It’s early January. It’s Victoria. Must be Whisky Season!! THE SHOW It’s the first of two Whisky Specials from the 2025 Canadian Whisky Awards and the 2025 Victoria Whisky Festival. There are always headlining whiskies and star whisky makers in attendance! Whisky fans want to taste and explore the new releases from Crown Royal, Canadian Club, Forty Creek, Hiram Walker, JP Wiser’s Lot 40, Pike Creek, Gooderham and Worts, Nikka, Amrut, The Dalmore and Glencadam. For the first time ever, Gisbelle Distillery a distillery from China, would be joining the lineup. The West Coast and Vancouver Island were well represented. Stillhead, Odd Society, DubhGlas, Sheringham, Sons of Vancouver & Shelter Point. Over 200 whiskies were up for the awards. 14 judges from across the country tasted and scored. The Grand Prize Winner, judged Canadian Whisky of the Year was, The Peat Project Moscatel Barrique single malt from Macaloney’s Island Distillery (Saanich) Here are the guests on part one of the 2025 Whisky Awards and Victoria Whisky Festival Davin De Kergommeaux – Davin is the flag bearer for Canadian Whisky. He singlehandedly brought Canadian Whisky to the attention of Canada and The World. His latest book is the updated and expanded third edition of Canadian Whisky – The Essential Portable Expert. I love the first line. “Handles, mickeys, shots or drams, no matter what its measure, Canadian whisky is a story of Canada.” Davin is my ultimate connection to the world of Canadian Whisky. He helped create these awards and leads the judging team. Grant Stevely – Distiller at DubhGlas (Oliver) In the fall of 2010, Grant purchased some property at Gallagher Lake near Oliver, B.C. “I wanted to build a distillery from the ground up, which is distinctly different from a lot of other distilleries,” he says. “So we built the distillery with expansion in mind.” At the heart of the operation is a German-made Arnold Holstein still. No sooner did Stevely open Dubh Glas Distillery in the spring of 2015, when he began winning awards for his first product, Noteworthy Gin. “Dubh Glas” is Scottish Gaelic for “from the dark water.” It’s pronounced “Douglas,” which happens to be Stevely’s middle name. Jason MacIsaac – Distiller. Sheringham (Langford, BC) Sheringham Distillery won Best Contemporary Gin at the 2019 World Gin Awards Its Seaside Gin captured the award against World-class competition from 23 countries, including the UK and USA. “We created Sheringham because we saw a hole in the market: the opportunity to create the world’s most drinkable spirits. This approach has served us well, and in the seven years since founding Sheringham, we have been on the ground building authentic connections with buyers, retailers, and consumers, sharing our story and highlighting our chef-driven approach to innovation and quality.” (Distiller Mag) Jason and wife Alayne now have their growing portfolio available across Canada and in 15 markets in the USA. Graeme Macaloney – Master Distiller Macaloney Island Distillery (Saanich) There once was a wee Scottish lad by the name of Graeme Macaloney who found a summer job bottling whisky and fell in love with Uisge Beatha, the ‘water of life’. He dedicated his heart to finding a way to make whisky for a living. Graeme set up shop on Saanich, just outside Victoria. Some of his favourite Scottish and Irish whiskies were island-made. Graeme has found his “island” in Canada. Congratulations Champ!! – Distillery opened in 2016
