Still Waters Distillery (Concord, Ontario) has won several awards for their vodka. When their whisky is finished aging (2013), it too will undoubtedly be recognized for excellence. We had a chance to sit down with Barry Bernstein to discuss what makes Still Waters Distillery such a unique operation.

Specialty Ontario: Tell us how Still Waters Distillery began.

Barry Bernstein: We began the business in 2005 as importers of Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Our passion has always been whisky and we always dreamed of making our own. As we learned more about the business as well as the technical aspects of distillery (through courses, consulting and lots of reading) we decided to take the plunge and transform the business into a full fledged distillery. It took a year of planning, working with equipment suppliers, training, and set-up. In March 2009 we began production.

SO: Still Waters Distillery has been described as a true “grain to glass” operation. Describe what makes Still Waters unique. How does your approach differ from larger producers?

BB: Many micro-distilleries do not start from raw materials, but purchase NGS (neutral grain spirit) as the basis of their products. In fact, some so-called micro-distilleries in Ontario do not even own a still! Product quality starts from the raw ingredients and we feel that mashing is an essential part of the process, hence our description as “grain to glass”. Large producers will also start from grain, but their production methods are very large scale industrial automated processes. Out of necessity, a big producer must use column stills which are very efficient at producing large quantities of alcohol. We use a small pot still, however, which means everything is done in small batches by hand. We are able to control all aspects of production from beginning to end giving us great flexibility in the products we create.

SO: Your vodka and whisky is produced by hand in small batches. Describe how this impacts quality.

BB: Producing by hand means that every single batch is constantly monitored by taste, smell and touch. It is our personal hand-on approach that allows us to produce spirits that are unique. We can experiment and do small runs of unique product. For example, even when producing a certain type of whisky (say single malt) we will alter the flow of alcohol from the still and its strength from run to run to produce a lighter or heavier spirit. Though large producers have processes in place to assure quality, we must be happy with each and every batch that we produce. We don’t rely on automated procedures to do this. We do it personally.

SO: Your Single Malt Vodka has won several international awards. Describe what makes your vodka unique.

BB: Our vodka is unique for two reasons. First, it is unusual to produce a vodka in a pot still, with continuous column stills being the dominant method used due to the efficiency of alcohol production. Distilling in a pot still creates a unique character spirit that is not as “pure”, meaning more of the flavourful congeners in the alcohol are present. Second, we use only 100% malted barley, which is also very rare, due to the expense of the grain. (Most vodka is made from corn or a combination of corn, wheat, barley, etc.) The barley has a unique sweetness and the result is an exceptionally smooth, subtlety sweet vodka.

SO: When can we expect Still Waters whisky to be available?

BB: By law whisky in Canada must be aged a minimum of three years. Our first casks will reach that age at the end of 2012. We will want to hold a majority of our casks for further aging, but know that there is a demand for our whisky. Assuming that we are happy with the results (and every indication is that we will be) we will start to release small quantities as single cask offerings early 2013.

 

Specialty Ontario