A celebration of all things whisky this weekend in Windsor.
J.P. Wiser’s Canadian Whisky is hosting the inaugural J.P. Wiser’s Whisky Weekend at the Hiram Walker Distillery in Windsor to celebrate the history and evolution of Canadian whisky.
The event is kicking off Friday evening with a sold-out master class, but there are still spaces available for a series of events planned for Saturday, October 3, and Sunday, October 4.
The weekend will feature live music, historical distillery artifacts, outdoor games, food trucks, specialty cocktails, whisky flights, and retail shopping.
Master Blender at Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery, Dr. Don Livermore, says the masterclass tastings will involve the launch of the newest Lot No. 40 limited and some rare whiskies that haven’t been seen in decades.
“With the rare whisky tastings, we’ll get some small samples for sure. I’ll go through a flight of our rare whiskies that we’re digging out of our archives. I’ll do some storytelling on the history of the distillery and the history of Canadian whisky. It will be a fun, fun experience,” he says.
There will also be distillery tours and exclusive access to a Pike Creek ageing warehouse on County Road 22, where guests will learn about whisky maturation and enjoy special cask-strength tastings in the very place the whisky is aged.
Livermore says the Pike Creek Warehouse Experience will be a special tour, as it’s the size of 132 hockey rinks.
“We are going to load up on a bus downtown here at the distillery and go out to the Pike Creek warehouse. I’ll be guiding the tour, and I’ll have a set of casks set up,” he says. “We’ll ask the consumer to pick a cask, and we’ll crack a cask open. You’ll get to drink right from the cask, and you’ll get to see where we store all of our 1.6 million barrels for our Canadian whisky.”
Livermore says it’s a chance to bring everyone together to celebrate Whisky City.
“This city was built on the back of Hiram Walker 160 years ago, and we’re still a beacon in the community today, and I think it’s our opportunity to open up our doors and welcome the community into what we’re doing and enjoy some music, enjoy some food trucks, some local bartenders, craftsmanship, and what they can do,” he says.
The weekend is only open to those aged 19 and older. Valid government-issued photo identification will be required for entry.
General admission tickets are available at the door for $10. Tickets can also be purchased at the door for the master classes and the Pike Creek Experience.
The event runs from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Hiram Walker is located at 2072 Riverside Drive East. Anyone attending is asked to go to the corner of Riverside Drive and Montreuil Avenue with parking near the VIA Rail train station.
Click here for more information and advance tickets.