“The Distilled Spirits Council, an industry group, estimated exports of U.S. distilled spirits to Canada at $43.4 million over the first six months of 2025, down about 62% from the same period in 2024. Exports of American wine were about 67% lower, the group said, citing U.S. trade data.”
Good job, Canada! Keep your elbows up!
Canada’s got great local craft brewries and distilleries all over the place. We do not need American stuff, and at least on the beer front the Canadian-brewed stuff’s just plain better tasting.
We need a good replacement for bourbon though. No canadian whisky is a drop-in replacement
Edit: i know other styles of whisky exist. I’ve tried a lot of them. Nothing out there currently is close to bourbon. Not even the right type of grain to start with.
It’s like asking for a champagne replacement and people suggesting red wines instead of other types of sparkling white wine (of which many exist)
I got the opportunity to try this limited run from Compass recently, and it’s fantastic. Unfortunately, sold out already and they’re not currently making more, but they damn well should.
In general though, I found myself switching to Canadian whiskey in my cocktails a while ago. Canadian Club is still dog-ass and you shouldn’t touch the stuff, but that doesn’t mean other distillers haven’t been upping their game. Dillons has a really nice whiskey out now, to complement their selection of - and I am 100% not exaggerating here - the best god damn gins ever made, and the Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye deserves all the awards it was showered with. There’s also the Alberta Premium Cask Strength which everyone has been raving about. I’ve tried the regular Alberta Premium and it really is excellent. I imagine the cask strength is even better.
Can you be more specific on those gins? You have my attention.
No the person you asked, but see my comment above for some Vancouver island gin recommendations if you’re interested.
Dunrobin Distillery makes some good gin as well, though the Earl Grey gin is a novelty imo.
Nice! Thanks for the tip!
Specifically, you want to get your hands on their Unfiltered Gin 22. It is, hands down, the best gin I have ever tasted.
Thanks!
I’ll have to see if I can pay a stupid tariff on it, then I’ll save it for when a particular obituary is in the paper.
What about importing whiskey from Ireland? There are differences in taste, ingredients, and production methods, but it might be similar enough to be an alternative. Here is a good reference about the differences between whiskey and burbon. Bourbon is a spirit that evolved from whiskey production methods.
We just need to re invest into malting and making extracts as the only one in NA is in Ohio… Because an American bought up our facilities and moved them across the border
My local beer place told me that its distributor can’t get any more Unibroue beer now. We don’t deserve their glorious beer given our bullshit, but it still sucks.