Okanagan Spirits wins Artisan Distillery of the Year at 2022 Canadian Whisky Awards

Photo: Okanagan Spirits

Vernon's Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery struck gold at the prestigious 2022 Canadian Whisky Awards.

It won the Artisan Distillery of the Year title and took home three gold medals for its BRBN bourbon-style whisky, BLK BRBN cask-strength bourbon, and Black Laird of Fintry cask-strength single-malt whisky.

It also earned silver medals for its Laird of Fintry single-malt and Blue Laird rum-cask finished single-malt, and a bronze for its Okanagan Spirits BC Rye Whisky.

The family-owned distillery with locations in Vernon and Kelowna has won numerous international awards over the last two decades.

"This has truly lifted our spirits," says CEO Tyler Dyck.

"To be honoured by Canada’s premier whisky competition and to be recognized with so many of the top awards across so many whisky categories is a real tribute to our distilling team, to my family, and to the local farmers growing the grains that have earned a place for our whisky on the national and international stage."

Dyck says he and his family believe that sourcing local grains and fruit, from field to bottle, is the cornerstone of craft distillation. This way, the spirits capture "the subtleties of the Okanagan's fields and orchards," and the flavour profile is unique and specific to the region.

Okanagan Spirits was the first craft distillery to fire up a copper-pot still in B.C. since the time of prohibition.

Since then, it has become a leader in modernizing industry policy in B.C. and Canada.

Dyck, who is also president of the Craft Distiller’s Guild of B.C. and the Canadian Craft Distillers Alliance, says:

"The reforms we continue to fight for are aimed at ensuring authenticity in traditional production techniques and at staying intimately linked to the local terroir, using only local agricultural products in the creation of our spirits."

This was the first year Okanagan Spirits entered the national competition.

"To represent our local region on the Canadian stage, and to come away with so many medals is fantastic," said Okanagan Spirits president and family patriarch, Tony Dyck.

"Our entire team is so honoured to be in the company of some of the best distillers from across Canada, as well as the commercial, multinational companies. This is going to take some time to sink in. I’m so proud."