Ontario Craft Distillers

One of the fastest-growing craft distilleries in Ontario, Top Shelf has earned a reputation for capturing the flavours of sweet Canadian treats and turning them into delicious spirits. “Our Butter Tart Liquor was inspired by Ontario’s reputation as the ‘butter tart capital of the world,’” says Kenton Tasker, Director of Business Development. “We released it in July and by Christmas we were having a hard time keeping up with the demand. We sold 40,000 bottles.” 

Top Shelf’s other decadent spirits include Cream Puff Liquor, Saskatoon Berry Pie Liquor, Peach Crumble Liquor and Reunion Maple Moonshine, made with maple syrup from the Lanark County region. “We try to do as much as we can when it comes to buying ingredients and grains as local as possible, within 100 miles of the distillery.”

Founded in Perth, Ontario, in 2015 by entrepreneur John Criswick, Top Shelf is bringing its distilling expertise — and penchant for local inspiration — to crafting its first Canadian whisky. Rideau Whisky, named for the nearby Rideau Canal, is a Bourbon-style whisky with fruity and spicy notes, and smokiness from aging in new American white oak casks with a medium char. “Anyone can make vodka or gin, but there is a magic to making whisky,” says Tasker. “Every region, climate and location can change the complexities of a whisky that is aged. The challenge is in that aging process; it takes time, patience and commitment.” 

Originally located in Dunrobin, Ontario, a hamlet of Ottawa, this fast-growing distillery is known for producing premium spirits using the highest-quality ingredients at its new facility in Vankleek Hill. “Many distilleries focus their gin recipes around juniper berries, which is a necessary ingredient in making gin, but I made a conscious decision to build this special gin around the bergamot flower, which is the main botanical found in Earl Grey Tea,” says Dunrobin Co-Founder and CEO Adrian Spitzer. Dunrobin’s focus on innovation has paid off: its Earl Grey Gin won Gold for Canada’s Best Flavoured Gin at the 2023 World Gin Awards.  

Dunrobin has an impressive lineup of award-winning spirits, which includes artisanal gin and Canadian whisky. The distillery will be launching a new addition in spring 2024: their first batch of single malt whisky, made using a patented process that allows them to accurately build flavour profiles in weeks as opposed to years, using traditional barrel aging. “It’s finished with cream sherry in pear wood that feels very mature and is delightfully approachable," says Spitzer. That aged flavour comes from Dunrobin’s unique patented finishing process using wood chips to increase the surface contact area of the liquid. “There’s been a rapid acceleration in the understanding of whisky-making in the last five years. With a worldwide shortage of barrels and the huge amount of deforestation that goes along with it, we felt the need to find better ways to be environmentally responsible. It's important to us to make high-quality whisky that pushes the boundaries on exciting new tastes without compromising quality.”

How spirits taste is everything for the Dunrobin team. “For the past 100 years, people equated quality with price and aging. For us, the quality is in the taste.”

When the COVID pandemic hit in spring 2020, Guelph’s Spring Mill Distillery was in the process of crafting its first barrels of whisky. "We took a big hit when bars and restaurants closed but we continued to lay down the whisky like nothing was happening and are we ever glad we did,” says Cooper Sleeman, Director of Sales and Marketing. “We have award-winning whiskies coming out now and we wouldn’t if we’d ceased production."

Spring Mill’s award-winning lineup includes John Sleeman & Sons Rye Whisky and Sherry Finished Single Malt, which both won Bronze at the 2024 Canadian Whisky Awards, and John Sleeman & Sons The Cooper’s Rye, which won Silver. “It’s 100 per cent Canadian rye aged four-and-a-half years in virgin barrels handmade by our cooper, my brother Quinn, who learned his craft in Scotland and Missouri,” says Sleeman. “It surprised us how well it came out of the barrel. It’s a really exciting, really unique whisky, and we’ve only got 50 cases available so we anticipate it will be gone fast.”

The Sleeman family brings the same passion to whisky-making that made them a household name in brewing. In 1834, John H. Sleeman opened a brewery in St. David's, Ontario, and his great-great-grandson John W. Sleeman resurrected the family brand in 1988 and rebuilt the legacy to become the third largest brewer in Canada. In 2019, inspired by the growing trend of craft spirits, Sleeman founded Spring Mill Distillery in a restored historic stone building in Guelph and approached spirits with the same authenticity that led to his family’s brewing success. They embraced traditional distilling techniques, investing in handcrafted copper stills from Scotland — using barrels and authentic mash bills from Kentucky and bottling spirits by hand. “We want to be sure what we’re putting out is exceptional.”