A Metro Vancouver craft distillery just won "Canadian Whisky of the Year"

If you’re in Vancouver and you love a good whisky, then you’re in luck because we have the best in Canada.

Sons of Vancouver, a craft distillery in North Vancouver, just won six titles at the 2023 Canadian Whisky Awards, including Canadian Whisky of the Year.

“We’re just blown away by this award,” said James Lester, Sons of Vancouver’s co-founder and general manager, in a release.

“To be the first craft distillery ever to win Canadian Whisky of the Year feels great. Artisan distillers – particularly in BC – are putting out some of the best whisky in Canada right now, so we’re very humbled by this award.”

Their third limited-release whisky called ‘Palm Trees and a Tropical Breeze’ won the big prize.

 

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The winning whisky was released in the summer of 2022 and sold out at the distillery within a week. It’s a Caribbean-cask whisky aged in used bourbon barrels and finished in ex-rum barrels with tropical flavour notes like banana, pineapple, demerara sugar, and a bit of vanilla and rye spice.

In total, Sons of Vancouver took home six wins:

• Canadian Whisky of the Year – ‘Palm Trees and a Tropical Breeze’
• Canadian Whisky of the Year, Artisan Producers – ‘Palm Trees and a Tropical
• Breeze’
• All-Rye Whisky of the Year – ‘Palm Trees and a Tropical Breeze’
• Barrel-Finished Whisky of the Year – ‘Palm Trees and a Tropical Breeze’
• Gold Medal – ‘Palm Trees and a Tropical Breeze’
• Silver Medal – ‘Marshmallows over a Campfire’

“As a newcomer to the whisky industry, you often feel like you’re just trying to keep up with the big guys,” Jenna Diubaldo, distiller and manager of the distillery’s whisky program, said in a release. “Our overall goal is to change the way that Canadian rye is perceived in the market, so winning the top award really shows us that we’re moving in the right direction.”

While you can’t buy the best whisky in Canada anymore, you can follow Sons of Vancouver Distillery to find out about future releases.

Plus, they’re always serving killer cocktails out of their tasting room, and you can’t go wrong with a bottle of their amaretto.