Profiling Canadian Whisky

Good morning,

Happy Spring! I think it’s safe to say that now. 

Today we return to our focus on Canadian whisky, exploring a few bottlings from a very good producer in Ottawa's east end.

I also sat down with an Ottawa resident who happens to be Canada’s whisky expert. The third edition of his award-winning book Canadian Whisky is now available and it’s a concise compendium of everything a whisky lover needs to know about our great national spirit.

In closing, it’s important that we recognize the suffering of our Filipino friends and family after last week's devastating tragedy in Vancouver. Your communities throughout Canada enrich the lives of all Canadians. May you find embrace as you continue to heal.

Ralf Joneikies, food and drink editor. [email protected]

PROFILE

Profiling Canadian Whisky

“This is a vegetarian restaurant. I didn’t know about this place. My family would love this.”

I was sitting down with Davin de Kergommeaux, author of Canadian Whisky at Cheese and Olives, to talk about his book and what inspired his fascination with this great Canadian product. 

He went on to explain that years ago his family encouraged a vegetarian diet, but that he’s still an omnivore when on the road.

As the foremost authority on Canada’s finest spirit, he does get around, having just returned from London, England’s pre-eminent whisky event: Whisky Live where he conducted a masterclass on Canadian Whisky. 

Then it was on to Amsterdam for a story on the first Dutch whisky: Millstone. Master distiller Peter Van Zuidam certainly can’t have been resting much, on his page I counted 41 different bottlings. You can find that story here.

I asked Davin what first piqued his interest in whisky. His reply? “My doctor suggested that small amounts would be good for my cardiovascular health.” Clearly a medical professional practicing natural medicine.

He went on – “In the early days of the internet, I began researching whisky and eventually found a guy in Amsterdam who also had an interest in whisky. We started corresponding back and forth and soon there were twelve of us. We called ourselves the Malt Maniacs.”

During that time he had been taking so many notes that his daughter joked he was writing a book. It turned out to be a serious idea and seven years later, in 2012, he published the first edition of Canadian Whisky. It took a further two years for the latest third edition to be fully updated with 32 new pages.

We found ourselves chatting for the better part of two hours about all manner of things to do with the industry. From the current trade challenges with the U.S. to how much better Canadian Club whiskies have become over the last years, each talking point leading to another. If only I’d brought my mini recorder. 

De Kergommeaux has put in all the legwork you’d expect from someone recognized as Canada’s foremost expert on Canadian whisky. Not only was he the founder of the Canadian Whisky Awards (now going into its 16th year), he’s been rewarded for his commitment to the industry by being inducted into Scotland's Whisky Hall of Fame. 

His knowledge is encyclopedic and he effortlessly casts about little-known facts from the past that even have a particular relevance today. 

Historically, we know for example, that Canada has stood by the side of our American cousins through a number of crises and that includes prohibition. Once again it was Canada to the rescue when it allowed the Pennsylvania whisky brand Old Overholt to be distilled in Canada during this time.

Davin pointed out that there are now approximately 250 distilleries operating in Canada and this was my cue to point out the obvious: with so many producers of whisky, why do we only ever see the same brands on LCBO shelves? 

His answer echoed my own view: “The Ontario government is not particularly receptive to small distilleries.” Even now, when we should be consolidating support for our local spirit artisans and with more shelf space available than ever, little effort has been made to showcase smaller producers. 

This is yet another example, in my view, of the obsolescence of the LCBO which is in dire need of an upgrade or risk a complete dismantling. They have such a convoluted system of how products are added to their inventory that the bureaucrats choose to keep great Canadian products off the shelves.

This is also a chief reason why the latest edition of his book is such a valuable resource for lovers of whisky: he introduces the reader to dozens of new producers complete with tasting notes. 

His history of Canadian whisky distilleries reads like the proverbial Who’s Who of this world. Seagrams, Corby, Molson, Wiser’s and so many others are given their due and there are entire chapters on the newest distilleries on the landscape. 

More than just a history with tasting notes, in chapters seven and eight, Canadian Whisky covers taste, aromas and textures as well as how to approach a whisky tasting. A valuable tool when hosting your own whisky tasting with friends.

What does the author himself look for in a whisky? 

“For me the number one characteristic is that the whisky is balanced with no dominating flavours. You should be able to taste the craftsmanship making them authentic entities.”

But back to Canadian Club. We all drank this, I expect, during our university years, moving on to pricier and more sophisticated whiskies as we started to have incomes. Then, a few years back, I tried a new Canadian Club product named 100% Rye. It was a knockout rye at an entry-level price and next I tried the Canadian Club 12 Year. Another winner. What had happened?

Maria Palafox happened. Palafox is the chief blender with Alberta Distillers which is owned by Suntory Global Spirits the parent company also behind Canadian Club. I didn’t know of her until Davin solved the mystery for me. This woman had single-handedly taken my cynicism and converted it into admiration, demonstrating how an experienced palate can change the fortunes of a brand.

This was just one revelation in understanding Canada’s ascendancy in the global whisky market. We’ve been making whisky for 200 years, but until just a decade ago have lagged behind in innovation in craft distilling. 

De Kergommeaux’s book amply illustrates how much that has changed and why, soon, Canadian whiskies will achieve the caché reserved for brands from Scotland and America. We may be different, but we’re not lesser. An emboldening message that Canadians are embracing.

His book is available through his website or at independent bookstores such as Octopus Books where owner Lisa will be glad to bring it in.

WHISKEY

Ottawa distillery North of 7 deserves recognition

Business partners Greg Lipin and Jody Miall started their first Ottawa venture Coyote Rock Gym in 1992. Having spent time rock climbing in the U.S., they discovered an appreciation for bourbon. 

Fast forward to 2013 when an adjacent property to their rock climbing mecca became available, they decided to open a distillery and North of 7 was born. They began by selling gin and vodka as their whiskies and rum spent years resting in barrels. 

In order to ensure stability of their products, they brought on a consultant while Greg took courses in distilling. The results are a sound testament to the efforts they put into the project.

It’s encouraging that since a certain trade dispute, North of 7 is enjoying a boom in sales with both industry and the general public. They certainly deserve the recognition as the whiskies show a strong hand in their portfolio with the added benefits that they are non-chill filtered with no added colour. Two “must-haves” for whisky aficionados. 

I wanted to focus on two entirely different whiskies from their collection and selected one made with just barley and the other with three different grains in the blend.

100% Barley Whisky

Inhale deeply enough past the fumes and you’ll come out on the other side in an orchard of fresh red apples. In fact, the sensation takes you into the realm of Calvados, that great apple brandy from Normandy, France. Prepare to be confused for a moment as you check the label.

There’s a heat spike and a surge of oak at the mid-palate that quickly dissipates. You’ll also notice a sweetness to the esters that fly off, revealing vanilla and caramel, leaving you with that long finish of apples and nutty oak.

All in all, this is a sipping whisky that gets more delicious as you go. While it’s 100% barley, this does not evoke Scotch nor does it remind of Irish whisky. It’s very much its own style and it’s easy to get behind. 

As with any spirit, you can mix this but I recommend neat sipping alongside almond or hazelnut flecked chocolate.

Three Grain Whisky

As with the previous whisky, this one is 45% alcohol, yet it feels hotter for some reason. It’s not unpleasant, just noticeable by contrast so you may want to add a drop or two of good spring water.

It’s a blend of corn, rye and barley and with its higher corn percentage, in America it would qualify as a “bourbon”

Upon first pouring into the glass you’ll get a distinct hit of nail polish remover. This is most commonly known as acetone and is to be found in the “heads” (aka foreshot) of a distillate. Distillers remove this as it does not make for a clean product. Happily this characteristic blows off after a few minutes and other aromas reveal themselves.

This is certainly a complex dram with the perfume of toasted oak, young spruce tips, the dusty vanilla of marshmallows, burnt caramel and orange rounding out the experience.

Give it 15 minutes in the glass and you’ll notice that this whisky has become sweeter and softer with a peppery finish courtesy of the rye. It has a fairly rich mouthfeel with an almost oily mid-palate and a long finish.

Once more, I think of this as a sipping whisky but because of its rye component, I tried it with ginger ale and of all the whiskies I’ve used for this drink, this one stands out as singular and really bloody tasty. 

You’ll also want to enjoy this in a Manhattan cocktail. There’s always some debate about whether to use rye or bourbon whisky and as this has elements of both, it’s a winner. The whisky does shine through but is tempered by the vermouth and Angostura bitters for a very mature tasting nightcap.

Suggestd stories

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• Beaver’s Dram Whisky in an elegant option

• Crown Royal Reserve 12 Year is a perfectly smooth Canadian whiskey

FROM THE ARCHIVE

Three ice cream spots to visit as summer approaches

As the summer slowly, ever so surely approaches, it’ll soon be time to partake in the summer’s top treat — ice cream. Here are a few of the spots we’ve tried in the last few years that are worthy of a visit.

Happy Rolls Ice Cream

Originally published July 2024

I’m always up for trying something different when it comes to food and with ice cream being an Achilles heel, it’s easy to succumb.

According to Mohammed (pictured making ice cream), Happy Rolls opened a month ago and already people are discovering the fresh taste of his desserts. 

Read the story

Love & Electric has some of the city’s best ice cream

Not yet open for the season. Publichsed in August 2024

Love & Electric is the latest ice cream shop to be opened by Clea and Colin Lipsett. Eight years earlier they opened The Beach Coner at Britannia Beach and it became a runaway success.

Their Hintonburg shop features the same delicious, quality ice cream that made them famous. All flavours and ingredients are naturally made and Clea adds her very own baked goods to the frozen cream.The new shop makes for a very abbreviated experience with a counter that juts so far to the front of the store that the message is very clear: no dawdling. It’s purely in and out.

Read the review

Haven’s Creamery where cream is king

Originally published October 2022.

For a city the size of Ottawa, we have a disproportionate number of great gelato and ice cream shops. Now, just in time for winter, you can add Haven’s Creamery at 755 Bank St. to that list.

The first thing you notice about their ice cream is the density of some of their flavours such as Cold Brew Coffee. There’s barely an oxygen molecule in all that dairy. And this is where things get tricky. You might think you can finish off a two scoop cup at Haven’s but there’s so much to get through that I wish I’d stayed with one scoop. In the end however, I was victorious.

Read the review

QUICK BITES

• Famed diner John’s (Wellington) has closed its door after 50 years in business. [CBC]

• Ottawa patio fees are set to go up and will this mean higher prices for patrons? [CTV]

• You may want to think twice about using aluminum foil as a cooking tool. [YouTube]

• Red Gold: The Global Tomato Conspiracy is a documentary that everyone should watch. [YouTube]