The Newfoundland Distillery Whisky (43%)

In 1933, a portly and well-dressed Allan Grauel arrived in Newfoundland with plans to make whisky. His indescribable air, denoting big business with a capital B, made Grauel’s claims of well-financed plans and a secret formula to age spirits rapidly and cheaply, easy to believe. Nevertheless, something was fishy. Within months, Canadian Banks were denying any involvement in these plans, and by mid-1934, Grauel was facing accusations of deliberate fraud.

It seems Grauel had offered a man an office, a fancy title and a $100-a-week salary if he invested $2000. Grauel’s plans turned out to be schemes and the dream of Newfoundland whisky was dashed, not served, on the rocks. More than 80 years passed before Peter Wilkins and William Carter arrived with their own dream. The two opened their distillery in 2017 with an indescribable air denoting big whisky with a capital W, and a plan to make whisky the proper way.

But whisky takes time, so when Wilkins and Carter opened their distillery they made other spirits to bridge the gap. "When Bill [Carter] and I first started discussing the idea of setting up a distillery, all he wanted to make was whisky," said Wilkins, who suggested they start with gin instead. The success of that gin was soon followed by rum that flew off the shelves. Putting their whisky-making plans on ice, they turned their attention to keeping Newfoundland's thirst for their gin and rum quenched. It was a serendipitous delay.

The distillery established a Newfoundland footprint in its homegrown spirits and in the process, the team experimented with distilling barley mash bills to create a lineup of successful spirits. As the distillery grew and expanded into a bigger space, they added a larger capacity Canadian-made Specific Mechanical pot still. When Carter and his team finally got to making whisky with it, they understood the processes well.

Newfoundland Whisky Arrives and it Tastes Some Good

Decisively, on November 30, 2023, Newfoundland joined the rest of the country as a legal whisky-making province. That’s when the partners released The Newfoundland Distillery Company's first single-pot still Newfoundland Whisky. A three-year-old, it is made from Atlantic-grown Canadian malted barley and unmalted barley, triple distilled and then aged in number 2 char virgin oak barrels and ex-bourbon barrels. Wilkins and Carter earned their heavenly wings in the process by sampling more than even the angels did. A year into the process, worried the virgin oak was making the whisky too woody, they transferred some of it into ex-bourbon barrels to round out the developing flavours. A final blend of five barrels went into Batch One, producing 1600 bottles.

Newfoundland Distillery Whisky takes inspiration from a traditional European approach resulting in flavours rooted in Newfoundland itself. Cereal notes, typical malty notes and soft, sweet fruits such as maraschino cherries grace the nose. The decision to transfer the whisky out of virgin oak paid dividends – it is sweet and peppery on the palate without any telltale young woody green barley notes.

An unusual sensation on the edges of the tongue hints at black tea combined with oak. It's not salt, but rather, a delicate seasoned, briny feeling that lingers, and it's beautiful. The distillery ages its whisky 30 feet from the ocean, where the warehouse sucks in the damp salty air, though the influence of the sea in a young whisky is a surprise and delight that brings the whisky home to Newfoundland. Spicy peppers stay at the back of the mouth with echoes on the sides of the tongue. This whisky tastes some good. The malt comes through, but the slightly higher percentage of unmalted barley in the mash offers a faint hint of barley stalk (almost like corn cobs). Suggestions at first sip of sweet Cointreau quickly becomes orange pith.

The youth brings heat, but not searing like some of its European counterparts. The medium finish becomes slippery, still a bit briny with a nice fading glow on the inside of the lips and across the tongue, while some floral tones leave the empty glass with notes of dry grain, malt, green fruit and sweet flakey oatmeal. This is well-developed and integrated for such a young whisky. Complexity will develop as future stocks age, but the distinct cereal tones, fruitiness and mouthfeel of this release bring you to the door of the Clarke's Beach distillery wanting more. An unusual whisky, but not weird, it is well within a malt spectrum showing Newfoundland whisky has arrived on Clarke’s Beach denoting flavour and the start of a tradition.

Davin de Kergommeaux and Blair Phillips are the authors of The Definitive Guide to Canadian Distilleries.