Twenty-seven experts from across North America, supported by two dozen exhibitors and sponsors, joined Canadian distillers in Vancouver this past October for three days of community engagement and in-depth learning.
This year’s program included half-day workshops (on Monday, October 23) on barrel maintenance, whisky blending and fermentation. On Tuesday, October 24, our keynote was delivered by legendary distiller Matt Hofmann, founder of Seattle’s Westland Distillery and co-founder of the American Single Malt Whisky Commission. The day included eight seminars to choose from on everything from Quality Management for Distilleries to Cooperative Production to Increasing Distillery Yields.
On Wednesday, October 25, the first-ever Canada Whisky Symposium launched, lead by a conversation on Innovation in Canadian Whisky between renowned author and Canadian Whisky Awards founder Davin de Kergommeaux and Forty Creek Master Blender Bill Ashburn, followed by a series of whisky-focused seminars and presentations.
Some Feedback from Attendees:
“All Canadian Distillers should attend this event. The topics covered offer a great perspective into our local challenges, the networking is of unmeasurable value and you will likely return to your operations invigorated with new ideas to implement!”
“If you're looking for a distilling conference to attend to build your knowledge of the whisky and alcohol industry, this is the one. The networking and connections alone make this worth every penny.”
“The ADC Conference and Whisky Symposium are must attend events for anyone in spirits, a related business, or if you just have interest in the industry as a consumer. The speakers were varied and engaging and the team running the event are top notch.”
“The presenters were all great! Learned a lot from them. Mix of large and small distillers puts the industry into a better perspective and allows all business's to engage/relate to topics.”
“Great mix of hands-on sessions, technical sessions, sensory sessions, and business sessions. Thank you for the tastings, the spirits lounge, and the takeaway glasses.”
The Next Conferences
In order to accommodate better timing for distillers, we are moving the conference timing to February from October. The next ADC Conference & Trade Show and Canada Whisky Symposium will be held in February, 2025 in Calgary, Alberta!
Thank you again to our amazing ADC Conference & Trade Show Sponsors, and Canada Whisky Symposium Sponsors.