You can create your very own, one-of-a-kind whisky – and you don't need your own still to do it.

Tyler Dyck, CEO of Vernon's Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery, says its private label custom cask program has been "hugely successful."

Typically, whisky (note the 'ky' spelling – Dyck says an 'ey' ending denotes an American product as opposed to Canadian) is aged in traditional, large oak barrels that hold about 350 bottles of the nectar.

For fine spirits enthusiasts, that can be a huge investment if you want to create your own private-label tipple – about $15,000.

He says the distillery's smaller, 30-litre casks can make it "much more manageable."

Despite the smaller size, the casks still hold about 48 bottles of a whisky that will be the only one of kind on the planet.

Rather than simply "white labelling" or putting a custom label on the same product anyone can buy off the shelf, which "isn't special," Dyck says Okanagan Spirits' custom process allows the finished product to "tell a bit of the story of that individual."

Clients are included in the creation of the whisky right through the process.

"They get the knowledge of knowing they're an integral part of the whisky-making process," says Dyck, who is also president of the Craft Distillers Guild of B.C.

Using the distillery's own whisky or bourbon as a starting point, which has been aging four years, buyers can choose a second "wood finish" of their choice.

"That's where the magic comes in," says Dyck.

One client may wish to finish their whisky in a rum-infused cask, others may choose port, tequila, or a product of their choice, making each one unique.

Dyck says the program has taken off.

"We thought we'd get maybe a dozen takers, for corporate gifts and such ... but we've had more than 50 in the past year."

Dyck even concocted his own family blend, named Eagle's Tide after a family cabin, using Black Sage Vineyards port-finished casks.

The custom add-ons soak into the wood of the cask and then impart their own subtle flavours to the final product as it finishes aging for about three months.

After the product is delivered, Dyck then guides the buyers through the subtleties of their custom whisky with a Zoom-guided tasting session.

The experience costs about $2,800 for a rye or bourbon, and $3,500 for a single-malt whisky – plus you get to keep the cask, giving you bragging rights and a cool souvenir.