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y Judith Lane
Canada’s distilling industry is
big business. From its early
beginnings in Quebec City
in 1769 the industry grew quickly and
by the 1840s numbered more than 200
distilleries. In 2003, Statistics Canada
listed 22 distilleries, many of which were
controlled by multinational companies like
Diageo, Corby’s and Beam Global. Today,
Jan Westcott, President of the Association
of Canadian Distillers, counts 14 major
distilleries, not including growing numbers
of micro and artisan distillers.
Westcott estimates that 15 million
9-litre cases of spirits are produced
here annually. Thirty percent is sold
in Canada and the balance – worth
about $500 million – is exported to 165
countries. The United States, Europe
and Asia are the largest markets. The
Canadian distilling industry employs
7,500 people and creates nearly a billion
dollars in economic activity each year.
“The spirits industry is considered
a primary food manufacturer because
they buy large quantities of grain, corn
and wheat and turn it into high-value
consumer goods. Alberta Distillers is
the largest purchaser of rye grain, while
eastern Canadian distillers are significant
buyers of corn and wheat,” Westcott
says. Distilled mash, a by-product of the
process, is sold as high-grade animal feed.
In addition to Canadian distilleries
making liquor for “home” consumption
and export, several multinational spirit
companies have set up shop in Canada.
FACinG PAGE: Pemberton organic potato plants,
shown here in spring bloom, will eventually yield the
raw material used to make Schramm organic vodka.
Photo by dave Steers
Victoria Spirits Gin on the bottling line.
Bermuda-based spirits giant,
Bacardi, a family operation, got its
start in Cuba in the 1860s. Today, the
company makes its rums in 17 countries
around the world. The Canadian facility
was established in Ontario 1972 and
makes a variety of Bacardi products.
Smirnoff Vodka, the one that
famously beat out 20 other world-class
vodkas in a 2005 New York Times blind
tasting, traces its roots to 1860s-era Russia.
Today, it’s owned by Diageo. Blue and
Red Label vodkas are made in Canada at
the Smirnoff distillery in Ontario.
Lamb’s Navy Rum originates in
Britain, but what is sold here is distilled
in Ontario. It is the same for Holland’s
Bols Bolskaya Vodka and a wide range of
Henkes liqueurs. Captain Morgan Rum
and a variety of Dr. McGillicuddy’s
Schnapps are also made in Canada for
Canadian consumption.
Canadian artisan and micro
distillers’ products are increasingly
finding their way onto shelves and
into the glasses of connoisseurs of
handcrafted spirits. British Columbia
is home to Victoria Spirits and the
Pemberton Distillery. Nova Scotia’s
Glenora Distillery makes Glen Breton
Rare Canadian Single Malt and Glen
Breton the Battle of the Glen.
Glenora Distillery in Cape
Breton, Nova Scotia – the oldest of
the modern crop of artisan distillers
– began production in 1990. Owner
Lauchie MacLean considers Glenora a
micro-distillery with its 110,000 litres
production annually and says, “Glenora
is the only single malt whisky distillery
in the country.”
Closer to home, artisan distiller,
Pemberton Distillery, started making
Schramm Vodka in 2009 using organic
TASTE 51
Photo by Peter Hunt