Get ready to raise a glass to celebrate Windsor's whisky history.
On Saturday, June 22, a new temporary exhibition, Beyond the Barrel: Windsor's Whisky History, will open at the Chimczuk Museum at 401 Riverside Drive West.
The exhibit will showcase the history of whisky and its connection to the Windsor-Essex area with a focus on farming, early whisky production, the founding of local distilleries, the Prohibition Era in Windsor-Detroit, and the post-Prohibition whisky market.
The exhibit will include a collection of artifacts and photographs provided by organizations and members of the community.
"It's kind of great to be able to dive into an exhibition like this and see what the community has to offer, see if this community has anything we can use for this exhibition. So it's a great history, a very rich history as well. There's a lot passionate collectors and followers of whisky production and history here," he says.
Capacchione says they've been working on putting this exhibition together for a few years and received a lot of help from the community.
"Items that have been in people's private collections forever, for decades, for longer, which the public won't be able to see on a normal basis. We've also been very lucky to have buy-in from the producers-J.P. Wiser's Distillery, Canadian Club brand whisky, even Wolfhead Distillery in the county have helped us, provide information and as well as some artifacts and images," he says.
The first day of the exhibition will feature free admission between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. thanks a sponsorship from Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island.
The whisky exhibit will be in place into the new year.