Heaven Hill has a long-standing history of making great American Whiskey and most of us have a pretty good idea of what that production process looks like. Let’s explore the differences between American Whiskey and Canadian Whisky production to give you a better idea of what makes Black Velvet different from the other whiskey products in our portfolio.  

Having been in the spirits industry his entire adult life working in Scotch Whisky, Brandy, Rum and now Black Velvet Canadian Whisky for the past six years, Black Velvet Master Distiller Jonathan Goldberg is Heaven Hill’s resident Canadian Whisky expert. We sat down with Jonathan to walk us through the key differences between these two popular types of whisk(e)y: 

First and foremost, you cannot talk about Canadian Whisky without pointing out that its primary market is actually the United States and, until pretty recently, Canadian Whisky was the most popular Whisky in the states. Many of the blends and the bases for Canadian Whiskey were developed to sell into the United States as a product that is a bit more subtle, mixable, and approachable than other whiskeys on the market.  

The easiest way to explain the key differences is to walk through the production process and juxtapose how Black Velvet is made versus how Evan Williams or Elijah Craig is made. The production of Canadian Whisky is not universal. There are about a half dozen large historical distilleries in Canada and every single one of them makes whisky a little differently, but with a few common themes.  

Grains & Mashbill 

When it comes to grain, American Whiskey is made from a mixed grain mashbill whereas Canadian Whisky is historically made of a single grain mashbill. While American distillers blend the grains prior to mashing, fermenting, and distilling, Canadian distillers perform these steps for each grain individually and then blend the resulting spirits.  

Another important difference between American and Canadian mashing is that most American distilleries utilize a batch cooking process whereas Canadian distilleries run a continuous cooking process. This means they are constantly milling grain and feeding in water, backset stillage, and enzyme into the same tank, which is continuously stirred, pumped, and sent through what is called a continuous cooker. A continuous cooker injects steam into a stream of mash, holding it under pressure in a holding tube, and breaking down the starches into sugars from the grains. The mash is then cooled down, more enzyme added, and sent into fermenters continuously. As far as fermentation goes, American Whiskey is typically made using one yeast strain whereas Canadian, and Black Velvet specifically, use three different yeast strains, one for each of the component whiskies. 

Distillation 

Unlike American Whiskey, Black Velvet and most Canadian Whisky is a blend of multiple whiskies. For example, Evan Williams and Elijah Craig only contain Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, while Black Velvet is a blend of three different whiskies – Neutral Base Whisky, Corn High Wines or Corn Flavoring Whisky, and Rye High Wines or Rye Flavoring Whisky. The Corn Flavoring Whisky is made from 100% corn and is distilled in a very similar fashion to how Bourbon is made. The Rye Flavoring Whisky is made from 90% Rye and 10% Barley Malt and is distilled in a much different way from an American Rye Whiskey. The distillation proof of the Rye Flavoring Whisky is very low, coming off the still at 114 proof as to capture as much flavor and aroma from the processed grain as possible. Finally, the Neutral Base Whisky is distilled at a very high proof to create a neutral flavor profile, coming off the still at just under 190 proof.  

Canadian Whisky production utilizes a four still system as opposed to the one or two stills used in American Whiskey production. The corn and rye flavoring whiskies are produced using just the first still, which is a beer still. The Neutral Base Whisky is produced using all four stills to achieve that quintessential light, neutral flavor profile.  

Blending 

When it comes to blending, other Canadian Whisky producers will distill their three types of whiskey, age them, and blend them right before bottling. Black Velvet however uses a unique process known as “Blending at Birth” where we distill each of the three whiskies separately. The corn and rye high wines are aged separately and then those aged flavoring whiskies are blended with freshly distilled, unaged base whiskey. This mixture is then put back into the barrel to further age for a minimum of three more years. While Black Velvet uses this unique “Blending at Birth” process, it is important to note that in order to achieve a subtle flavor profile, all Canadian Whisky is produced using a blend of various whiskies.  

The other differentiating characteristic is the allowed use of blenders in Canadian whisky. This allows up to 9.09% of the alcohol to come from something other than Canadian Whiskey. This is usually a very neutral white wine or blending sherry and is generally only used in product headed to the United States. 

Aging 

Unlike American Whiskey that is aged in rickhouses, Canadian Whisky is largely aged in single story palletized warehouses. Barrels are stored standing up on pallets stacked high and deep in the warehouse to the ceiling. In Canada, we don’t see the extreme fluctuation in temperature that you would see in the aging of American Whiskey, which is what makes a rickhouse distinctive. Our warehouses are a much more uniform climate from top to bottom, they’re heated in the winter months, and because of our geography our maturation temperatures are much lower.  

Additionally, Canadian Whisky Distilleries utilize used barrels whereas American Whiskey Distilleries require a new charred white oak barrel for every batch. Because we utilize used barrels, the coconut, vanilla, pencil shaving, and cedar wood aromas that you often find in American Whiskeys are not present in Canadian Whisky. Rather, Canadian Whisky features light oak, vanilla, and honey characteristics achieving the subtle balanced flavor consumers love about the product. One hallmark of American Whiskey is the rich color achieved during the aging process. Since Canadian Whisky utilizes used barrels, the extraction of color, while separate from the extraction of flavor, is not something we pull as much from the barrel. That said, Canadian Whisky producers often employee the use caramel coloring to achieve a consistent and beautiful golden hue.  

Under law Canadian Whisky must be aged a minimum of three years as opposed to two years for American Whiskey. Additionally, American Whiskey must enter the barrel at no more than 125 proof whereas Canadian does not have a limit, so most whiskies enter the barrel between 70% and 80% or 140 to 160 proof. Again, this changes the spectrum of extractives from the barrel influencing the character of the whisky and how it responds to maturation.  

Finally, Black Velvet Canadian Whisky is not chill filtered whereas the vast majority of Bourbon and Rye Whiskey is chill filtered. The only exception is shipments to areas such as the Baltics and Russia for which product is chill filtered. Chill filtering this product acts as an extra insurance step due to the drastic temperature changes during shipment. 

We hope you enjoyed this exploration of the key differences between American Whiskey and Canadian Whisky production. Heaven Hill is proud to have both important, popular types of whisk(e)y represented in our portfolio.