Guest column: Tariff war? I’ll drink (Canadian whisky) to that

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Author: Don Livermore

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There has been a lot of talk about whiskey lately – here is my words, I come from me.

As a master mixer at Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery in Windsor, I snout day after day in whiskey, developing new blends and maintaining the quality of existing ones.

I love seeing the complexity of recipes that promise new whiskey blends for old-fashioned and educated whiskey lovers and industry professionals. I’m also looking forward to reading about the industry growth I’ve been talking about Canadian whiskey around the world.

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My life revolves around whiskey. However, tariffs have taken over every conversation recently, including talks about spirits and wine.

Nowadays, it is frustrating to see whiskey in the headlines.

In 2023, Canada imported $100 million worth of American whiskey from Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida and beyond, making us the fifth largest market in the southern neighborhood. Even before March 4, Canadian liquor stores were taking our products off the shelves.

As of now, it is also difficult to find coast-to-coast, if not impossible, for American whiskey, as well as hundreds of other American alcoholic beverage products. Of course, many consumers will miss it – our American counterparts make spirits and wines.

But these consumers now have the opportunity to learn more about what makes our country’s whiskey so special and unique.

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A complex and mixed history of Canadian whiskey

In 1769, the first record of producing whiskey in Canada was in Quebec City. Early whiskey production began with the busyness of some merchants, whose names are now synonymous with some of the world’s top alcohol brands: Hiram Walker, JP Wiser, William Gooderham, William Gooderham, James Worts and Henry Corby.

Their main interest is simple: don’t waste the remaining grains. They distilled the whiskey to remove bad taste and perfect the taste. That’s why Canadian whiskey is often easy to drink until today. It’s lighter than Scots or bourbons. This is traditional Canadian whiskey.

In 1890, the Canadian government ordered Canadian whiskey to be aged, which distinguished our whiskey from the spirits from abroad. Aging it tastes different from the competitors’ taste, better.

By 1900, Canadian whiskey became the best-selling whiskey in the world.

It was not until 1907 that Americans began to age whiskey. Scotland and Ireland joined eight years later. Back then, we were the best people in hockey and the best people in whiskey – thankfully, our southern neighbors have always been a great companion to hold up cups for both.

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World-class whiskey is Canadian whiskey

There is another element that sets our spirit apart: choice.

There are 44 official types of American whiskeys, including bourbon, as well as blends, flavors and straight black whiskeys, among others. Each has its own set of strict distillation rules.

In Canada, we only have one whiskey, but in this category we are the almost unreasonable option to produce it.

We need to make sure our whiskey is made of cereals; fermented, distilled and aged in Canada; aged in wooden containers for at least three years; at least 40% alcohol. The rest depends on our brewery. We do not use specific mashed potato bills or distillation methods or bucket types.

Our freedom allows us to innovate and adapt to consumer tastes and create new flavors to see how we sell. Our freedom allows us to stand up on the world stage like Canadian whiskey and bring home gold. Our freedom allows us to sit down with a person who convinces whiskey, not their drink, but come up with a personalized mixture that tastes just right.

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If everything is fair (whiskey) love and (tariff) war, those empty shelves may mean more Canadians drink Canadian whiskey.

When we talk about Canadian identity, we immediately think of hockey, tok, “giving up” drops and any other clichés. With the whipping tariff news pulling our emotions, we are digging into what makes us – and looking for labels that are truly Canadians.

This includes whiskey.

Don Livermore, based in Windsor, is the Master Blender of Hiram Walker & Sons Limited, recently appointed as the 2025 Blender/Master Distiller.

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