“If you don’t believe in the product that you’re doing, do not put it out there because you’re going to regret it. You have to believe in what you do. ”
Favourite whisky: The moment that I went, “I'm going to start buying whisky” is when I had a Glenfarclas 17.
Guilty pleasure drink: I will drink a stout—an imperial stout, a porter—anytime. People think I'm crazy because it's 35 degrees [Celcius] outside and what am I going to drink? That’s my beer.
Best-selling spirit at your distillery: Gin Sauvage
What were you doing before you were distilling?
I have to admit, I came into the distilling world you could say by accident—a lucky accident. I used to work for Ubisoft, which is a video game company … and I was taking my sommelier classes while I was still working there. I got tired of that type of [work] stress. I hit the road with my motorcycle for about 11 months trying out different microbreweries, distilleries and wineries throughout Canada and the United States.
On my way back, a friend of mine called me up and said “Hey, I know someone who's trying to get a distillery off the ground." I contacted Paul [Cirka, the distillery founder]. He took me under his wing and I started out as an apprentice for the first year. We’re now in our eighth year of production.
I’m currently sipping on a dram of Cirka Whisky #3. Can you tell me a bit about how this rye differs from others in Canada?
I know I'm not supposed to have a favourite child, but [whisky] number three, I have to admit, is my favourite baby. The [ryes] that I've tasted so far are usually a mash bill of mostly barley with just a sprinkle of rye in it. The fact that we are using unmalted rye and a bit of chocolate malt makes a huge difference to the flavour profile of the whisky.
A lot of the ryes that I've tasted go too much into the feints: even after years you still have that little “feint-y” smell at the end. It takes longer to break down in barrels, especially when they're using old, used barrels. We only use new barrels on our whisky.
We do a light finish for about six weeks in Oloroso Sherry barrels that are, like, 30 years old. … For me that's a 100 per cent rye whisky that's pretty different from what we usually associate with a rye whisky.
Do you have a particular barrel in your warehouse that you’re most excited about?
I cannot wait for our single malt to be ready. We're in our fifth year right now; it's not ready yet.
Did you use Quebec-grown grain for that whisky as well?
We found a maltster that [practices] traditional floor malting. He learned in Scotland, and he was the only one back then who did it. When we went to the distillery and brewery and we tasted his grain and his beer and when we saw the result we went, "Okay, our recipe’s going to change right now."
What kind of still are you using for whisky?
Our system is hybrid but [we’re using] just four plates for the whisky. And we actually took the bubble caps out of, I'd say, half of them. The fun thing about the column is I can maintain my ABV throughout [the distilling run]. Once I hit my sweet spot, and I can just maintain it throughout and it makes a huge difference.
What would you do differently if you could do one thing differently, or what's one piece of advice to future distillers or distillery owners?
Well, I'd definitely make more whiskey, that's for sure!
You have to concentrate on your local market first: have a very big, solid base before actually reaching out for the export markets.
Don't compromise. If you don't believe in the product that you're doing, do not put it out there because you're going to regret it. You have to believe in what you do.