Photo: The Gentleman’s Flavor
Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery has won another accolade for Christmas.
It’s award-winning Laird of Fintry single malt whisky has just earned another honour.
On Christmas Day, blogger The Gentleman’s Flavor named Laird of Fintry No. 1 in its Top 10 Canadian Whiskies of 2022.
“Laird of Fintry is a Canadian single malt whisky produced in small batches using 100% B.C. malted barley,” the judges write.
“After being aged for five years in custom, deeply toasted white-oak casks, it is finished in freshly emptied fortified foch (wine) barrels.
“The end result is a whisky with a very dark, rich and toasted character that has the potential to appease some of the most staunch single malt Scotch whisky lovers.”
The judges enthuse: “Okanagan Spirits’ Laird of Fintry demonstrates how sophisticated and unique a single malt whisky can be when made on (and from) Canadian soil. Okanagan’s ‘field-to-glass-approach’ has resulted in a very distinct Canadian single malt – worthy of earning top billing in our list.”
“We are truly flattered,” Okanagan Spirits responded. “We raise a glass to all our local hardworking farmers and our brilliant distillers. Cheers!”
The Vernon-based distillery, which also operates in Kelowna, has more than three dozen B.C. farm families growing fruits and grains on more than 67 acres of local orchard, 275 acres of local grain growing farmland, and over 27 acres of local berry farms to supply its operations.
In 2020, its single malt whiskey won double gold at the prestigious 2020 World Spirits Awards in Austria and was named 2020 Distillery of the Year.
This past year, it struck gold again at the 2022 Canadian Whisky Awards.
Okanagan Spirits won the Artisan Distillery of the Year title and took home three gold medals for its BRBN bourbon-style whisky, BLK BRBN cask-strength bourbon, and Black Laird of Fintry cask-strength single-malt whisky.
The other top 10 whiskies were:
- No. 2 – Canadian Rockies 21 Year, Highwood Distillers, High River, Alta.
- No. 3 – Stout Whisky, Last Straw Distillery, aughn, Ont.
- No. 4 – Great Plains Craft Spirits 18 Year Jerez Brandy Cask Finish, Calgary, Alta.
- No. 5 – Wiser’s Red Letter, Windsor, Ont.
- No. 6 – Ninety ‘Decades Of Richness’ 20 Year Old, Highwood Distillers, High River, Alta.
- No. 7 – Shelter Point Double Barrelled Single Malt Whisky, Campbell River, B.C.
- No. 8 – Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve Canadian Whisky, Niagara, Ont.
- No. 9 – Lot 40 Dark Oak 100% Rye Whisky, Corby Spirits
- No. 10 – Canadian Heritage Collection 19 Year, Paradigm Spirits Co., London, Ont.