A little history…

Distilleries Canada/ January 20, 2019/ Histoire

Despite its young age, by its size, Canada is the second largest country in the world far behind Russia and just ahead of China.

During the First World War, under the pressure of temperance advocates of religious origins, most of the Canadian Provinces introduced legislation to prohibit the sale and consumption of intoxicating liquors : the famous prohibition!

This ended in 1925 with many paradoxes, the Federal government not having all the necessary authorities in the management of each Province. Still, Canada played a big role in the illegal supply of the United States : smuggling !

Since then, each province has its own regulations, its way of controlling and taxing the distribution, the Federal course affecting its share in passing and restrictions that have long discouraged small-scale production. In recent years, some have embarked on the adventure and began to make politicians aware they had to update the laws in the context of their time. As things change, more and more micro-distilleries began to emerge across the country.

Of course, Canadian whiskey is the best known spirit in the world. They are often made from rye, are elegant and slightly spicy. Although they may not rank as well as single malt scotch, some examples are still of exceptional quality. However, it requires at least three years of aging to attain the right to be called as such.

As a result, vodkas and gins became the preferred alcohols produced by the new distilleries, by preparing their whiskeys (or other alcohol requiring a period of aging) in parallel. There are many other remarkable spirits produced in Canada, like old brandies, good rum …

One of the landmarks of the country is the quality of the river water and lakes used for the production of these alcohols and of course, many naturally grown ingredients.

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