DEVINE Single Malt Whisky: An Investment in Time
DEVINE Releases Long-awaited Craft Glen Saanich Single Malt Whisky
The wait is over for craft whisky enthusiasts with a taste for award-winning, truly DEVINE local B.C. whisky!
In October 2020, DEVINE Distillery on Vancouver Island’s Saanich Peninsula released its first larger scale batch of Glen Saanich Single Malt Whisky.
“We are thrilled to share this new release of Glen Saanich with our loyal customers who have waited patiently to be able to buy a bottle,” says Kirsten Titcomb, DEVINE’s general manager. “Whisky is an investment in time, and we think the wait is worth it.”
DEVINE’s first micro-release of Glen Saanich in 2016 earned multiple awards. First, a silver medal at the 2017 Canadian Whisky Awards—at the time the highest ever ranking for a B.C. craft whisky. Then the surprise 94-point rating in English whisky expert Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.
With this distinction and their stock quickly selling out, the team at DEVINE knew it was time to move beyond the 30L cask micro-barreling program. In spring 2017, they filled the first of the 200L ex-bourbon oak casks and placed them on the barrel racks in the distillery to age to perfection until fall 2020—a wise move, as the micro-batch has since won gold at the 2018 Canadian Artisan Spirits Competition (CASC), gold with distinction in both the 2019 and 2020 CASC, as well as silver and bronze at the Canadian Whisky awards for the past three years.
Like any well-known whisky-producing region of the world—Scotland, for example—each sub-region has its own very distinct whisky character. Environmental factors influence the growth and flavour of a plant and its fruit, which influences the flavour and character of the whisky.
“What sets us apart from other distilleries is our focus on terroir—best described as the 'somewhereness',” says Titcomb. “By using locally and sustainably sourced ingredients in all our products, oftentimes growing them ourselves, we are able to create offerings unlike any other.”
The barley for Glen Saanich is grown just minutes away from the distillery on the Saanich peninsula, malted locally, and then mashed, fermented and distilled on-site by master distiller Ken Winchester and distiller Kevin Titcomb. Winchester, trained at Scotland’s Bruichladdich Distillery, is considered a pioneer of the craft spirits movement in Canada, sharing DEVINE’s vision and mission of field-to-glass offerings.
True craft spirits use only B.C. grains, fruit and produce, and are fermented and distilled on-site using traditional methods. The product will not contain additives, preservatives, artificial flavours or any neutral grain spirit (a bulk alcohol produced by industrial distilleries).
Since 2007, the Windsor family owned and operated DEVINE Distillery has been expanding their offerings by crafting wine, whisky, gin, rum, eau de vie and vermouth from locally sourced, organic ingredients using traditional small batch techniques.
“Our terroir is our fingerprint, reflecting and celebrating the flavours of our very local growing region, through our whisky.”
