Whisky - UK (2020-05)

Canadian Whisky Saskatchewan

46 Whisky Magazine | Issue 167

It wasn’t until Lumsden residents,

Colin and Meredith Schmidt caught

the micro-distilling bug that distilling

returned to Saskatchewan. Colin was

playing hockey for Colorado College

when he was drafted into the National

Hockey League by the Edmonton

Oilers. “I lacked size, speed and talent,”

recounts Colin.

“I didn’t get to play a whole lot and

when I got a couple of shoulder injuries

that needed surgeries later, that was the

end of my hockey career.”

However, in Colorado, he met a

guy from Hawaii who was making

vodka out of pineapples. Colin and

Meredith were inspired. His hockey

career over, in 2010, they moved back

to Saskatchewan to make whisky.

“Meredith and I were married on Last

Mountain Lake, and that summer we

decided to open the distillery.” Despite

Saskatchewan’s unbroken horizon,

romance prevailed and the newlyweds

named their distillery ‘Last Mountain.’

By chance, the Saskatchewan

government was also thinking about

distilling again. When the Schmidts

ƒ’’”‘ƒ…Š‡†’”‘˜‹…‹ƒŽ‘ˆβ‹…‹ƒŽ•ǡ–Š‡

wheels were already in motion to

develop a microdistilling policy. “We

were lucky to have a seat at the table

and help craft that initial policy. We

are fortunate to still meet with them

quarterly and let them know what’s

working and what isn’t,” explains

Colin. Although the government did

not provide any economic incentives

to set up shop in Saskatchewan, time

hadn’t healed that wound, there was

an agricultural one: Saskatchewan

‘pineapples.’ All the grain the distillery

could ever want to make whisky grew

in abundance just miles away.

An advisor suggested the Schmidts

begin with sourced whisky aged and

blended onsite while their own stocks

aged. Thus they learned the art of

⋐‹•Š‹‰™Š‹Ž‡⋉—”‹‰‘—–™Šƒ––Š‡›

liked as the benchmark for their own

whisky. It was a shrewd strategy.

Last Mountain now makes some of

–Š‡‘•–βŽƒ˜‘—”ˆ—Ž™Š‡ƒ–™Š‹•›‹–Š‡

country. “There are two whiskies I am

most proud of,” smiles Colin.

“Our 100% Wheat Single Cask and

ƒ•‘‘Ǧ–‘Ǧ„‡Ǧ”‡Ž‡ƒ•‡†β‹˜‡Ǧ›‡ƒ”Ǧ‘Ž†

straight rye, which I think is some of the

best whisky we’ve ever made.”

The Schmidts mature 95 per cent

of their wheat whisky in once-used

Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels, while

also exploring a variety of other casks,

including some brandy barrels.

“We found that moving the whisky

around between barrels and giving

them some exposure really helped

†‡˜‡Ž‘’–Š‡βŽƒ˜‘—”™‡ǯ”‡Ž‘‘‹‰ˆ‘”Ǥ

These are whiskies where you don’t

want to mask the character of the grain

with too much wood.”

Two hours north of Last Mountain,

Black Fox Farm and Distillery boldly

goes where no Saskatchewan distillery

has gone before.

They make whisky using triticale, a

‰”ƒ‹β‹”•–…”‡ƒ–‡†„›…”‘••‹‰™Š‡ƒ–

with rye.

It was slow to catch on with Canadian

ˆƒ”‡”•ǡ‡˜‡™Š‡ƒβ‹…–‹‘ƒŽ˜‡”•‹‘

appeared in the Star Trek episode, The

Trouble With Tribbles. Farmers must

have been watching their dogs run into

the sunset and not television.

Black Fox Farm does not have a

spaceport, but they do grow triticale

along with oats, wheat and rye on

their 80-acre farm. John Cote and Barb

Stefanyshyn-Cote rejuvenated the

ecologically tender space, intending to

grow fruit for liqueurs, botanicals for

Previous pages:

The Last Mountain

whisky range.

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