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.

Born in Massachusetts in 1816, the distillery’s namesake Hiram Walker moved to Michigan, working as a grocer and eventually starting a general store. He had the mindset of an entrepreneur, running moonshine through charcoal and selling it for five cents per gallon. Walker had a growing interest in distilling, but with prohibition taking hold in the U.S., he looked north and purchased a plot of land across the Detroit River, in the area now known as Windsor, Ont. He purchased the land in 1856, and it began operating as a distillery in 1858.

At the time, Windsor was sparsely populated. As such, Walker built housing for those working at his distillery. Although he was operating out of Windsor, Walker commuted every day from the U.S. to the distillery. He remained an American citizen for his entire life. Deeply entrenched in the history of Windsor, Walker’s son became the first mayor of Walkerville, a historically significant area in Windsor, noted to have been a planned city built by Walker. “Canada was built on whisky,” said Livermore.

When he does whisky tastings, Livermore asks, “What do you believe grew Canadian whisky more than anything else?” He says people instinctively say, “Prohibition.”

Quite frankly, it did not,” said Livermore. “Prohibition would have been like COVID-19 was for our bars and restaurants. You lost your customer and that’s not a good scenario to be in.”

I can confirm today that we are making more spirits now than we ever have in our history of the company.

Don Livermore, PhD, Hiram Walker & Sons

Livermore says the most important years in Canadian whisky history fall within the range of 1861 to 1865, just after the distillery was started. The U.S. Civil War was one of the biggest events for Canadian whisky. Although beer was available, whisky kept longer, and the U.S. purchased Canadian whisky in massive quantities. “Whisky is what they drank,” said Livermore.

During this time, many of the fathers of Canadian whisky emerged – Hiram Walker, J.P. Wiser and Henry Corby, to name a few – all of whom took advantage of the disruptions to the south. The growth led the Canadian government to require documentation for whisky production processes and quantities in the 1860s, as prior to this there was very little documentation and most of the process was communicated verbally. Through this documentation, it’s become apparent that early on, Walker did not know the science behind making whisky. Rather, Livermore says Walker would “repeat things over and over by the phase of the moon.”

The earliest records of the distillery are from the 1860s. “There are some cool stories,” Livermore said. “Even the local church was named after his wife, Mary, so that’s how much influence he had.” Not too long ago, a statue of Walker was installed on the corner of the distillery to honour his legacy.

The Walker family owned the distillery into their third generation, through to Walker’s grandchildren from 1910 until around 1926. Once prohibition began to put a strain on distilleries in Canada, Harry Hatch entered the picture.

“Good things were not happening during prohibition,” Livermore said. “There were some people that took advantage of that situation. One was Harry Hatch. Harry Hatch was a salesman out of the Corby [Spirit and Wine] distillery at that time who also owned a bar in Oshawa, Ont.”

Livermore says Hatch maintained good relationships with his patrons and often had them performing favours, running cases of liquor across Lake Ontario. Hatch had over 450 fishermen working for him at one point, known colloquially as Hatch’s Navy. Hatch attempted to buy the Corby distillery, but was denied, which led him to quit and purchase Hiram Walker & Sons in 1926.

Canada was built on whisky.

Don Livermore, PhD, Hiram Walker & Sons

Jumping to the late-20th century, Allied Domecq purchased the distillery in 1989, and in 2005 Pernod Ricard and Jim Beam bought the shares of Allied Domecq and split up the brands. Pernod Ricard now owns Hiram Walker & Sons. “It’s a reputable company that has stood the test of time,” Livermore said. “I can confirm today that we are making more spirits now than we ever have in our history of the company.” He also says it’s rewarding to see the popularity of Canadian whisky continue to grow.

Currently, the distillery has 450 employees. The equipment they use is standard column, pot and rectification stills. Most grains come from a 100-kilometre radius of the distillery, and the corn comes from southern Ontario. As they make rum on site, they also bring in molasses. Bottling occurs on site, but there are 16 storage facilities within about 32 kilometres of the distillery for aging. To give more terroir to the final product these sites are not temperature controlled, and they have American and European barrels for aging. Many types of popular spirits come out of the Hiram Walker & Sons distillery, including J.P. Wiser’s, Pike Creek, Lamb’s Rum, Polar Ice Vodka and McGuinness liqueurs.

The quickest production product is vodka, taking only five days. In contrast, they have whisky that’s currently aging to 42 years. “I always aim to have my inventory left better than I find it,” Livermore said.

Most of the distribution is in Canada, although there has been growth in the U.S. The J.P. Wiser’s 10-year Canadian whisky first launched in Sweden, since it’s a market that drinks less alcohol, but seeks higher quality products.

Hiram Walker & Sons constantly seeks to improve sustainability. The team regularly looks for energy savings and installs more efficient equipment. They have increased production yields to decrease energy consumption. Additionally, they have local partners who take wet format grain, instead of using energy to dry it onsite.

With so many large brands operating out of Hiram Walker & Sons, it is no surprise that Livermore’s distilling is well-awarded too. Named the first-ever Canadian Whisky Blender of the Year in 2019, and again in 2020, the product quality and consistency show. When asked what he enjoys most about making new spirits, Livermore said, “When I’m doing tradeshows or masterclasses in another country. I also enjoy changing the mindset of an unexpected whisky connoisseur.” What could possibly be next for a distillery with such deep historical roots? Well, Livermore sees Canadian whisky as an area with space for creativity and innovation; one that is adaptable to future whisky drinkers, too.

Tours of the distillery, along with the tasting operations, are available to the public. Interested clientele can visit jpwiserstour.ca to learn more.

Continuing to release products like Lot 40, a 100 per cent rye whisky that is new to market and a limited-edition J.P. Wiser’s Wood Series, Hiram Walker & Sons will not only have an influence on Canadian whisky’s history, but also its future.