Canadian Single Malt Whisky Guide
Canadian single malt whisky is whisky made in Canada from 100% malted barley at a single distillery, distilled in copper pot stills and aged at least three years in small wooden casks in Canada. Macaloney's Distillery and Brewery makes it in Victoria, BC from British Columbia barley, and our Harvest Coast was named Canadian Single Malt Whisky of the Year at the 2026 Canadian Whisky Awards. This guide is written from the stillhouse, not the shelf.
By Dr. Graeme Macaloney, Founder and Master Whiskymaker, Macaloney's Distillery and Brewery, Victoria, BC. Updated October 2026.
Canadian single malt whisky at a glance
- Grain: 100% malted barley. No corn, wheat or rye.
- One distillery: every drop is distilled at the distillery named on the bottle.
- Stills: by convention, copper pot stills.
- The law: to be called Canadian whisky it must be mashed, distilled and aged at least three years in small wood in Canada, and bottled at 40% ABV or more.
- Spelling: whisky, no "e", the same as in Canada's regulations.
- Who makes it: mostly independent craft distilleries, from Nova Scotia to Vancouver Island and the Yukon.
- Ours: British Columbia barley, double distilled on Forsyth copper pot stills, with some malt smoked over peat at the distillery.
What is Canadian single malt whisky?
Canadian single malt whisky is made entirely from malted barley at one distillery in Canada, usually on copper pot stills, then aged at least three years in wooden casks of 700 litres or less in Canada and bottled at 40% ABV or more. The three years, the Canadian origin and the 40% are law. Single malt is the convention built on top of them.
Canada's Food and Drug Regulations (section B.02.020) define Canadian whisky. They don't define single malt separately, so Canadian distillers follow the same convention whisky makers use worldwide: one grain, malted barley, and one distillery. A spirit that hasn't spent three years in cask isn't whisky in Canada. It's sold as new make or as a spirit, which is why young releases from new distilleries carry those names.
How is Canadian single malt different from Canadian whisky?
Most Canadian whisky is blended, built on a corn or wheat base whisky with rye and other grains added for flavour, and much of it is called rye whatever the mashbill. Canadian single malt uses only malted barley from one distillery. It's a small part of the category, made mostly by craft distilleries.
Both are Canadian whisky under the same law. The difference is grain, method and scale. Large Canadian whisky producers typically distil each grain separately on column stills and blend afterwards. A single malt distillery mashes barley, ferments it and distils it in batches on pot stills, which keeps more of the grain and fermentation character. Canadian regulations also allow caramel and flavouring in Canadian whisky. Our single malts carry no added colour and are non chill filtered.
How is Canadian single malt different from Scotch single malt?
The method comes from the same tradition: malted barley, copper pot stills, oak casks and time. The difference is place. Scotch must be distilled and matured in Scotland. Canadian single malt is made and aged in Canada, so Canadian barley, Canadian water, Canadian climate and the casks each distiller chooses shape the whisky.
At Macaloney's we describe our approach as Scottish tradition and Canadian innovation. Our stills are hand forged Forsyth copper pot stills from Speyside, Scotland, and our cask programme was designed with the late Dr. Jim Swan. Everything else is local: British Columbia barley, peat smoking done at the distillery, and maturation in Victoria, BC. It's Canadian single malt, made in Victoria, BC, not an imitation of anything else.
Is it Canadian single malt whisky or whiskey?
Whisky. Canada's Food and Drug Regulations use the spelling "Canadian whisky", and Canadian distillers spell it without the "e", as Scottish and Japanese producers do. Irish and most American producers write "whiskey". It's the same spirit family with a different national spelling, so "Canadian single malt whiskey" means the same thing.
Which distilleries make Canadian single malt whisky?
Canadian single malt comes mostly from independent craft distilleries, from Cape Breton to Vancouver Island and the Yukon. Glen Breton, from Glenora Distillery in Nova Scotia, is generally credited as Canada's first single malt. Diageo's Crown Royal has added a single malt to its range, and British Columbia is home to several producers, including Macaloney's.
A selection of Canadian distilleries with single malt whisky in their range:
- Glenora Distillery (Glen Breton), Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
- Still Waters Distillery (Stalk and Barrel), Concord, Ontario
- Crown Royal Single Malt, Diageo, distilled at Valleyfield, Quebec
- Two Brewers, Yukon Brewing, Whitehorse, Yukon
- Okanagan Spirits (Laird of Fintry), Okanagan Valley, BC
- Central City Brewers and Distillers (Lohin McKinnon), Surrey, BC
- Shelter Point Distillery, Vancouver Island, BC
- Stillhead Distillery, Cowichan Valley, BC
- Macaloney's Distillery and Brewery, Victoria, BC
Each of these makes whisky differently, which is the point. Taste across them and you'll find the range of what Canadian single malt can be.
How does Macaloney's make Canadian single malt whisky?
We start with British Columbia malted barley from Gambrinus Malting in Armstrong, BC, mash and ferment it at the distillery, and double distil it on hand forged Forsyth copper pot stills. We take a narrow cut to keep the fruity esters, smoke some of our own malt over peat on site, and mature in a cask programme designed with the late Dr. Jim Swan.
Macaloney's Distillery and Brewery is a single malt whisky distillery and craft brewery at 761 Enterprise Crescent, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Founded by Dr. Graeme Macaloney and backed by 728 Canadian investors, it distils on hand forged Forsyth copper pot stills from Speyside, Scotland, using British Columbia barley. Its Triple Take triple distilled pot still whisky, first released as Kildara Signature Selection, was named World's Best Pot Still at the 2023 World Whiskies Awards. At the 2026 Canadian Whisky Awards, Harvest Coast was named Canadian Single Malt Whisky of the Year and the distillery took six gold medals. The core range is Buzz Cut, Triple Take, Truth Serum, Bang Sauce, Harvest Coast and River Pirate. The distillery offers guided tours, a tasting bar, the Friends of Macaloney's membership, private casks and custom label corporate gifting. Previous trading names include Victoria Caledonian Distillery and Macaloney's Island Distillery.
Our Canadian single malt whiskies
| Whisky | Peat | Cask | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truth Serum | Unpeated | Oloroso and PX sherry | Plums, red berries, raisins, sea salt finish |
| Bang Sauce | Light, 12 ppm, Washington peat | Portuguese red wine | Heather brushfire, dark chocolate, salted toffee |
| River Pirate | Heavy, 54 ppm, Washington peat | Bordeaux Sauternes | Campfire smoke, honeyed apricot, orange marmalade |
| Harvest Coast | Heavy, 54 ppm, Washington peat with sugar kelp | Six casks including Oloroso and PX sherry | Canadian Single Malt Whisky of the Year 2026 |
Two more whiskies in our range are made differently. Triple Take is triple distilled pot still whisky, a separate style from our single malts, and was named World's Best Pot Still at the 2023 World Whiskies Awards. Buzz Cut is a flavoured whisky made with our single malt and Vancouver Island wildflower honey. For more on how we smoke our own malt, see the Peated Whisky Guide.
What awards have Canadian single malts won?
Canadian single malts now take top titles at home and abroad. At the 2026 Canadian Whisky Awards, Macaloney's Harvest Coast was named Canadian Single Malt Whisky of the Year. At the 2026 World Whiskies Awards, a Macaloney's sugar kelp peated single malt from a Portuguese red wine cask was named Best Canadian Single Malt.
Other Macaloney's titles, all listed with year and competition on our awards page:
- 2025 Canadian Whisky Awards: Canadian Whisky of the Year, Peat Project Moscatel Cask, the top award across all Canadian whisky
- 2026 Canadian Whisky Awards: Award of Excellence in Product Innovation, Peat Project single cask series
- 2026 Icons of Whisky: World's Best Craft Distiller
- 2023 World Whiskies Awards: World's Best Pot Still, Triple Take
- 2020 and 2022 World Whiskies Awards: World's Best New Make, for the spirit that becomes our single malt
What does Canadian single malt whisky taste like?
There's no single Canadian single malt flavour, because barley, stills, cut, casks and climate differ between distilleries. Expect malt and cereal sweetness, fruit from fermentation and spice from oak. Ours run fruit forward thanks to a narrow cut, with depth from sherry and wine casks and a coastal, lightly salted finish that runs through the range.
Smoke is a choice, not a given. Many Canadian single malts are unpeated. We peat some of ours at the distillery with Washington, Islay and sugar kelp smoked peat, and each one tastes different. Light peat reads as heather and campfire. Heavy peat, as in River Pirate and Harvest Coast, reads as wood smoke and bonfire embers.
Which Canadian single malt whisky should you try first?
Start with an unpeated sherry cask single malt, then step up to smoke. From our range that means Truth Serum, matured in Oloroso and PX sherry casks, followed by Harvest Coast, the 2026 Canadian Single Malt Whisky of the Year, which carries gentle peat and sugar kelp smoke under the sherry.
If you already like smoky whisky, go straight to River Pirate, where Sauternes sweetness balances 54 ppm of Washington peat. If you prefer something lighter and wine led, Bang Sauce is 12 ppm in Portuguese red wine casks.
How should you drink Canadian single malt whisky?
Neat first, in a tulip shaped glass, then add a few drops of still water to open the aroma. Ice mutes the nose, so save it for a highball. Single malt also holds its own in an Old Fashioned, a Manhattan, a Penicillin or a Whisky Sour, where the malt stands up to sugar, bitters and citrus.
- Neat: room temperature, a few minutes in the glass before the first sip.
- With water: a few drops at a time. Use still water that isn't heavily mineralised.
- Highball: single malt and chilled soda or tonic over ice, with a twist of citrus.
- Food: sherry cask malts suit dark chocolate and aged cheese. Peated malts suit oysters, smoked fish and charcuterie.
Where can you buy Canadian single malt whisky?
Macaloney's ships to every Canadian province from macaloneys.com, and sells our range at the distillery in Victoria, BC. In British Columbia you'll also find our whisky at selected liquor stores. Everywhere else in Canada, order online for delivery. Our whisky isn't available in the United States yet.
- British Columbia: the distillery shop at 761 Enterprise Crescent, Saanich, selected BC liquor stores, and online.
- Every other province and territory: online at macaloneys.com, shipped to your door.
- United States and international: not available yet.
Shop the full range of Canadian single malt whisky.
Can you visit a Canadian single malt distillery in Victoria, BC?
Yes. Pete's Tour covers every stage of making Canadian single malt, from BC barley and peat smoke to the copper pot stills and the barrel room, with a guided tasting. The distillery is at 761 Enterprise Crescent, Saanich, BC, open Wednesday to Sunday, 12 PM to 9 PM. See Visit Us for directions.
To hear about new single malt releases first, join the free Terroir tier of Friends of Macaloney's.