SerpApi.Org
Canadian whisky does not always get the same attention as Scotch or bourbon, but it covers a lot of ground, from easygoing blends to rye whiskies made entirely from that single grain. This year, six Canadian bottlings picked up recognition at the SIP Awards 2026, with Canadian Club 1858 taking Best of Class in the Canadian Blended Whisky category and five others earning Platinum medals.
The SIP Awards stand apart from most spirits competitions in one key respect: the judging is done entirely by consumers rather than critics or industry professionals. The organizers built the competition around a single question, “What about the consumer’s opinion?”, and they recruit judges from a range of demographics to evaluate entries blind.
The competition covers spirits of all kinds, along with ready-to-drink cocktails, liqueurs, and mixers, which puts established names and newcomers on the same footing. Here is a closer look at the six best Canadian winners.
Canadian Club 1858
Award: Best of Class
Tasting Notes: Almond nuttiness, pepper, zest, rich oak, vanilla
RRP: $31.15
The number in the name points back to 1858, the year Hiram Walker set up his distillery across the river from Detroit in what became Walkerville, Ontario. Walker was an American grocer and grain merchant who moved his whisky-making operation to Canada, and the brand he started there grew popular in American gentlemen’s clubs, which is where the “Club” name came from.
Canadian Club is now owned by Suntory Global Spirits, and the whisky is still produced at the Walkerville site.
The whisky uses a recipe of corn, rye, rye malt, and malted barley, with the corn distillate serving as the base and the rye grains providing much of the flavor. Canadian Club is known for blending its grain spirits before they go into the barrel.
The 1858 expression carries no age statement, is matured in ex-bourbon oak, and is bottled at 40% ABV. It remains the core, everyday bottling in the range and is sold in more than 150 countries.
Burwood Distillery The Smooth Talker Bur-bon Style Whisky
Award: Platinum
Tasting Notes: Sweet, smooth, floral, spicy, Alberta honey
RRP: $50
Compared with the larger producers on this list, Burwood Distillery is a small, independent operation in Calgary, Alberta. It was started by Jordan Ramey and brothers Ivan and Marko Cilic, who, as Avenue Calgary reports, met when Ramey was house-hunting in 2012 and connected with Ivan, his realtor, over a shared interest in craft beer and spirits.
The distillery held its grand opening in 2017 and works with local ingredients, including barley and honey from the founders’ family beehives. The name Smooth Talker is a tribute to co-founder Ivan.
The whisky is described by Burwood as a “Bur-bon Style Whiskey,” a play on the fact that it is made in Canada and so cannot be labeled bourbon. The distillery says it was inspired by American corn whiskies and is made with Canadian rye along with raw Alberta honey.
It is bottled at 40% ABV and, at $50, is a standard part of Burwood’s lineup.
Black Velvet Reserve
Award: Platinum
Tasting Notes: Caramelized orchard fruits, rye, smoke, toffee, dark fruit
RRP: $16.99
Black Velvet dates back to 1951. The brand was originally called Black Label, but as Heaven Hill tells the story, the distiller Jack Napier renamed it after tasting an early batch and finding it unusually smooth. It was also thought that the original name might cause confusion between Black Velvet and Johnnie Walker Black Label.
Production started in eastern Canada and later moved west to the distillery in Lethbridge, Alberta, which now carries the Black Velvet name. Heaven Hill acquired the brand in 2019.
The brand is known for a production method it calls “blending at birth,” in which the base whisky is combined with an aged rye flavoring whisky before the blend goes into the barrel to mature, rather than blending the components after they have aged separately.
Black Velvet Reserve is the aged, step-up version of the standard whisky, matured longer in used bourbon barrels and bottled at 40% ABV. It was first introduced in 1991.
Age labeling on this bottling has varied over the years and across markets, with both 8 and 10-year statements appearing on shelves. The expression listed on Black Velvet's website is a 10-year-old, but the 8-year-old seems to still be available. It is worth checking the specific bottle if you'd like to buy this one.
Black Velvet Blackberry
Award: Platinum
Tasting Notes: Blackberry sweetness, caramel, vanilla
RRP: $11.99
The second Black Velvet entry among the winners comes from the same Lethbridge distillery, but sits in the flavored whisky category rather than the straight blends. Black Velvet Blackberry pairs the brand’s Canadian whisky base with blackberry flavoring, and, like the rest of the flavored range, it is bottled at a lower 35% ABV rather than the 40% of the core whiskies.
The flavored lineup has grown under Heaven Hill, which took over the brand in 2019, and now includes options such as toasted caramel, apple, and peach alongside blackberry.
These expressions are aimed largely at the U.S. market and sit at the low end on price, with the 750 ml bottle usually selling for around $12, which makes Blackberry the most affordable of the six winners.
Pendleton Midnight Whisky
Award: Platinum
Tasting Notes: Leather, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, oak, coffee cake, nuts, caramelized bananas, candied figs, pecans, walnuts
RRP: $45.99
Pendleton takes a different path from the other winners here, since it is a Canadian whisky finished and bottled in the United States. The whisky is distilled and aged in Canada, then shipped to Hood River Distillers in Hood River, Oregon, where it is cut to bottling strength with glacier-fed spring water from Mt. Hood.
Hood River Distillers, founded in 1934, launched the Pendleton brand in 2003 and named it after the Pendleton Round-Up, a long-running rodeo held each September in Pendleton, Oregon. The brand was acquired by Proximo Spirits in 2017.
Pendleton Midnight arrived in 2015 as a step up from the flagship Pendleton whisky. According to Hood River Distillers, it is a blend of Canadian whiskies with a portion aged more than six years in American brandy barrels, which the company credits for the darker color and fruit-forward character. It is bottled at 45% ABV and sits in the permanent range.
Alberta Premium Golden Rye 9 Year Old
Award: Platinum
Tasting Notes: Caramel, leather, coconut, raisins, molasses, spice
RRP: $37.95
Alberta Distillers Limited in Calgary has specialized in rye for a long time. The distillery works largely with rye grown on the Canadian prairies, and it supplies aged 100% rye whisky to a number of other brands in addition to its own Alberta Premium line.
According to the company, it is one of the few remaining 100% Canadian rye whisky producers in North America, and it has been making whisky for more than 50 years. The distillery is now part of Suntory Global Spirits and uses a mix of column and pot stills, which lets it produce both lighter and heavier styles of rye spirit for blending.
This particular release is made entirely from rye and aged for nine years across three cask types: new white oak, ex-bourbon, and ex-Canadian whisky barrels. It is bottled at 45% ABV. Alberta Distillers introduced the whisky at the end of July 2025.
Read the full article at The Best Canadian Whisky From The SIP Awards 2026
