Windsor's Hiram Walker Distillery continues to rack up the hardware at the Canadian Whiskey Awards.
The distillery's J.P. Wiser's 22-Year-Old Port Cask Finished claimed Cask Strength Whisky of the year and its Lot No. 40 Dark Oak was named Best New Whisky.
J.P. Wiser's 22-Year-Old Port Cask (Photo via/www.jpwiserstour.ca)
Master Blender Don Livermore tells The Afternoon News that Hiram Walker is once again distillery of the year.
"Hiram Walker Distillery won the distillery of the year, our fourth year in a row," he says. "Such an amazing accolade with all the new distilleries in Canada this year and everyone here is very proud of this distinction."
Livermore says the competition just keeps getting better every year.
"The craft industry in Canada is taking off and this year was the most submissions to the Canadian Whiskey Awards," he says. "The competition was fierce and we did very well here at the Hiram Walker Distillery."
He says it's literally a team effort, with 97 per cent of Hiram Walker's grain coming from Essex County and Chatham-Kent.
"Then it goes all the way through to the very end so we can get it into a bottle," he says. "How many skills do you need to make whiskey? You have engineers, scientists, agronomists and microbiologists, that's my background. You need such a skillset to make great products."
J. P. Wiser's Triple Barrel Rye also took home Sippin' Whisky of the Year honours.
— with files from AM800's Patty Handysides.