The founders, Pierre Guevremont and Lynne MacKay, had no experience in the distilling industry. One day, while thumbing through an in-flight magazine, they came across an article about micro-distilleries that caught their eye. Feeling inspired, they decided to open their own micro-distillery.

“That’s the classic story we like to tell during tours,” said Brad Deller, operations manager. “Since [then], they’ve passed the ownership of the distillery to Rebekkah Parsons, but they still drop in from time to time just to check on things and make sure we are doing a good job.”

Currently, the corporate structure of Ironworks also includes Matt Cyr, master distiller, Carly Weisner, sales manager and Leigan Stapleton, part of the production team. In addition, Ironworks has several seasonal shop and market staff during the summer months and at various farmers’ markets.

The engine room

Ironworks Distillery has two stills on site – Birgitta and Ruby. “Birgitta has a pot size of 210 litres – a kind of artisanal still, a hybrid between a pot and, to some extent, a column still,” said Deller. Birgitta is at the helm. She makes Ironworks’ rum, gin and brandy using a wood-fired pot, now quite rare in North America. “She was our original still, and she’s been running for over 16 years since before the shop was even open,” said Parsons.

Additionally, Ironworks purchased a mash tun when they began whisky production in 2017. “We ferment on the grain, so we have our own little grain press; it’s our own sort of home-built contraption,” said Deller.

The grain press is set up with a small tote basket on top and a metal grate at the bottom. The production team pumps the fermented grain and wort into the basket, allowing the liquid to filter through. “It’s a very primitive process,” said Deller. “We literally need to go up on a step ladder with a shovel and squeeze as much of the liquid out of the grain as possible.”

Navigating the waters

When Ironworks began, a key part of the distillery’s philosophy was to source and work with local ingredient producers. “[Guevremont and MacKay] very much wanted to be environmentally conscious, but also as locally conscious as possible,” said Deller.

Using locally sourced ingredients has its challenges. Raspberries, blackberries and pears cannot be harvested year-round, and as Ironworks depends on local produce, if a growing season suffers, so does the distillery. But Parsons says the team is “happy to deal with it” because doing so keeps them true to their original philosophy. “Distilleries use a lot of resources; they use a lot of water. We wanted to come up with ways that would help mitigate that,” said Deller.

She was our original still, and she’s been running for over 16 years since before the shop was even open.

Rebekkah Parsons, Ironworks Distillery

One of their water management methods involves how they circulate water throughout the building. Ironworks implements multiple systems to reuse as much water as possible. The building uses minimal heating and cooling, relying largely on running the stills during colder months. Hot water from the stills’ condensers flows through pipes beneath the floors in several rooms. While the stills operate, this hot water helps heat some of the building’s spaces. In addition, they use the water for cooling throughout the building, and avoid plastic wherever possible, using paper-based products such as paper tape.

The spirit’s voyage

At Ironworks, everything begins with fermentation. They produce rum using molasses, vodka from apples, and apple and pear brandies from their respective fruits. The process then moves on to distillation.

Aging comes next and varies by product. Ironworks mainly uses two types of barrels: ex-bourbon barrels from Kentucky and Hungarian oak barrels from Europe. They also use ex-wine, tequila and sherry barrels to keep their experimentation alive. Aging ranges from six months for their gin to more than 10 years for their rums and whiskies. According to Deller, you cannot have a distillery in Nova Scotia without producing rum. “The rum running history is such a big part of things here,” he said.

As a result, Ironworks offers a variety of rums, beginning with its flagship, the Bluenose Rum, a younger and more traditional dark rum. Their lineup also includes an Amber Rum, a Maple Rum, a Rum Boat Rum aged on their boat in Lunenburg and a small-batch harvest rum.

For their gins, Ironworks produces a London Dry-style gin, an aged gin and a Gin Noir made with local blackberries, while their Pear eau-de-vie is a classic unaged brandy crafted from local pears.

Drawing on the history of their building, their Blacksmith Whisky is a recent addition that stands out for its distinctive flavour, with hints of espresso and cocoa.

Almost every one of their products has won an award since they began submitting them in 2011. Parsons says she is most proud of winning the 2025 Product Innovation Award at the Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition for the distiller’s Around the World Whisky, a blend made from barrels lowered into the hold of the Barque Picton Castle before the ship sailed more than 30,000 nautical miles and visited 30 ports of call.

Charting the course

The team at Ironworks maintains a running list of new products or variations of current products they plan to release, including a new whisky variation and an entirely new product. They are also working to expand the on-site events they offer. “We have a lot of events here in the summer, but we’re trying to find ways to expand that into the winter,” said Deller.

“[We] get people in the door by showing off what we do and what we create,” said Parsons. “Using our event space is certainly a big goal for us, getting corporate events and private events and … supporting other local industries in that as well.”

Those interested in sipping Ironworks’ products at home can place orders online through their website, with shipping available across Canada (excluding Nunavut). Nova Scotians can find Ironworks’ products in liquor stores across the province, including Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. and private stores such as Bishop’s Cellar, Harvest Beer Wine Spirits and Liquid Assets at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

Ryan McKibbon – the fourth – has been rising to the challenge, one vintage at a time. “There is a bit of weight on your shoulders, stepping into this role,” he said. “Not only are the wines legendary, but so are the vineyards. This is such a special pocket of land. It has so much to share and so much to give.”

The history

In 1996, Senka and Bob Tennant, along with Peter and Susan McCarrell, bought land on the Okanagan Valley’s Black Sage Bench near Oliver, B.C. Back then, Black Sage wasn’t particularly well known, but that was about to change.

The Tennants established the Sharp Rock and Double Black vineyards along the bench, planting them with Bordeaux varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Their original intention was simply to sell the fruit to wineries in the region, but when they realized how good the fruit was, they decided to start their own winery, with Senka serving as winemaker.

In 1999, they released the first vintage of Nota Bene, their flagship Bordeaux-style red blend. It didn’t take long for Nota Bene to develop a cult following, and following vintages sold out quickly. When the 2006 vintage was released, it sold out in just 47 minutes. “It isn’t just some little barrel selection,” McKibbon said. “It is a showcase of a given year and a given vintage.”

Black Hills Estate Winery – and the Black Sage Bench – were firmly established on the Okanagan wine map. Black Hills was sold in 2007 to Vinequest Wine Partners, an Alberta-based group. In 2017, it was acquired by Andrew Peller Ltd. and became part of its portfolio of wineries across B.C. and Ontario. It’s a big umbrella, but individual properties operate more or less independently.

“We are very lucky that in terms of structure, we get left alone to make the wines we want to make,” McKibbon said.

The team

McKibbon joined the Black Hills team in August 2022, working with winemaker Ross Wise, who joined the winery in 2018. When Wise’s role expanded to become director of winemaking for Andrew Peller Ltd., McKibbon took over as head winemaker (the pair had previously worked together at Phantom Creek Estate Winery).

While Andrew Peller Ltd. is international in scope, the Black Hills team is considerably smaller. There are roughly six full-time people on the winemaking team, while the tasting room and vineyard teams expand considerably during the hectic summer months.

Melanie Rusch is the Black Hills assistant winemaker, and Lissette Alvarez is the cellar master. Sam Strachan is the estate manager, overseeing hospitality, events and the annual Nota Bene release. Susan Watkins is the winery’s brand manager, handling marketing and trade. Finally, Shane Alaric, Kayla Halldorsen and Jordan Powell are also part of the team.

The wines

Nota Bene may dominate many of the Black Hills headlines, but the team also produces a wide array of other wines, including a Chardonnay, the Per Se Cabernet Franc, Syrah and a single-variety Carmenere. The Carmenere grape was originally planted for the Nota Bene blend but proved to be intensely aromatic and very popular on its own. Addendum is their Merlot-Cabernet Franc blend. They also produce an award-winning sparkling brut made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It undergoes traditional-method fermentation and rests on its yeast for 40 months before disgorging.

“Not a lot of people know about it, but we put a lot of time and effort into our sparkling wine program. It’s a passion project, and it’s really inspiring,” McKibbon said, adding that visitors to the tasting room are often offered a glass of bubbles when they arrive.

McKibbon is also excited about the wines they’re producing from Rhône varieties. Bona Fide is their Syrah-dominant red blend, and they also offer a single-variety Syrah bottling. “The Syrah is very expressive of the Black Sage Bench terroir,” he said, adding that Roussanne and Marsanne, two white French grapes, do especially well in the area. “And they’re a lot of fun to make,” he said.

The wines are primarily sold in B.C., and most are purchased by collectors who buy directly from the winery, either through the winery website or the wine club. Select releases are also available in Alberta.

The vineyards

Like so many Okanagan wineries, Black Hills was deeply affected by the 2024 deep freeze, which killed many of the region’s vines and, in some cases, wiped out entire varieties. The 2024 Nota Bene, part of the winery’s new Hiatus Collection, had to be made from fruit grown in Oregon. But the Black Hills team was lucky enough to replant.

“It’s like starting from scratch. We essentially remapped and reworked everything,” McKibbon said. “We planted a bit of Carmenere in the same spots, but a lot of other things have been moved around. As vintages got warmer, certain varieties weren’t in the best spots for what they needed – our Merlot, for instance. Now they are, we hope.”

While they had used the red-grape variety Tempranillo before, they had bought it from a nearby grower. Now, they have planted their own bush-trained (gobelet) Tempranillo using an ancient vineyard management style that allows vines to grow free-standing. “The bush-trained vineyards are adapting to climate change much more easily than trellis-trained vineyards,” said McKibbon.

Black Hills also recently introduced a Roussanne-based Rhône-style white blend, and they’ve planted some of their own estate Viognier for the first time.

The process

Climate change has meant that harvest is starting much earlier than it did in the winery’s first few years. “We just work with whatever the season gives us,” McKibbon said. Last year, they began picking in August, but the final grapes didn’t arrive until the first few weeks of November. McKibbon expects the 2026 harvest to be similar. “We’re all wrapped up by the start of December,” he said. “Everything’s just chilling out and entering its maturation phase.”

All the grapes are hand-harvested and hand-sorted once they arrive at the winemaking facility. While McKibbon has used optical grape-sorter machines in the past, he prefers to have real people make the decisions about which grapes go through. “I think [the optical sorters] are very good, but they remove a little of the variation and complexity,” he said. “I don’t mind the odd underripe berry getting through. It adds to the wine’s character.”

Equipment includes an Armbruster Rotovib Destemmer, a small Bucher JLB 12 Basket Press, and a Willmes Merlin wine press from Germany for their white wine grapes. “All the white grapes are whole-bunch pressed, very long and slow,” he said. “The quality is much better that way.”

Red ferments are primarily in stainless steel, while concrete vessels are mostly used for whites to add depth, he said. The oak program includes foudre, puncheon and barrique, and almost all barrels are French oak, with a few from Austria. From McKibbon’s perspective, less is always more. “We want the wines to speak for themselves,” he said.

While the winery does not follow organic or biodynamic winemaking practices, it works toward sustainability across every facet of the business. The tasting room kitchen, for instance, focuses on local and regional ingredients, and down the road, there are plans to add solar panels to help power the facility. The winery is also a proud member of Wine Growers Canada.

“We’re one of the largest vineyard holders in B.C. We want to be sure we are a good steward of our industry and that we are helping wherever we can,” said McKibbon.

The next chapter

Wildfire smoke has certainly been a challenge in recent years, as has leaf roll virus, which affects fruit clusters. There is no cure yet.

“Leaf roll virus was always something to navigate during harvest, as you get varying levels of ripeness throughout the block,” McKibbon said, adding that he is hopeful that replanting the vineyards will eliminate the virus and that it will be a smoke-free summer. “We should have a small crop from our estate vineyards this summer, which is exciting to see. And in two to three years, we’ll be back up to full production.”

In its early days, the brewery focused on Belgian-inspired beers. In particular, the brewery attracted both national and international attention for its flagship beer, La Buteuse, a Belgian-style tripel. The beers had a distinctive look, thanks to comic-book-style labels on custom 600-millilitre bottles.

Beer drinkers connected with Le Trou Du Diable’s irreverent, punk ethos and gained some notoriety when they released Shawinigan Handshake, a beer whose label alluded to an incident in which then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien choked an activist to whom Chrétien took exception. Even the name of the brewery is a bit irreverent. Le Trou Du Diable means “The Devil’s Hole”. It is a reference to a cave at the bottom of the Shawinigan Falls on the Saint-Maurice River.

A provincial focus

Le Trou Du Diable has won many local and international brewing awards, says Alexandre Lantheir, marketing manager. Those awards brought Le Trou Du Diable attention, and the beer was soon available across Canada and on several continents.

In 2013, Le Trou Du Diable opened a larger facility, though the original pub remains to this day. In 2017, Le Trou Du Diable was acquired by Molson Coors. Today, Le Trou Du Diable has chosen to focus its efforts on the local market, retreating from all international and provincial markets outside of Quebec. Its beer is now available in package and on draft only in La Belle Province.

Le Trou Du Diable’s core line-up, all brewed in Shawinigan, consists of 10 beers, ranging from the original Belgian-inspired beers to the various IPA styles that have captured the craft beer-drinking community since the brewery first started brewing. Today, about 40 per cent of Le Trou Du Diable’s production is IPAs.

In addition to those core beers, Le Trou Du Diable releases about eight seasonal and limited beers each year, including selections from the brewery’s extensive barrel cellar. “Innovation is still a big part of our DNA,” said Lanthier. That means that, while working primarily with Canadian-grown ingredients, brewers are allowed to be creative, collaborating with suppliers to source whatever ingredients excite them.

A community celebration

Building on their demonic name, Le Trou Du Diable celebrated its 20th anniversary on June 6, 2026. As the employer of about 50 of Shawinigan’s fewer than 52,000 residents, Le Trou Du Diable enjoys support from the local community.

For the 20th-anniversary party, the brewery closed the street, set up two stages and hosted a huge celebration. The City of Shawinigan used the event as the unofficial launch of the city’s summer festival season. The brewery also released a limited edition of its famed La Buteuse, aged in XO Cognac barrels. Of course, 666 hand-numbered bottles were available to local fans.

An eye to the future

Celebrating a landmark anniversary is also a good time to look to the future. “Part of our celebration is that we are using the 20th anniversary to create a new visual identity for our brewery,” said Lanthier.

Le Trou Du Diable never rests. Its commitment to continuous improvement has helped keep the brewery relevant in an ever-changing craft beer scene for over 20 years, even under Molson Coors’ stewardship. Despite initial success on the back of Belgian-inspired beers, Le Trou Du Diable shifted and built a reputation for hop-forward IPAs, which now account for almost half of the brewery’s sales.

Cans are the vessel of choice among craft beer drinkers.

Alexandre Lanthier, Le Trou Du Diable

They were also able to transition from their distinctive bottle to cans. “Cans are the vessel of choice among craft beer drinkers,” said Lanthier. Today, most beers are available in 473-millilitre cans, though mixed packs come in 355-millilitre cans. Le Trou Du Diable offers two of these mixed packs: one with four different IPAs and another with the brewery’s Irish red ale, Belgian white ale, American pale ale and Keller pilsner. A 12-pack of the brewery’s Mexican lager in 355-millilitre cans is also available.

To date, the brewery has eschewed the trendy but crowded non-alcoholic and seltzer markets, though it does offer a low-alcohol beer. Perroquet IPA, at just 3.5 per cent ABV, is a hoppy session IPA for drinkers seeking moderation without giving up alcohol entirely.

While four of the brewery’s beers are still available in the brewery’s custom 600-millilitre bottles, experiments are underway to allow them to be packaged in cans instead. These four beers are currently bottled because they are refermented in those bottles. With some research and development, Le Trou Du Diable hopes to soon be packaging these last beers in cans as well.

Staying true to its roots

Despite all the growth and changes, Le Trou Du Diable has remained true to its roots.

The original brewpub, located on the banks of the Saint-Maurice River, continues to brew seasonal and small-batch beers using its 10-hectolitre, two-vessel system built by DME. Although the original five founders of the brewery have moved on to other endeavours, there are staff at the brewpub who have worked with Le Trou Du Diable since Day One, serving the citizens of Shawinigan with the same passion and care that have brought the brewery success since it first opened its doors.

In part, the original brewpub maintains its connection with the community by functioning as an employee-owned co-operative, a unique business structure that keeps the brewery closely tied to the city and its residents. The larger production facility, just a two-minute drive or a 10-minute walk away, continues to produce most of Le Trou Du Diable’s beers in a 50-hectolitre, four-vessel brewhouse built by Newlands. The head brewer has been with the company for 13 years.

This larger facility also has an event space with room for up to 150 people and a stage. This event room at the production brewery hosts ticketed punk and alternative concerts, bringing world-class music to the city to enjoy alongside its world-class beer.

Molson Coors’ acquisition of Le Trou Du Diable occurred at a time when craft beer fans vehemently opposed brewery buyouts. But by allowing the brewery’s employees to carry on the founders’ original punk, irreverent attitude and by prioritizing the brewery’s role in the Shawinigan and Quebec communities, Molson Coors showed how a craft-brewery acquisition can be done right.

For Livermore, the most meaningful accomplishments have never been the accolades, but the discoveries, innovations and unanswered questions behind them. Curiosity, for him, has never been separate from the job; it has been the thing driving it forward all along. That outlook is evident when Livermore reflects on significant moments of his career. He does not immediately point toward award-winning bottles or global recognition. Instead, he points toward infrared sensors.

“When I think about the defining moments of my career, my mind goes back to something that happened long before I became master blender at Hiram Walker,” Livermore said. “Around 1998, early in my career, I developed a technique using infrared sensors to analyze fermentation. It became a transformational innovation for the industry, and distilleries around the world still use variations of that technology today.”

That commitment to innovation as something capable of reshaping the industry would go on to be a driving force in the career that followed. Livermore would eventually become the master blender behind whiskies including J.P. Wiser’s, Lot 40 and Pike Creek, helping push Canadian whisky into more premium global conversations while earning multiple Canadian Whisky Master Blender of the Year honours along the way. Recently, he was named Master Distiller/Master Blender of the Year at the 2025 World Whiskies Awards in London, U.K. But for Livermore, the bigger achievement wasn’t necessarily attached to those bottles.

“I’ve crafted many, many whiskies and received many awards,” he said. “But changing how the industry works remains one of the accomplishments I’m most proud of.”

The science behind the spirit

Livermore joined Hiram Walker as a research scientist in 1996 after graduating from the University of Waterloo with a degree in microbiology, entering the industry at a moment when Canadian whisky was facing pressure.

Vodka was booming, drinking habits were changing and many spirits companies were consolidating through mergers and acquisitions, but Livermore’s attention was already fixed elsewhere: fermentation science, data systems, and the mechanics underlying flavour development. That perspective led him to pioneer the use of NIR analysis for fermentation monitoring, work that transformed how distilleries analyze and optimize production.

“When you can create good data, you can then make good decisions. We moved the needle in terms of fermentation sciences,” said Livermore.

The impact stretched well beyond the laboratory. Better fermentation efficiency lowered costs, improved consistency and reduced carbon footprint through higher-gravity brewing systems that gradually increased alcohol yields from roughly eight per cent to 16 per cent. “Consumers don’t necessarily see the fermentation systems or the production changes happening behind the scenes, but they experience the results through better consistency, better quality and ultimately better value on their wallet,” said Livermore.

That balance between science and consumer experience runs through every part of Livermore’s thinking. He does not separate technical innovation from creativity. To him, they are inseparable disciplines: data enables creativity, curiosity fuels consistency and science protects quality while also creating room for experimentation. It’s also why he resists romanticized ideas about whisky making that reduce the role of a master blender to sensory instinct alone.

Livermore’s view of the job is considerably broader. In his mind, the blender isn’t an artist working in isolation, but a connector operating across every stage of production and business strategy simultaneously. “My job is a funnel,” he said. “I take in all of these different inputs – consumer behaviour, inventory, production realities, commercial pressures, opportunities across the business – and funnel that into the final whisky.”

Learning from the past, pouring the future

Livermore says history is essential to keeping Canadian whisky moving forward intelligently. His book, The Keeper of History, is part whisky history, part technical guide and part industry record. The book traces the evolution of Canadian whisky from the industrialization of the post-Prohibition era through to the modern distillery floor, while also unpacking the science, blending decisions and production systems that shape the category today.

“We need to preserve that knowledge, learn from our past successes and shortcomings, too, and pass that insight on to the next generation of whisky makers,” Livermore said. That philosophy shapes the way he thinks about experimentation as well. Failure is not exceptional; it is foundational.

Over the years, Livermore has experimented with grain hybrids, enzymes, yeast strains, distillation cuts, still modifications, exotic woods, barrel finishing, toasting and charring methods. Some ideas worked, some did not. But the point, he says, is that standing still is not an option. “The moment that [we do], another whisky category is going to pass us by,” he said. “We cannot stand still.” Relentless curiosity is especially important within his category because of its flexibility.

I’m not making whisky for me. I’m making it for you.

Don Livermore, Hiram Walker & Sons

Unlike American whisky regulations that subdivide categories through highly specific production requirements, Canadian whisky law remains comparatively open. Whisky must be made, distilled and aged in Canada in wooden barrels smaller than 700 litres for at least three years. Beyond that, producers are given enormous room to innovate. “Embrace that adaptability,” Livermore said. “It’s not just a regulatory advantage. That flexibility gives Canadian whisky producers creative freedom in how they distill, mature and blend whisky.”

Livermore compares Canadian whisky to paint mixing at your local hardware store. Bourbon, he explains, commits all its ingredients into one mash bill from the beginning. Canadian whisky, meanwhile, often treats grains separately – corn, rye, barley and wheat are distilled, aged and matured independently before blending. “You bring the white paint down, add your ink, shake it up and get your colour,” he said. “That’s Canadian whisky.”

The analogy also reveals how Livermore thinks as a blender. He doesn’t approach blending as a corrective or assembly step at the end of production. Rather, he sees it as architecture. Every grain, barrel and yeast strain is another variable within a larger system that can be adjusted to create different experiences. At the centre of that system sits the Canadian Whisky Flavour Wheel, the framework Livermore developed to map how flavour develops through grain, yeast and wood.

The wheel breaks Canadian whisky down into its three core flavour drivers, tracing tasting notes back to the production decisions that created them. Grain forms the foundation, with corn often contributing sweeter, lighter characteristics, while rye brings more spice and intensity. Yeast shapes the flavours developed during fermentation, producing everything from fruity esters to floral or earthy notes. Wood, meanwhile, influences the final layer through aging, barrel type, charring and maturation time.

The framework has become one of the clearest ways to understand how Livermore thinks about whisky: not as a single flavour outcome, but as a system of interconnected variables that can be adjusted, layered and rebalanced. “When I’m designing whisky, it always comes back to three spots: yeast, grain and wood,” he said.

Creating whiskies that resonate

Even after 30 years of designing whisky, Livermore still talks about the category with the enthusiasm of someone discovering it for the first time. For all his scientific depth, he repeatedly returns to one idea: whisky only matters if it resonates with people. “I’m not making whisky for me,” he said. “I’m making it for you.”

That isn’t just a sentiment. It’s something Livermore actively builds into the way he develops whisky. He regularly brings experimental whiskies to festivals and tasting events as informal research exercises, watching how people react to different flavour combinations and barrel treatments. “I call them Test and Learns,” he said. “Sometimes, I’ll put a whisky in front of people and realize, ‘Okay, this one isn’t resonating yet,’ or ‘Maybe it needs longer aging.’”

His blending seminars at the J.P. Wiser’s Brand Centre operate similarly. Consumers create their own blends, but Livermore treats the sessions as market research, too, observing which flavour profiles connect most strongly. “They get to participate in the process,” he said. “But for me, it’s also a way to understand what people are responding to and where flavour preferences are moving.”

Blending for the moment

For Livermore, the role of a master blender is shaped as much by understanding the moment surrounding a whisky as by understanding the whisky itself. Those inputs include economics, inventory availability, marketing strategy, drinking occasions, shifting consumer behaviours and global trends.

Livermore frames whisky eras almost like historical hands of cards dealt to different generations of blenders. Post-Prohibition blenders inherited scientific modernization. The 1960s and 70s were marked by explosive global growth. The 1990s demanded survival during category decline. His own era, he believes, became defined by experimentation, premiumization and adaptation during major cultural shifts, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The master blender is a reflection of what’s going on globally and culturally. They have to adapt to it,” he said. That adaptability has become especially important in today’s whisky consumption landscape, where consumers increasingly seek not only quality but also meaning and experience. Livermore believes people today are drinking less overall yet are far more intentional about what they choose and when they drink. “Making a truly excellent whisky,” he said, “is about designing meaningful experiences in life. Whether it’s a backyard barbecue, a birthday, an anniversary or a quiet moment with friends, my job is to make whiskies for those occasions.”

Few whiskies embody that idea more personally for Livermore than J.P. Wiser’s Dissertation, the limited release originally built from ideas connected to his PhD work on wood interaction. Released in 2016, only four years after he became master blender, the whisky unexpectedly won the World’s Best Blended Limited Release at the World Whiskies Awards. A decade later, consumers still ask about it.

Now, as Livermore marks 30 years in the industry, he is revisiting the concept with a new Master Blender’s Edition release that serves as a full-circle moment. “It’s been quite the ride,” he said. “Thirty years making whisky, and now I get to revisit something that was very personal to me from early in my career.” That anniversary arrives at an interesting moment for Canadian whisky. The category is more globally respected than it has been in years, as premiumization continues, experimental releases find audiences and consumers are increasingly interested in provenance, production and flavour education.

Trade pressures, tariffs and changing drinking habits continue to reshape the industry, but Livermore seems comfortable inside that uncertainty. In many ways, adaptability has become his defining lens not only for whisky but also for leadership.

For Livermore, preserving tradition is important, but he’s equally focused on protecting the conditions that allow Canadian whisky to keep evolving intelligently. “I live by the simple truth that I want to leave our whisky inventory in a better position than I found it,” he said.

A legacy of curiosity

Livermore’s story is still being written. But already, he has helped redefine what a master blender can look like: not simply a guardian of flavour consistency, but a translator between disciplines – someone capable of connecting microbiology to maturation chemistry, consumer behaviour to barrel strategy and historical preservation to future innovation.

Perhaps that’s why the infrared sensors still matter so much to him – not only because they changed production systems, but because they embody the philosophy that sits underneath everything he has done since: pay attention, understand deeply and stay curious.

A sincere thank you to:

• Dave Brimacombe and the team at Wayward Distillery
• Jordan Ramey and the team at Burwood Distillery
• All additional sources and collaborators who helped bring clarity and depth to this story

And of course, thank you to Chelsea Clarke for her thoughtful reporting, curiosity and care in telling this story. The Poured Canada team is honoured to see this work recognized at a national level.

“In my previous career, when I travelled, I always hit up brewery taprooms and used bookstores,” said Filbert. “I had a lot of conversations in those taprooms. I learned about what I was tasting and what I liked and didn’t like.”

Filbert worked for a banknote company as a technical artist. He says that a technical artist takes the work of a graphic artist and deconstructs it for the printing process. That graphics and printing training is why Filbert has a deep appreciation for book covers. In particular, he scours used bookstores for paperbacks from the 1950s because he likes the cover art. His personal collection includes about 200 such books.

“I think everyone should collect something,” he said. “And it should be something very specific. Then you leave it to chance when you find something to add to your collection. I like the discovery. I like the chase.”

The beer

To date, Bookstore has released 11 beers. If all goes to plan, the brewery will release three more this year. The first ever Bookstore beer was The Quick Fix Coffee Cream Ale, a 5.5 per cent ABV cream ale with locally roasted coffee beans added five days before packaging, to impart aroma and flavour without changing the blonde colour. “I wanted to start with something odd,” said Filbert.

However, that oddity is not without research and precision.

“I want my beers to fill a hole in the market,” he said. Having kept track of the flavours he likes and dislikes in beer, Filbert designs Bookstore beers based on the flavours he knows he likes, rather than strictly adhering to beer styles. “All my beers are novel,” said Filbert, pun intended.

Filbert delegates recipe development to his friend Ryan Fisher, a trained brewer. Then, the beers are brewed at Winnipeg’s Oxus Brewing on a 30-barrel brewhouse built by Newlands. “I’m a big fan of hiring people who know what they are doing, and letting them do it,” said Filbert. “I’m an idea guy, not a full-out story creator.”

Oxus Brewing also produces beer for six other brands. By combining efforts, the breweries can achieve economies of scale in raw material procurement and ensure the tanks are always full. This was a low-cost, low-risk way for Bookstore to enter the beer market, although a small brewery of his own is Filbert’s ultimate goal. Bookstore’s beers have been well received, not just by Winnipeg’s beer drinkers, but by critics as well. Bookstore’s awards include:

• 2024 Canada Beer Cup gold for A Brighter Shade of Doom, a 6.5 per cent black New England IPA
• 2024 Canadian Brewing Awards gold for Flirting with Goth, a five per cent dark ale
• 2023 Prairie Beer Awards gold for Another Deadly Sin, an English amber ale
• 2023 Prairie Beer Awards gold for A Brighter Shade of Doom
• 2022 Prairie Beer Awards silver for Escape From Narrow City, a 4.8 per cent easy IPA

“I try to focus on myself as the first customer,” said Filbert. “I’m just going with what I like and hope it works.”

The art

All of the label art is original, says Filbert. Having found a kindred spirit in Ontario-based artist Randy Preising, Filbert retained him to do all of Bookstore’s label art. Those labels have a lot of details.

“If you look at one of my cans, you’ll see a book cover, a spine and a back cover. Historically, these types of books had coloured page edges, so my labels have a strip of page edge colour as well,” said Filbert.

The back cover, in addition to satisfying required disclosures such as ingredients and alcohol content, always includes a tease to a story that doesn’t actually exist. It’s an homage to the books Filbert loves and collects. There are even recurring characters, “because that’s a lot of fun,” says Filbert. There are even consistent themes to Bookstore’s labels: ales have covers for detective mysteries, lagers and pilsners are westerns, IPAs have science fiction covers, sours are romance and dark beers have a horror look.

Filbert works with Preising to ensure the labels mimic shelf wear. Since these books would have been mass-printed, they often contained printing errors. Filbert and Preising carefully mimic these errors on their labels. “It’s a little Easter egg for drinkers to find, especially if they know about printing,” said Filbert.

Also similar to the books Filbert collects, each beer label includes a three-character catalogue number. The two digits are the year the beer was first released and the letter represents the number of the beer that year. For example, “24-B” was the second beer Bookstore released in 2024.

The community

For Filbert, it is important that Bookstore be part of the Winnipeg community. In 2024, Bookstore released Timeless, a light lager with proceeds assisting CJNU, Winnipeg’s community radio station. CJNU’s frequency is 93.7, so 93.7 cents from every can was donated to the station.

After the Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter was robbed, Filbert helped organize a tap takeover of Bookstore’s beers so that money could be donated to replace the shelter’s losses. Each year on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Bookstore hosts “orphan parties” for those who feel loneliest during this time of year. “My parents died before I started Bookstore Brewing,” said Filbert, explaining his motivation. The annual parties help ensure nobody spends the holidays alone.

Bookstore also partners with local food manufacturers. Bookstore’s beer was used by Loaf and Honey, a Winnipeg fromager, to make cheese. Also, the company’s beer was used by Mr. Biltong to make South African-style beef jerky.

The next chapter

Filbert’s dream to have a physical space to call his own may soon come true. “If things go as planned, I hope to open this year,” he said. Unlike most brewery taprooms that look similar to bars, Filbert wants “a different kind of thing.”

“I want to take over a café with small menu items, with fancy coffee, and my beers on tap,” he said. “And it will be a bookstore. Customers can read a book and leave it there. We will make a note of the book and page number, so when the customer comes back, they can pick up where they left off. COVID-19 killed a lot of bookstores. I want to get people back into them.”

All my beers are novel.

Parris Filbert, Bookstore Brewing

For Filbert’s bookstore taproom to come to fruition, he will require some regulatory changes. While the café bookstore will have a small pilot brewery, current regulations prevent him from selling Bookstore’s contract-brewed beer without paying high levels of provincial government mark-ups. That’s where groups like The Manitoba Brewers Association and Beer Canada can help.

“I’m just a one-man show. I’m a sales guy,” said Filbert. “I took a distinct financial hit to leave my career and do this, but it’s better to be happy and pinching pennies than well-paid and stressed and unhappy.” After five years, Filbert says new customers are still discovering his brand. A café will help give his brewing company a face. Despite Filbert’s modest claim that he’s not a full-fledged story creator, through Bookstore, he is actually writing his own story.

Bookstore’s beers are available only in Manitoba, at Liquor Mart, boutique beer shops and on draught in the Oxus Brewing taproom and elsewhere.

The new limited-edition releases represent the latest chapter in Alberta Distillers Ltd.’s ongoing premium program: the Alberta Premium Cask Strength series and Rare Batch collection. Both series have helped raise expectations for Canadian-made rye, building a loyal following among whisky enthusiasts.

That momentum comes from the distillers’ clear focus, paired with ongoing work in cask selection, aging and blending to keep pushing the category forward. Now, each expression takes that same foundation in its own direction, one defined by age-stated cask strength intensity, the other shaped by long-aged depth and meticulous craft.

Alberta Premium Cask Strength 10-Year-Old

Distilled with local, prairie-grown rye grain and aged for a decade in charred oak casks, Alberta Premium Cask Strength 10-Year-Old is bottled at 67 per cent ABV for a bold, yet smooth tasting experience, with the added distinction of a 10-year age statement. Recently named Best Canadian Rye at the World Whiskies Awards 2026, the release also marks the first time Alberta Premium’s cask strength history includes a premium cork closure.

Building on the distillery’s award-winning legacy, including industry acclaim for past Cask Strength editions, this award-winning expression exemplifies the innovation and precision that has earned Alberta Distillers Ltd. the reputation as one of the world’s foremost rye whisky producers. Alberta Premium Cask Strength 10-Year-Old is available now across Western Canada, launching in Ontario early spring at a suggested retail price of $74.95.

Tasting notes

Aroma: Caramel, praline, espresso and woody undertones
Taste: Exceptionally smooth with layers of caramel, toffee and dark chocolate, balanced by rye spice and sweet espresso
Finish: Smooth, warm and spicy

Rare Batch Issue No. 2

Aged 21 years and bottled at 50 per cent ABV. More than 20 years ago, three distinct barrel types (Canadian Whisky, Bourbon Whisky and New White Oak) were laid down in a rack-style warehouse in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. With over two decades of aging 3,400 ft above sea level, the traditional maturation process of this whisky, combined with the dry Alberta air and chinook winds, which influenced a symphony of flavour profiles enriched with patience and devotion.

Rare Batch Issue No. 2 appeals to both seasoned enthusiasts and collectors seeking a distinctive experience. The premium Canadian whisky reflects precision, patience and the enduring appeal of Canadian distilling. Rare Batch Issue No. 2 is available now across Western Canada, launching in Ontario late spring at a suggested retail price of $149.95.

Tasting notes

Aroma: Notes of vanilla, dark molasses and touch of pepper
Taste: Spicy with hints of caramel and oak
Finish: Smooth and sweet

“Launching Alberta Premium Cask Strength 10-Year-Old alongside Rare Batch Issue No. 2 is a testament to Alberta Distillers Ltd.’s ability to capture the best of Canadian whisky, with precision in the build, refined flavour in the glass and depth from time,” said Deepti Gurkar, senior director, national marketing and global Canadian brands at Suntory Global Spirits. “Alberta Premium Cask Strength 10-Year-Old reflects the craftsmanship of our distillery team and the bold spirit of Canadian rye, while Rare Batch Issue No. 2 continues the series legacy as the whisky you reach for when you want something that feels special.”

Both the Alberta Premium Cask Strength and Rare Batch series have become hallmarks of the Canadian whisky category, earning international recognition and a loyal following among whisky enthusiasts. Alberta Premium Cask Strength 10-Year-Old carries that legacy forward with an award-winning, age-stated, high-proof profile built for intensity and balance, while Rare Batch Issue No. 2, the second release in the Rare Batch series, showcases the distillery’s long-aged expertise, shaped by time in barrel and meticulous craft.

Landing in the same release window, both reflect the standards that have defined Alberta Distillers Ltd. for decades, as 2026 emerges as a landmark year with the distiller celebrating 80 years of Canadian whisky-making.

The Saskatchewan-based, family-run distillery cultivates nearly 95 per cent of the grain used in its spirits, managing everything from crop to bottle. Located on farmland where summer temperatures can climb above 40 °C and winter lows plunge to –40 °C, Black Fox embraces these extremes as part of its whiskey-aging process.

The award signals a major achievement for a craft Canadian whiskey producer, showing how terroir, climate and hands-on production can earn global recognition. Congratulations to Black Fox Farm & Distillery on its international success!

“We incorporated the business back in 2017 and focused on planning in between that and the date of purchasing our property in 2019,” said Goodman. “From 2019 to 2023, [Redden] built the distillery from a shell into what we have today.”

Holocene Distilling Project is nestled in Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island, a 40-minute drive outside of Victoria, B.C. “We are in a residential area surrounded by single and two-acre parcels, and we are right in the middle of wine country. We are now getting involved in many of the wine tours that go through our area,” said Redden. Located one block off the Trans-Canada Highway helps funnel traffic to their rural area, which features wide-open fields, mixed trees and Holocene’s own charming yard space.

Redden and Goodman are the backbone and the brains of Holocene’s small team. With Redden’s background in mechanical engineering, he had lots of transferable knowledge from working with gas fireplaces for eight years before leaving that industry to build the distillery. With similar fundamentals in heat transfer and thermodynamics, he found the process of distillation had many parallels.

“When [Redden] was in college, they were learning about the distillation process, and he became infatuated by it. He found some parts on Craigslist, and he created his own still and began experimenting,” said Goodman. “It all started as a way to save money,” said Redden. “I was 22 at the time and living off of student loans, and I was looking to find a cheaper alternative to enjoying my weekends with the pals.”

Goodman studied botanical medicine prior to joining Redden and was working as a bartender in Victoria prior to opening the distillery.

“We were fortunate because when we started looking [for land] in 2019, the market was really good for buyers. After that, we had to rezone the property during COVID-19, which took a number of years. It was a slow process, but went relatively smoothly. We were happy it took so much time because once we got through the hurdles, our property value had gone up, which allowed us to pull equity out to build the business,” said Redden.

Recently, Holocene Distilling Project has hired three part-time roles – two sales ambassadors and one manufacturing hand to help with operations. While their products are available in 35 private liquor stores on Vancouver Island and a small handful on the mainland, their primary area of distribution is at farmers’ markets. Around 70 per cent of their revenue is comes from market sales.

“We really like connecting directly with our customers,” Redden said. “They get to see our passion and try the spirits before they buy them. On a liquor store shelf, if they do not recognize it or have the chance to taste it, it’s harder to make the leap.” “It’s also invaluable to get that one-on-one customer feedback: what they like, what they’re enjoying it with,” said Goodman. “It’s a very inspiring community when you’re around other creators who are selling things that they are passionate about too.”

“It’s so good to meet the other vendors and makers at the market, too,” said Redden. “Meeting the other entrepreneurs allows us to make connections. For example, there’s a lady who we have gotten to know who loves our products and now includes our gin in her jams, jellies and marmalades.”

The distillery uses electric stills with direct element heating, featuring a closed-loop cooling system that is regulated geothermally. They also use the heat coming off the stills to heat the water for the building. For their stills, one is 1,000 litres, and they also have two smaller, 200-litre stills. Everything else in the distillery, the design and layout, was thanks to Redden.

“Last month we sold out of all of our product … like 100 per cent, not a single bottle left on the shelf. We don’t want that to happen again, so we are looking to upgrade our equipment to bigger tanks to keep up with production,” said Redden.

Currently, Holocene Distilling Project has a lineup of vodka, gin and liqueurs. They have also created a ready-to-mix cocktail and a brandy in the past. The ready-to-mix is a limited release that comes out around Christmas time. The brandy is part of their Lost and Found lineup, which is unique in that they take alcohol from other producers that might not have worked out for them. Instead of the materials going to waste, Holocene uses them to make a base. “They’re limited, experimental and fun products with a neat concept,” Redden said. They also use recycled ingredients in their liqueurs, all part of their focus on becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

Currently, their alcohol is all distilled from a wheat base. “We go from raw wheat to a bottle of vodka in 10 to 12 days. Our gin and liqueurs are both another week on top of that,” said Redden.

Having received substantial awards, including silver for Best of the North West in the liqueur category from Sip Magazine for their Creme Violette, a Best in Class in the Flavoured Gin category from the Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition (CASC) for their Honey I’m Home Honey Nettle Gin, a Favourite at the British Columbia Gin Festival for the Creme Viollette, and two additional gold medals and one bronze medal from CASC for their liqueurs, Holocene may be small, but they are producing high-quality products that people and critics alike are noticing.

“We’ve also won some business awards. Douglas Magazine in Victoria placed us in the Top 10 Businesses to Watch in Victoria in 2025. That was really fun,” said Redden. Additionally, they have won a Black Tie Award for Environmental Excellence from the Cowichan Valley Business Awards and, in 2024, CASC awarded them the Community Engagement Award.

What’s next for the Holocene team? Besides staying laser-focused on their net-zero carbon neutral goal by 2030 and expanding their production, they are also working on coming out with another mainstay gin and a limited release liqueur for a specific exclusive liquor store.

That summer, she moved to her family’s cottage in Malagash, N.S., to study for the admissions exam. Hoping to land some work, she dropped off her resume at Jost Vineyards, a winery located a kilometre or so away from the cottage. “I couldn’t just study all summer. I needed to make some money,” she said. “But I knew nothing about wine, really.” That was about to change. Hans Christian Jost, then owner of Jost Vineyards, had the team taste through the winery’s entire lineup of wine. “I was fascinated. I couldn’t get enough of it,” Haverstock said. “It was a whole new world for me.”

The Jost family started Jost Vineyards in northern Nova Scotia in 1983, one of the first wineries in the province. They planted the first vineyard in the Gaspereau Valley in 1997. In 2004, Gaspereau Vineyards opened its doors to the public.

Gaspereau is situated on an almost 50-acre estate vineyard outside the town of Wolfville. The team farms 50-acres of vineyards, including 12 that were planted in spring 2014. In 2012, Jost and Gaspereau Vineyards were sold to Carl and Donna Sparkes and a short time later, an existing vineyard (now Mercator Vineyards) was purchased. The three wineries now operate under the Devonian Coast Wineries umbrella, and in 2018, Haverstock was named head winemaker for all. Each winery has its own unique style that focuses on different grape varieties and different winemaking techniques.

Gaspereau Vineyards is a boutique winery focusing on premium wines, including aromatic and terroir-driven whites and rosés and food-friendly reds. With the exception of Riesling, the only vinifera grape planted at Gaspereau, all their plantings are hybrids. Hybrid varietals include L’Acadie, New York Muscat, Marquette, Seyval Blanc, Vidal and Petite Milo.

The team is especially proud of their Tidal Bay wines, Nova Scotia’s signature white wine style and the province’s first and only wine appellation. Tidal Bay wines are crisp, aromatic white blends that must be made from grapes grown entirely within the province, and every vintage of each wine must be approved by an independent tasting panel. At least 51 per cent of the final blend must be made up of L’Acadie Blanc, Seyval Blanc, Vidal or Geisenheim 318, in combination or individually. Other grape varieties, including Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Frontenac Blanc, are optional and can be included up to a combined total of 49 per cent of the final blend, with the most aromatic varieties limited to a maximum of 15 per cent of the blend.

“Tidal Bay wines represent Nova Scotia’s terroir as a crisp, fruit-forward white blend that pairs naturally with seafood and shellfish. It’s about expressing Nova Scotia as a region,” Haverstock said. “But you can’t just say you’re going to make a Tidal Bay wine and throw it on a store shelf. You have to abide by the Tidal Bay standards when making the wine, and every year, samples of your Tidal Bay must be tested and approved by an independent tasting panel, which ensures both typicity of style and quality.”

Tidal Bay wines are crisp, aromatic white blends that must be made from grapes grown entirely within the province, and every vintage of each wine must be approved by an independent tasting panel.

All of the Gaspereau wines, including the Tidal Bay wines, are for sale at the winery boutique. They are also at most of the more than 100 Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation stores and private wine stores in the province. They also sell direct to consumers and have their wines at various licensees and restaurants throughout the province.

It should be noted that Gaspereau was initially planted as a satellite vineyard for Jost. When Gaspereau opened its doors as a winery in 2004, Jost continued to use a portion of the grapes from Gaspereau Vineyard, a practice that continues today. Their grapes are both machine-harvested and hand-harvested, depending on the variety and the block.

Since 2018, much of the equipment, resources and teams have been integrated between the wineries, which is why the Gaspereau team can access more staff and specialized equipment than most wineries of its size. For example, the wineries share a 2022 Gregoire Grape harvester among their estate vineyard sites as well as their contract grape growers. They also have two membrane presses: a Diemme Enologia Velvet 50 hectolitres (hL) initially purchased for Gaspereau, as well as a Bucher Vaslin 100 hL for Jost. “Both presses function well. One is a bit easier to clean and is a bit more intuitive to use, while the other has features for easier loading when whole cluster pressing,” Haverstock said.

The winery has always focused on cool-fermented whites in stainless steel and has concentrated its barrel program on reds. They use both French and Hungarian oak barrels. Oak is used sparingly to enhance the structure and supply subtle aromatics in balance with the fruit, rather than to overpower the cool-climate red style.

In 2024, Haverstock was awarded the Wine Growers Canada Karl Kaiser Winemaker of the Year Award. She is the first female winemaker and the first winemaker outside of British Columbia and Ontario to receive the prestigious annual award, which is named in memory of Karl Kaiser, one of the founders of the modern Canadian wine industry.

“To be associated with such accomplished individuals and to receive an award in memory of Karl Kaiser himself is truly humbling,” Haverstock said. “This award is not just a personal milestone, but a testament to the collaborative spirit and hard work of our entire team.”

The overall company is led by a management team with managers from sales and marketing, winemaking and grape growing, and finance and production that report directly to the Sparkes. The vineyards in the valley (both Mercator and Gaspereau) are managed by vineyard manager Becca Griffin and assistant vineyard manager Andrea Burbidge, with assistance from long-time Jost Vineyard manager Sven VonKintzel and oversight by Yvonne Schoening. They also have several contract grape growers whose grapes supplement the varieties needed for production.

Cellar master and winemaker Dave Beardsall has been with the team for more than 30 years, since 1991. “He is very much in control of the day-to-day operations, including ensuring the wine’s stability every step of the way, through filtration and right up until bottling time,” Haverstock said. Roles are intertwined, and many, including Haverstock, work at the sister wineries, too.

Harvest typically starts around mid-September, something that has shifted due to the warming effects of climate change. “I remember when we didn’t start harvest until after Thanksgiving,” said Haverstock. The 2025 vintage so far has been warm and dry, suggesting harvest may be earlier than usual, except for those areas experiencing drought conditions, which may experience a bit of a delay. “In either case, if the weather holds, we are poised for a stellar 2025 vintage with excellent quality and wines with concentrated flavours,” Haverstock said.

One thing they will be intensely monitoring is the flavour development and the acid reduction in the Tidal Bay blocks. “We want to achieve optimal flavour ripeness balanced by the essential backbone of acidity that is critical for Tidal Bay’s refreshing profile. Tidal Bay wines have a required minimum acid level,” she said. “It’s a balancing act, for sure.”

The company, Carl says, is planning an expansion and reconfiguration of their operations to improve productivity and reduce waste, something that is part of their commitment to sustainability. In the vineyard, they compost all harvest waste, and in the cellar and tasting room, they seek out sustainable supply chains, too. “Sustainability to us means creating balance and resilience to endure the storms, whether they are natural, economic or political,” Carl said.

Being a winery owner or winemaker is never easy, but this past year, the team has seen a resurgence in visitors, as people look to buy regional and locally-made Canadian products. That’s something that the winery team sees as important, too. They source local goods and services where possible, and they support arts, music, health and wellness charities and non-profits in their community. They also contribute to the Nova Scotia Nature Trust, a charitable organization that focuses on land conservation.

“We are part of a great community and support is a two-way street,” Carl said. “While we hope people in the community support local, we do it because it’s the right thing to do.” Supporting Wine Growers Canada is also important to the Gaspereau team. “Wine Growers Canada is the true voice of the industry in Canada. Membership means we get involved in issues that affect the entire industry in Canada and beyond. You gain a broader perspective and reach more than just within the industry in Nova Scotia,” said Carl.

For Haverstock, though, there may be nothing better than seeing her own region thriving. “I’m excited to see more people, tourists and locals alike, enjoy our high-quality wines paired with our province’s top-notch cuisine and delivered with our warm and welcoming hospitality,” she said. “And I’m excited to see the Nova Scotia wine industry continue to grow and prosper.”