AS PART of Tourism Vancouver’s ‘Dine Out Vancouver’ festival, Edible Canada at Granville Island hosted a 10 day seminar series aimed at those looking to get off work early to refine their palate in food and drink – with emphasis on drink.
Though any excuse to get off work early on a damp, cold and grey Vancouver afternoon is welcomed, especially if it involves imbibing Canadian whiskies with Andrew Staritt of Cask Strength.
Staritt, along with Edible Canada chef Gregory Reid demonstrated menu prowess by pairing a selection of Canadian whiskies with canapés for an intimate group of truant employees ‘self-employed consultants’ gathered in the private dining room and demonstration kitchen at the Edible Canada bistro.
On first impressions, consumers often consider Canadian whisky the very same way they think of Canadian television. As one guest put it “it can’t be that good” – or is it?
According to Staritt, Canadian whisky is “on a roll” and is “more than just a mixer” to be coveted by debonair twenty-somethings who pretentiously quaff their ‘Crown Royal’ on the rocks, or worse, their “Crown & Coke”.
Lets first consider the most significant contribution by Canadian whisky to the society at large. Hint – its not alcoholism, but the purple, velvet, ‘Crown Royal Bag’. What average Canadian household hasn’t gathered around the kitchen table on a cold winter’s night to play a game of ‘Scrabble’ only to use said velvet, purple bag to hold their game tiles? Those debonair pretentious twenty-somethings sure start their whisky love affair young. But we’re talking about whisky here and not Starrit’s misspent youth. 😉
Before us is a flight of five tastings selected by Starrit using the most objective manner – those that he enjoys the most. We’re not entirely sure if this implies frequency or quantity but what we do know is that Starrit is a true enthusiast, having no bias or affiliations to the distilleries of our selections.
The tastings include: Wiser’s 18 Very Old; Corby’s Lot 40; Canadian Club Sherry Cask; Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve and Forty Creek Port Wood Reserve.
Paired with the flights were the following canapés from Chef Reid:
– Fiore Farms Pork Pate
– Beetroot with Happy Days Goat Cheese
– Oven Roasted Duck Breast with house made plum sauce
– Heritage Angus Flatiron Beef with Chimmi Churi
Much like pairing food and wine, the team strived for balance and contrast, ensuring enough discernable flavor and spice above the nose and body of the whiskies. Chef Reid also uses a novel approach to menu planning, asking “what would they eat in Scotland?”
For Single Malt fans, Chef Reid suggested the following combinations:
Bruichladdich Organic with Smoked Salmon and Capers;
Ardbeg with Blue Cheese or Dark Chocolate; even going so far as to suggest an adventurous enthusiast pair Ardbeg with a banana spilt – noting the complimenting flavours of nuts, caramel and chocolate.
Arguably Canadian whiskies have vastly improved over time. The American prohibition was a boon for the industry, but voluminous production soon took away from the craft. In fact, Canadian Club has deep ties to whisky smuggling during the 1920s, having changed their bottle style and shape to be concealed in the boot of a smuggler. Hence the term, ‘Bootlegging’. This history also gave rise to the birth of ‘The Manhattan’ cocktail. Canadian whiskies have also taken centre stage in pop-culture history. It should be noted that James Bond’s original drink of choice was not a martini -shaken, not stirred. It may come as a surprise to many that in ‘Dr. No’, the international action hero played by Sean Connery relaxes to a tall glass of Canadian Club & soda. Who knew that those debonair, pretentions twenty-somethings kept such good company!
The current market has been cornered by Canadian distiller, John Hall, of Forty Creek – winning countless awards and being recognized as one of the most innovative and skilled distillers in the world. Hall is a humble man, who started making wine in the Niagara region of Ontario after not getting his dream job at the local distillery in his late teens. Then, in 1992, he pursued his passion and Forty Creek distillery was born.
The Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve is undoubtedly an award winner and is steeped, literally, in history. The Oak barrels were coopered from trees which Hall purchased from the Canadian government and which were dated in age to approximately 1867 – the year of Confederation. At $2000 a cask, almost seven times the price of ex-American bourbon casks, his gamble paid off with the bottle winning the gold medal at the Canadian Whisky Awards.
As if that wasn’t good enough, Hall’s Port Wood Reserve received top honours as ‘Whisky of the Year’. With a unique nose of Tiramisu, layers of coffee, espresso & maple syrup and full-bodied palate, this one won’t disappoint and is a hard find on retail shelves.
Hall exudes pride with his accomplishments and is truly the epitome of brand ambassador. In true entrepreneurial spirit, he ventured down to New Orleans to pound pavement, convincing and switching the American palate from ex-prohibition Canadian Club to his own craft bottlings. Forty Creek Whisky has become the fastest growing whisky in North America and is the first successfully launched whisky in Canada in over 70 years.
Forty Creek is available at most government liqour stores and at select private stores across the country.
Edible Canada is Canada’s largest culinary tourism and locavore retail company, dedicated to sourcing the highest quality culinary products from coast to coast for our customers. Best known for their retail & online artisan food store, chef guided Granville Island Market Tours, demonstration guest chef Market Dinners, Gourmet Kayaking Weekends, a vibrant bistro in the heart of Granville Island and at the forefront of Canadian cuisine.
A drew founded Cask Strength in 2004 to share his knowledge and love of whisky with the world. He gained a love for whisky while living in Edinburgh, Scotland between 1998 and 2000. He was lucky enough to work at Royal Mile Whiskies during this time, a world-renowned whisky shop on the Royal Mile leading to Edinburgh Castle. It is here that his interest turned to passion. Royal Mile Whiskies, which has continually received awards and praise as a global destination for whisky enthusiasts. Andrew continues to stay connected to the whisky world by frequent trips to Scotland and talking to people at all levels of the industry. This has made Andrew highly sought after as a speaker and presenter. He shares his passion for whisky and unbiased views with people at all levels of knowledge and experience.