Barrel Whisky

Odd Society Prospector Rye Whisky

Shelter Point Artisinal Cask Strength Whisky

Shelter Point Artisinal Single Malt Whisky

Shelter Point Double Barrelled Whisky

Shelter Point Montfort DL 141

Shelter Point Single Cask Old Vines Foch Reserve

Shelter Point Wine and Beyond Exclusive Single Malt

Sheringham Distillery Red Fife

Sheringham Distillery Woodhaven

DEVINE West Coast Speakeasy Strath Exclusive 

BRONZE MEDALS

DEVINE Glen Saanich Single Malt Whisky

Goodridge and Williams Northern Grains Canadian Whisky

Odd Society Commodore Single Malt Whisky

Shelter Point Coop Exclusive Rye

Shelter Point Strath 8-Year-Old

Shelter Point Strath Islay Cask