Spotlight on British Columbia Single Malt Whiskies
The article below contains information and tasting notes to supplement ‘The Surprising Single Malt Whiskies of British Columbia,’ a feature story in the winter edition of Full Pour magazine. Canadian readers can find the issue on newsstands at Chapters and Indigo stores, or order it directly from the full-pour.com website, getting free delivery with the coupon code ‘6FORTHENORTH.’ Distilleries are listed in alphabetical order.
Due to the limited run nature of and high demand for small-batch whiskies, several of the products below are sold out at the time of publication. Interested readers are advised to keep an eye on the distillery websites to catch new or repeat releases as they become available.
Devine Distillery Glen Saanich Single Malt Whisky (43%)
As its name might suggest, DEVINE was originally conceived as a winery and operated as such until its owners, the Windsor family, concluded that wine from Vancouver Island would forever be the “ugly stepchild” of more celebrated Okanagan Valley wine and turned their attention instead to distilling. Several white spirits followed, including a most laudable genever and a ‘rum’ made from honey rather than molasses, and ultimately, whisky.
As is the case with many of the Island’s malts, everything about this whisky, from the growing and malting of the barley to the distilling and aging of the spirit, occurs within a fairly tight geographic region, hence the reference to the Saanich Peninsula in the whisky’s name. It is resolutely designed to reflect the local terroir, says distiller Kevin Titcomb, and is presently bottled for release at a little over four years of age.
Pale gold in colour, it boasts a delicate but complex aroma with notes of fresh pear and lemony citrus mixing with the scent of a fresh and softly floral field of grain. On the palate, it is similarly elegant, with more pear and a light flowery sweetness up front, moving to a somewhat drier but still sweet, gently cinnamony, vanilla-accented mid-palate, and a softly oaky, ever-so-slightly saline, just off-dry finish. A stellar late afternoon sipping whisky.
85 ($82)
Dubh Glas Single Malt Whisky – Royal Oaks Single Barrel (44%)
This is very small batch whisky making in the centre of the Okanagan Valley, as the Dubh Glas releases emerge for now from very modestly-sized barrels, my bottle of the Royal Oaks being one of only 50 produced. Grant Stevely chose to build his distillery in Oliver, due south of Kelowna, because, as he told me, it is the hottest spot in the Valley and so gets the most dramatic temperature variation for maturation purposes.
There is no age statement on Royal Oaks, but as the distillery is just over five years old, it’s easy to guess that it’s a fairly youthful whisky. Bright gold in colour, it has an aroma that belies its young age, however, with dry spicy notes of nutmeg and cinnamon appearing first, supported by wild flower notes (goldenrod, perhaps), a bit of cooked vanilla, some tanned leather, and lightly charred oak. On the palate, the whisky’s youth becomes more apparent, with a floral sweetness up front, nutmeg and toffee notable, leading to a rich and round body that offers notes of candied citrus, brown spice, fresh vanilla, and a touch of icing sugar. The finish, although admirably soft and elegant, is neither complex nor particularly lasting.
While this whisky still shows its youthful impertinence today, it has a character and complexity, particularly in the aroma, that bodes very well for the future of the distillery.
78 (SOLD OUT)
Fermentorium Small Talk Whisky 2021 (41%)
Matt Phillips, founder and owner of Phillips Brewing and the Fermentorium, jokes that his is perhaps the first distillery in Canada that was forced into production by the government. Having obtained his distilling licence in 2007 with no real idea of what he might do with it, seven years of ‘nil’ tax returns later the province threatened to pull the distilling permit unless he began producing some spirits, which he quickly did. A gin followed, now a trio of gins, and, eventually, single malt whisky.
What makes Fermentorium whisky significant is the maltings that Phillips built beside his brewery in the heart of Victoria, supplying not just his brewery and distillery with malt, but also several other distilleries and perhaps a few breweries, as well. For Phillips, working directly with small plot farmers on the Island and malting his own grain is key to the character of his whisky and beer.
The 2021 was the third and, at time of writing, latest release from the Fermentorium. It is a mix of eight barrels, five holding spirits from the pot still and three from the Meuller spirits still, which makes a lighter but faster aging whisky. It is quite pale with a faint haze and a fresh grain nose buttressed by a touch of lemon and grape. The body is sweet up front with cane sugar notes, more rounded in the middle, with grape, kiwi, and a touch of gooseberry, and slightly grassy and woody in the finish. A nicely balanced whisky, one that bodes well for future releases but still speaks somewhat to the relative inexperience of the distiller at the time.
78 ($66)
Lohin McKinnon Chocolate Malt Whisky (43%)
When Central City Brewing was building its new and greatly expanded brewing facility in Surrey, BC, head brewer and co-owner Gary Lohin said that it was a “no-brainer” to add a distillery, partly because it was relatively inexpensive compared to the brewery outlay and partly, Lohin adds, to indulge his passion for whisky.
Now a decade on, the distillery side of the operation, now officially Central City Brewers + Distillers, offers an impressive portfolio of spirits, including a quartet of gins under the Queensborough label, a rum, and several different whiskies, all single malt. Perhaps most unusual is their Chocolate Malt Whisky, which Lohin figures is one of only a very small number of whiskies – “I think Glenmorangie is the only other distillery doing it” – made with a percentage of the mash being the richly roasted and, well, chocolaty malt normally reserved for the brewing of stouts and porters.
At about six years of age, the whisky has only a light gold colour, but that apparent reticence is belied immediately by the aroma, which has a richness that combines unabashedly dark chocolaty notes with toasted cereal grain, oak, and hints of vanilla and black currant. The palate entry is a bit on the sweet side, with vanilla, black currant, and blackberry notes evident, but quickly settles down to a lovely and chocolaty dryness, with a slightly spicy side, notes of cooked vanilla, and some lightly charred oak. The finish is dry, spicy, with a suggestion of cocoa nibs left lingering on the palate. Definitely a whisky with maturity far beyond its age and a solid after-dinner sipper.
87 ($88)
Macaloney’s Canadian Island Peated Single Malt Whisky – Siol Dugall (46%): If there is a more ambitious whisky maker on Vancouver Island, or indeed in British Columbia, I have not yet come across them. Ex-patriate Scot Graeme Macaloney opened his brewery and distillery with one goal: to craft great whiskies in a multiplicity of styles. (Macaloney’s Twa Dogs Brewery, while often producing admirable beers, sometimes seems a bit of an afterthought.) To a great degree, he has been successful.
Macaloney’s devotion to all things whisky has thus far seen the production of numerous whiskies, including a pot-still, Kildara, which won World’s Best Pot Still Whisky at the World Whisky Awards, going up against and defeating some of the Irish giants. He also researched, commissioned, and had built his own malt smoker, and sourced the best peat he could find in the Pacific Northwest to provide the smoke. Of late, he has also experimented with adding seaweed to the peat, to provide an Island accent.
Siol Dugall is listed as being “medium peated” and aged in a combination of bourbon (65%), virgin American (25%), and Portuguese red wine (10%) casks, although for how long we are not told. Bright gold in colour, it has a smoky, Maritime aroma, more distant brushfire than campfire smoke and distant sea breeze than beachfront salinity. The palate is caramelly and slightly citrusy on entry, blooming into a more fully smoked body with toffee, burnt orange peel, cooked plum, and hints of black pepper and cinnamon. The finish is very dry with lingering peat smoke. An ‘any day, everyday’ sort of single malt.
89 ($130)
Madlab Cask-Strength Single Malt Whisky (53.2%): While many, perhaps the majority of modern craft distilleries have been pieced together from found, cadged, or jerry-rigged equipment, Scott Thompson’s Mad laboratory Distilling takes that ethos a step further than most. “We basically started with nothing,” he says, “So (everything) was either scrounged, donated, or salvaged and fixed up with the help of good friends.”
Not that the rather chaotic appearance of Thompson’s 900 square foot production space – which features a leaf blower-powered grain transfer system, among other industrious inventions – shows in his quality spirits, which include gins, vodka, and even an amaro and a raki as well as single malts. Of the last, single malt releases are for now sporadic, dictated by when Thompson find a barrel fit for bottling, but he hopes to make more regular in the future.
Madlab Cask-Strength, batch number 8 bottled in 2023 at three years of age, sports a deep gold, almost copper colour with an aroma that barely reflects its strength, with gentle notes of oak, baked apple, dried leaf, and nutmeg, plus just a touch of heat from its 53% alcohol. That strength is a little more evident on the palate, but not much, with toffee and dried apricot up front, a bold fruitiness with more apricot, overripe melon, and black cherry notes balanced by oak and charred wood, finishing on the hot side, but with a pleasing and lingering dry vanilla and spice. A very pleasant aperitif whisky, no dilution necessary.
81 (Sold Out)
Moon Distilling Antifogmatic Bliss Single Malt Whisky – Rum Cask #4 (42%): Victoria’s Moon Under Water brewpub was for years a sort of local secret in the city’s then already large and about to get larger beer scene, patronized mostly by locals and more-or-less ignored by tourists. The addition of a distillery in 2018, if not necessarily intended to change that, certainly has more people taking note.
The distillery is housed in its own lounge next door to the brewpub, with a somewhat less pubby, brighter, and more summery atmosphere, even boasting a patio with a retractable roof. The focus of the whisky program, first released in late 2021, is on field to farm distillation, with the barley grown and malted a mere 20 kilometers from the brewery and distillery premises. For now, single barrel releases are the standard, although owner and distiller Clay Potter hopes to eventually develop a house whisky available year-round.
Aged five years, this rum barrel-finished whisky is deep copper in colour with an aroma profoundly influenced by its finishing cask, with raisin, date, milk chocolate, and allspice notes prominent. The body is round and rich, with chocolaty, raisiny sweetness up front, more of a mocha and Medjool date character on the mid-palate, and a dryish finish filled with lingering baking spice notes. While made with the same grain bill, this is very different from the stout cask-finished whisky I sampled at the brewery in early 2023, although still most enjoyable and indicative of great things still to come from this tiny operation.
77 ($64)
Odd Society ‘Smoke&Oak’ Canadian Single Malt Whisky – Rauch Malt – 46%: Odd Society was Vancouver’s first craft distillery, with preparations begun even as the provincial legislation that would eventually govern such operations was still very much in flux, finally opening in 2013. While making whisky has always been top of mind for Gordon Glanz, the Herriott-Watts educated founder of the distillery with his wife, Miriam Karp, Odd Society does not simply draw the line there, instead assembling as wide and diverse an array of products as has any distillery in the province.
‘Smoke&Oak’ is one of two lines of experimental whiskies Glanz maintains, the other being ‘Peat&Smoke.’ As one might guess, the former line employs smoked malts of various origins, while the latter uses different forms of peated malts. The Rauch Malt version uses the classic German smoked malt, traditionally smoked over beechwood and used in the Franconian beer specialty known as Rauchbier.
Light to medium gold in colour, the smokiness of the malt is immediately evident on the nose, even if it might not leap from the glass as much as I half expected. The scent of a Rauchbier is there – some liken it to smoked ham or the Hickory Sticks snack food – but it is much softer than what one would find in something like Schlenkerla Märzen, almost subtle, really, with slightly overcooked caramel notes and hints of peach and apricot. The flavour starts sweetly and toffee-ish, with an initial whisper of campfire growing to a more pronounced smokiness on the mid-palate and particularly in the lengthy finish, and soft herbal notes, more of the stone fruit from the aroma, and vanilla and oak coming along for the ride. The overall effect is both familiar and, well, odd, since the expected smoke is very much present, but in a very different form and flavour than what one would get from a peated whisky. All of which make it, to my mind, a most successful experiment.
86 (Sold Out)
Okanagan Spirits Laird of Fintry Single Malt Whisky – Fortified Foch Finish (42%): Okanagan Spirits is not just a pioneer in BC craft distilling, having opened as the province’s first in 2004, it is also British Columbia’s leader in single malt, with the first release of the Laird of Fintry having taken place in 2013. Although no age statement is made on the bottle, the distillery’s website reveals that this is a five year old malt finished in “French Oak Fortified Foch barrels from Quail’s Gate Estate Winery.”
Rich gold in colour, the aroma of this whisky immediately reveals the fruity red wine that was the previous occupant of the barrels, with ripe grape and plum notes arriving first on the nose, followed by vanilla and charred oak, just a bit of dark raisin, and a touch of peppery spice. The start is somewhat creamy and sweet, with a caramelly entry accented by a touch of cotton candy followed by notes of baked apple, soft brown spice, toasted oakiness, and a hint of dark chocolate. The finish is slightly off-dry and a bit peppery, with lingering oak and the merest suggestion of gingerbread. All-in-all, a lovely, rounded, and fully mature whisky, the complexity of which appears to have benefitted well from its wine barrel finish.
83 (Sold Out)
Shelter Point Classic Single Malt (46%): A true farmhouse distillery, Shelter Point can claim not just agrarian, but also coastal influence, with farmland that supplies some 90% or more of the distillery’s barley and a warehouse only one kilometre (0.6 miles) from the shoreline. Add in a stillhouse and setting that must certainly qualify as among the most beautiful in North America and you have a destination distillery par excellence.
Patience is also a hallmark of Shelter Point, as doing all the research and most of the construction in-house meant that five years passed between conception and completion of the distillery, and a further five years before whisky was finally deemed worthy of release in 2016. Today, five years is still the minimum age of the distillery’s single malts, although a solera-style blending system makes that hard to pinpoint exactly, with ten years the eventual goal for the flagship single malt.
Recently renamed ‘Classic’ to avoid confusion with Shelter Point’s other single malt releases, this is a whisky that seems to alternate on the nose between maritime salinity and grain field freshness. Non-chill filtered, it has a very faint haze, even at room temperature, and notes of green melon, tangerine, fresh grain, and seashore in the aroma, with a body that is round and rich, with mellow tropical fruit, brown spice and tobacco leading to an appetizingly spicy finish. A pioneering BC single malt, now fully formed and quite delicious.
91 ($78)
Stillhead Single Malt – Single Cask #10 (66.6%): Set up in the Cowichan Valley about an hour north of Victoria, Stillhead was always intended to be all about the whisky, says founder and distiller Brennan Colebank. And so today, six years after the distillery’s founding, several varieties of whisky, from 100% ryes to single malts, are now being both released and snapped up with great enthusiasm.
This single malt was aged for five and a half years in new American oak with a number four – read: heavy – char. That’s it. Its deep copper colour recalling the char of the barrel, this cask strength malt presents a ‘hot’ mix of oak and cooked vanilla mixed with toasted baking spices on the nose when undiluted, opening up to a complex mix of dark chocolate, toasted walnut, oak, and burnt caramel when diluted. The body, again at full strength, is powerful and tight, with dry date and raisin notes accented by notes of cherry, anise, and a hint of spice. Diluted, however, it becomes – unsurprisingly – much less aggressive and more open, with fruity caramel up front accented by a mildly peppery spice, leading to a pleasingly oaky body that offers a touch of Maritime character alongside singed orange peel, a bit of the cherry and anise noted in the full strength version, although each much softer, and fruity caramel. The finish is dry, slightly spicy, and lingering in its nutty, faintly saline oakiness. A very impressive, and impressively mature for its five-plus years, whisky from a young distillery.
82 (Sold Out)