Black Velvet Canadian Whisky: Production Spotlight
Since most of our employees have not had the chance to visit the Black Velvet Distillery in Lethbridge, we first want to walk through the facility and talk a bit about the various teams working within it. First and foremost, it is important to note that the facility, built in 1973, was designed to be a fully integrated site covering the entire production process from grain to glass on a single 50 acre piece of land. This differs from the setup of Heaven Hill’s Kentucky facilities where distillation takes place at the Bernheim Distillery in Louisville, Kentucky; bottling takes place in Bardstown, Kentucky; and aging takes place at various sites across the state.
Distillation
The distilling team led by Black Velvet Master Distiller Jonathan Goldberg and Distillery Supervisor Riley Erickson is responsible for the production of Black Velvet Canadian Whisky, Black Velvet Reserve, and Black Velvet Toasted Caramel. Stay tuned to echo tomorrow when we’ll explore the Canadian Whisky production process and how it differs from the American Whiskey production process.
Blending
Next up is the blending department, also overseen by Jonathan and his team along with blending supervisor Craig Chomistek. Together this team is responsible for the process of blending at birth (the key feature differentiating Black Velvet from the competition), adding caramel coloring to the product, monitoring the proof of the product, and more. Additionally, this department is responsible for shipping domestic fortified wine and neutral grain spirit via the rail spur to the Bardstown, Kentucky plant to be used as a blending ingredient in various products.
Bottling
The bottling department, comprised of three bottling lines filling sizes 200ml, 375ml, 750ml, 1L, and 1.75L is overseen by Kevin Larue, Black Velvet Bottling and Shipping Manager. Together Kevin and his team bottle just over one million cases each year with the remaining liquid being shipped to Bardstown and Carson, California for bottling.
Quality Assurance
Much like the Bardstown quality team, The Black Velvet Quality Assurance department led by Jason Stone is responsible for ensuring consumers can enjoy quality, consistent products with each purchase. The Distilling, Blending, and Bottling departments all have dedicated Quality Assurance staff to ensure all steps of the production process are properly followed, measurements and analytics of each product are correct, packaging specs are met, and all products are consistent.
Aging
Finally, the aging department comprised of just four people is responsible for the filling, storing, and pulling of barrels throughout the aging process.
Unique Challenges
Another key differentiation between the Canadian facility and other Heaven Hill facilities are the long, intense winters with freezing cold temperatures. This presents a unique challenge of keeping the facility warm and factoring in the cost and logistics of shoveling snow to ensure production can continue seamlessly. Within the site, the arteries going from the main building to the aging warehouses have to stay clear, clean and smooth so that forklifts can pass through safely.
Improvements
Since the acquisition, Heaven Hill has made several important improvements to the Black Velvet Distillery as part of our dedication to Continuous Improvement. First was the replacement of three condensers which had been in the distillery since the late 70s and repairs to the roof throughout the building. Two large projects have been in the works as well which will ultimately improve production capabilities and efficiency for the plant:
Boiler Project
The replacement of the boiler is the biggest project the facility has seen since the stills were replaced in the late 90s. We’re excited to say that this project is about 70% finished, set to be completed this winter.
Domestic Fortified/Canadian Blending Wine Project
There are several components and goals to this project including the addition of a large outdoor holding tank for neutral grain spirit, the ability to triple reverse osmosis water production capabilities, and increase capacity to store neutral white wine, a key component of blending wine, in a more environmentally friendly manor. Just weeks away from completion, this project will ultimately enable the distillery to continue production of its Canadian blending wine in the event of a distillery shut down.
Claude Bilodeau, Black Velvet Vice President and General Manager expressed his gratitude for the investment Heaven Hill has made in the business saying, “There are some things that you just don’t see or think of every day where the site needed some love and Heaven Hill has provided that. They’re injecting the capital into the site that it needed in a time when the world is in turmoil and we are so appreciative of that.”
Stay tuned as we continue celebrating the one year anniversary of Heaven Hill’s acquisition of Black Velvet Canadian Whisky.
