J.P. Wiser's Whisky

J.P. Wiser's Whisky is a Canadian whisky producer and one of the oldest in the country, established in 1857. Since 1935, it has held a majority stake in Corby Spirit and Wine. In 2005 the international Liquor company Pernod Ricard took ownership of both companies.[1][2][3] Hiram Walker & Sons Limited currently produce J.P. Wiser's Whisky at their Windsor, Ontario, distillery.

Early history

John Philip (J.P.) Wiser was born in 1825 in New York, to Isaac J. Wiser and Mary Egert. In 1857, Wiser began running the Charles Payne Distillery and Farm in Prescott, Ontario, which was owned by his uncle, Charles Egert, and his uncle's business partner, Amos Averell.

Five years after starting as manager of the distillery, Wiser bought out Egert and Averell to become its sole owner. At the time, the distillery produced 116,500 gallons of whisky a year.

Production

Canada's Food and Drugs Act requires whisky labeled as "Canadian Whisky" be mashed, distilled and aged three years in wooden casks of less than 700 L. Due to the openness of this definition, a Master Blender is free to be innovative in comparison to other whiskies around the world. Today, J.P. Wiser's follows a process similar in tradition to that established from J.P. Wiser's original whiskies:

1) Wiser's production begins with grains sourced from the Great Lakes Region.

2) Using malt purchased from a supplier, J.P. Wiser's cooks, ferments, distills and ages all grains—corn, rye, barley and wheat—separately in a variety of casks, including virgin oak or once-used American Bourbon casks, used wine casks or multiple-used Canadian whisky casks. J.P. Wiser's then blends the components at the end using recipes created by the Master Blender. Canadian whisky is a blended product.

3) Flours are combined and mixed into a pre-mix tank along with cold water, back stillage and nitrogen to make the mash.

4) Mash is cooked at 72 °C or higher using steam to release enzymes that break the starch down into sugar units. Enzymes from the malt help convert the starch to sugar.

5) Using a non-contact method that utilizes plates, mash is cooled with non-contact water from the Great Lakes Watershed to a fermentation temperature of 32 °C — the optimum temperature for yeast.

6) Yeast is added, which converts sugar into equal parts alcohol and carbon dioxide.

7) Mash enters the top of the distillation column and flavor compounds are separated by boiling points to create high wines. High wines can be further distilled using the pot still (batch process) for concentrated flavors, or double distilled in a column still to strip out flavors and create a base whisky.

8) J.P. Wiser's uses white oak American Bourbon, once-used AB casks, or port casks, wine casks or multiple-used casks (depending on the recipe) that have been charred on the inside to age whisky for a minimum of three years. The temperature extremes of the Great Lakes Region have a unique effect on the aging of Canadian whiskies not found anywhere else in the world.

9) Depending on the desired whisky, the solution may be filtered chilled, non-chilled or remain unfiltered.

type	Canadian whisky
abv	40.00%
proof	80
manufacturer	Corby Spirit and Wine (Pernod Ricard)
origin	Windsor, Ontario, Canada

J.P. Wiser's Whisky

Early history

Recent history

Advertising slogan

Wiserhood marketing campaign

Distillery

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Production

Master Blender: Dr. Don Livermore

Popular culture

Further reading

References