whisky, Canadian , is an alcoholic beverage distilled in Canada from fermented grain and aged in new or used oak barrels for at least three years.
When It Began
Early British and French immigrants to Canada brought small stills among their household effects. Using Caribbean molasses and local fruit, they made potable alcohol other than whisky. As settlement reached inland to Ontario, molasses became more difficult to obtain, and grain was used for distilling.
The first record of commercial whisky making in Canada dates to 1821, when Thomas Molson began distilling in Montreal for export to Britain. Major distilleries soon sprang up along Ontario’s Great Lakes waterway: in present-day Toronto (Gooderham & Worts), Belleville (Corby), Waterloo (Hespeler & Randall—later Seagram’s), Prescott (Wiser), and Windsor (Hiram Walker). See Gooderham & Worts and Hiram Walker and Sons. Commercial distilling west of Ontario did not begin until the mid-twentieth century.
In 1887, Canada became the first country to introduce legislation requiring that whisky be aged. This was intended to force producers to store whisky long enough for revenue officers to find and tax it. Before that legislation was implemented in 1889 and 1890, what was sold as whisky was mostly newly distilled grain spirit, often filtered through charcoal-filled columns. Phased in over two years, this new requirement brought an end to small-scale distillation in Canada.
How It Is Made
Typically, Canadian whisky is made from one or more of corn (maize), wheat, barley, or rye. See corn; wheat; barley; and rye. Different grains are mashed, fermented, distilled, and matured separately to emphasize their distinct qualities. Two types of spirit are produced: base and flavoring. Base is distilled to high ABV (then diluted for aging), and flavoring to low ABV. Base emphasizes wood, while flavoring emphasizes grain-derived flavors. (The base whisky is analogous to the grain whisky used in blended Scotch whiskies, while the flavoring whiskies are closer to the straight whiskies of the United States.) See whisky, grain. When mature, individual whiskies are blended together to create the finished product. Since Canadian distillers generally do not buy or exchange spirits, most Canadian whiskies are appropriately termed single-distillery blends.
Following the Rules
Canada’s Food and Drug Act requires that Canadian whisky be: (a) made from a mash of cereal grain or cereal grain products saccharified by malt-derived or other enzymes; (b) fermented by yeast or a mixture of yeast and other microorganisms; (c) aged in wood for not less than three years; (d) of the character, including aroma and taste, generally attributed to Canadian whisky; (e) mashed, distilled, and aged in Canada; and (f) not less than 40 percent alcohol by volume. See saccharification and enzymes. It may include caramel coloring and flavoring. See caramel; hue/color; and flavoring.
Names and Grains
The Canadian tradition of calling its whisky “rye” began when wheat was the principal Canadian grain. People preferred wheat whisky flavored with rye grain and began calling it “rye.” Since corn produces more alcohol than wheat, some distillers began importing corn from the United States in the mid- to late nineteenth century. In the 1950s, varieties of corn that could mature in Canada’s short growing season were developed, making corn Canada’s predominant whisky grain. As with wheat whisky, corn whisky is generally flavored with small amounts of rye. Today, several Canadian distilleries continue to make whisky from grains other than corn.
Who Makes It
From a peak of about two dozen in the 1970s, today just eight large-scale distilleries remain. Three of these are in Alberta (Black Velvet, Highwood, and Alberta Distillers), one in Manitoba (Diageo Global Supply Gimli), three in Ontario (Hiram Walker and Sons, Canadian Mist, and Forty Creek), and one in Quebec (Diageo Global Supply Valleyfield). Canada has no regionally defined whisky styles; each distillery uses specific grain combinations and distinct processes. Recently, some Canadian micro-distillers have begun making small quantities of whisky, though not always in the traditional Canadian whisky style.
Where and How It Is Served
Canadian whisky is commonly thought of as mixing whisky, to be enjoyed with ginger ale or cola in a highball or mixed in a cocktail. See ginger ale and ginger beer; Cola; Highball; and Cocktail. Some prefer to drink it straight, in shots. Steep provincial taxes on the value of finished goods have encouraged producers to keep strengths at the legal minimum. Nevertheless, producers are now releasing richly flavored sipping whiskies at higher proofs, to be consumed neat or with ice or a splash of water.
Canadian whisky is the bestselling whisky style in North America and second (behind bourbon) in the United States. Canada bottles 21 million nine-liter cases annually but only 15 percent is consumed there. The United States accounts for 75 percent of sales, with the remaining 10 percent representing Canadian whisky’s international reach to approximately 150 countries. Top-selling brands include Crown Royal, Wiser’s, Canadian Club, Forty Creek, Gibson’s, Black Velvet, Windsor, Seagram’s, VO, Canadian Mist, Potter’s, Golden Wedding, and Alberta Premium. See Crown Royal; Canadian Club; Gibson; and Seagram Company Ltd. The number of brands available outside of Canada and the United States is limited.
De Kergommeaux, Davin. Canadian Whisky, Second Edition: The New Portable Expert. Vancouver: Appetite by Random House, 2017.
De Kergommeaux, Davin. “A Journalist’s Primer on Canadian Whisky.” Canadian Whisky. https://canadianwhisky.org/blog/news-views/a-journalists-primer-on-canadian-whisky.html (accessed April 9, 2021).
By: Davin de Kergommeaux