Unique and unusual wood choices bring new flavours to a popular Canadian whisky brand

Don Livermore is the master blender for J.P. Wiser’sHandout

There’s a lot of creativity afforded to blenders of Canadian whisky. The style of the finished spirit can change with the mix of grains, type of distillation or choice of casks used for aging. “We are brewers as well as distillers,” explains Dr. Don Livermore, master blender for J.P. Wiser’s and other brands, including Lot No 40, produced in Windsor, Ont.

Five rare single malt whiskies for collectors and whiskey-lovers alike

Livermore is a PhD in brewing and distilling from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. For his thesis, he looked at 100 barrels of whisky from various grains and at various char levels to demonstrate the effects of oak barrels on whisky maturation.

J.P. Wiser’s Wood Series launched earlier in the year with a 13-year-old whisky finished in hickory barrels.Handout

Even though he made the grade, he’s still looking at different types of oak and studying their flavour-enhancing properties. Consumers can taste the difference for themselves through a selection of limited edition, experimental whiskies aged using unique woods, including black walnut and Japanese oak.

The master blender explains the original idea came during a meeting with one of his American barrel suppliers, where someone raised the possibility of sourcing casks made from Canadian maple or other types of trees instead of the standard white oak.

The supplier’s first concern was the taste: What if it wasn’t any good? But another quality consideration made them refine their idea. White oak is dense and the tightness of the grain is better at preventing leakage compared to other types of wood. They decided to send existing barrels from the distillery to be refurbished at the cooperage, lining their insides with a different types of wood inserts.

“My philosophy as a blender is I must leave the distillery in a better position than when I started, so I am constantly playing,” Livermore says.Handout

Once returned to the distillery, these special casks were filled with 10-year-old whisky and aged for an additional three years.

Twelve different types of hybrid barrels were fashioned for the experiment. “Some turned out to be exceptional, some are a little disappointing…,” Livermore explains. “We selected the ones that we thought were really intriguing and what consumers may like.”

J.P. Wiser’s Wood Series launched earlier in the year with a 13-year-old whisky finished in hickory barrels. The current release is J.P. Wiser’s 13-Year-Old Black Walnut, which is currently available at the brand centre in Windsor and online. A 13-Year-Old Japanese Oak whisky is slated for release in July.

“My philosophy as a blender is I must leave the distillery in a better position than when I started, so I am constantly playing,” Livermore says, adding the company’s next master blend will either praise or curse his name for the diversity of aging whiskies in the warehouse.