Bearface Bear-Bon (45.2%)

To the ever-growing family of punily-named, Canadian-made, bourbon-style whiskies we welcome this new entry from the Mark Anthony-owned Bearface line. I attended the launch dinner last night, so I can at last publish the review that’s been sitting in my ‘pending’ folder at Beaumont Drinks for some time.

To be honest, when I tried the company’s flagship whisky upon its initial release some time ago, I emerged from the experience generally unimpressed. However, more recently I had an opportunity to become reacquainted with the flagship ‘Elementally Aged’ whisky – meaning they complete its maturation in barrels housed in shipping containers, rather than in traditional warehouses – and my tasting was much more memorable. What I didn’t know at the time, but do now, is that the whisky itself was changed about three years ago, so my more positive assessment wasn’t simply imagination or palate progression.

Anyway, my significantly improved opinion of regular Bearface had me excited about trying their take on the bourbon style. So let's get on with it.

Billed as simply a ‘charred barrel whisky,’ this is made from a mix of corn, rye, and malted barley whiskies, all sourced from Ontario save for the malt, which was distilled and aged in the now-Mark Anthony-owned Central City Brewery and Distillery in Surrey, BC. Each component is matured separately for four to five years before being blended in the ratio of 60% corn, 35% rye, and 5% malt, and then things get interesting.

Billed a ‘Triple Oak’ whisky, regular Bearface is matured in a combination of ex-bourbon, ex-wine, and virgin Hungarian oak casks. Once these casks have served their purpose, they are shipped to Québec to be recharred, with emphasis given to the former red wine barrels that now have some red wine and some corn whisky influence. The char is significant, “almost an alligator char,” says Master Blender Andrés Faustinelli, meaning close to as charred as a barrel can get, after which they are sent back to BC where for about 18 months they serve as the finishing casks for the blended Bear-Bon.

The back label makes the whisky’s intent clear by stating that Bear-Bon is “the best of the north brought to bear…” – see what they did there? – “…on a down-south-style whisky.” But make no mistake, like Okanagan Spirits’ BRBN and John Sleeman & Sons’ High Rye Straight Whisky, this is a distinctly Canadian riff on a theme, rather than an attempt to make a copycat bourbon.   

And indeed it both looks and smells like a bourbon, at least mostly, but also nods to a softer Canadian approach. On the nose, this is bourbon without excessive richness, paradoxically more in the vein of the generally lighter wheated style than the more assertive rye-forward take common in Kentucky. Corn seems to define the aroma with vanilla and canned creamed corn notes, plus caramel and hints of plum and toasted oak, but on the whole, if you’re in search of a punchy bourbon character, it will seem a tad understated.

The palate entry is likewise sweet but light, with flavours of pale caramel supported by vanilla and fruity notes of plum and grape. On the mid-palate, there is greater body and depth, but it still errs favourably on the side of restraint, as if reluctant to commit to the fullness of the bourbon style at the expense of the softness of traditional Canadian whisky. Some toasted and charred oak notes are joined by red apple, soft caramel, vanilla, and a touch of peppery spice that becomes amplified alongside notes of charred wood in the mildly tannic finish.

The tagline on the back label reads “iconic Canadian grains,” which in a way explains this whisky: it’s in the ‘bear-bon’ style, but still very much traditionally Canadian in character. (Tasted alongside the 100% corn Bearface, it displays a distinct family resemblance.) There are certainly more assertive and to-style Canadian takes on the classic American whiskey out there, and even more that push the envelope even further in an effort to create something new and unique, but if you’re looking for a whisky that marries bourbon styling with Canadian approachability, and at a very reasonable price, this is most definitely it.

86 ($45) VALUE PICK