A Saskatoon distillery is making its mark on the whisky industry with a new initiative to support and certify whiskies whose grains were grown and distilled in one place.
On Friday, Black Fox Distillery became the only Canadian founding member of the Estate Whisky Alliance (EWA).
“The EWA is an exciting opportunity to foster integral partnerships among our members with research, education and innovative economic development,” said Landon Borders, EWA director.
In partnership with the University of Kentucky, a new coalition of distilleries aims to promote the advantages of local sourcing and sustainable production, in part by offering a certification for whiskies that meet an “estate” standard.
“There’s an estate wine that people are very familiar with that means that they’ve grown the grapes on the winery itself, they process them and create their own wine,” Black Fox co-owner Barb Stefanyshyn-Cote said. “Whisky never had that.
“The benefit of growing our own grain is that we control the entire process right from crop to connoisseur — because it is our agricultural expertise that allows us to choose the varieties that we want.”
Stefanyshyn-Cote heard about the University of Kentucky initiative in a meeting and knew she wanted to be involved.
She said the group spoke to things Black Fox felt were really important in the whisky industry, including local sourcing and sustainability.
Stefanyshyn-Cote went on to say Saskatchewan’s landscape allows them to grow incredibly flavourful grains.
And with the province’s wild weather throughout the year, Black Fox has leaned into it by aging its whisky outdoors.
“What that does for our whisky is as the whisky expands, it goes into the barrel and as it cools down it comes out of the barrel and what that does is every interaction allows the flavours to develop,” she said.
Stefanyshyn-Cote and her husband John started out as grain farmers in Leask, Sask., but knew they wanted a change.
After starting up the distillery, their success now spans across the world. Their products can be found on shelves in places like the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, China and Dubai.
“We’re pretty astounded that this small little distillery in Saskatchewan that’s showcasing Saskatchewan flavours is found around the world,” she said.
Beginning next year, the alliance will start a licensing program to authenticate estate whisky certified products.
Alliance members with products that meet the requirements can display the “estate whisky certified” logo on qualifying bottles.