Photo: Contributed

In honour of Scottish poet Robbie Burns, Vernon's Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery has launched a new single-cask release of triple-wood whisky with a frontier nod to Valley history.

The Captain Shorts whisky is named after the "high admiral of Okanagan Lake."

Burns and Shorts were both reported to be whisky lovers.

And while the Scottish bard is celebrated with haggis every year, Shorts is remembered as a teller of tall tales and captain of Okanagan Lake's first ferry.

Shorts was a gruff frontiersman who would row passengers and cargo the length of the lake in his 22-foot boat, rain or shine.

With less than 300 bottles in existence, Lot 1 of what is planned to be an annual release is sure to go fast.

The golden elixir started its life in North Okanagan fields before being fermented, double-distilled and aged for five years in white oak casks. From there, it was racked and transferred into a port barrel for an additional six months, and then back to another white oak cask for an additional four months.