East of the Rocky Mountains with
the Oldman River running through
it, sits the prairie city of Lethbridge,
Alta., home to Black Velvet Canadian Whis-ky.
Recently acquired by Heaven Hill Brands,
one of the largest independent, family-owned
and operated distilled spirits suppli-ers
in the United States.
“When the Black Velvet opportunity
came up, Heaven Hill Brands sought
after it with aggression,” Claude Bilodeau
said, laughing. Bilodeau is vice president
and general manager of the Black Velvet
Distilling Company. “It’s such an iconic
brand with such a storied history – how
could you let that opportunity pass you by?”
Yes, the whisky has a very storied his-tory
indeed. Before Heaven Hill Brands
acquired Black Velvet in 2019, the origin
of the popular whisky has roots in both
Canada and England, starting with broth-ers
Walter and Alfred Gilbey. The Gilbey
brothers built their business importing
South African wines and soon turned to
the spirits industry with even more success,
opening their first gin distillery in England,
in 1872.
In the early 20th century, they
expanded their business into Canada,
entertaining the idea of opening a distillery
D I S T I L L E R Y P R O F I L E
here to meet the country’s high demand
for their spirits. Shy of three decades later,
Walter and Alfred completed the W&A
Gilbey Distillery in Toronto, and released
the first drops of Canadian Gilbey spirits
on Sept. 11, 1933.
However, it would be several years
before Black Velvet became a household
name in North America. Two Ontario dis-tillers,
Crosbie Hucks and John S. Napier,
joined the Canadian Gilbey spirits’ team in
the 1940s and began experimenting with
the spirits, developing several different
Canadian whiskies in the distillery’s newly
added warehouse space.
The men learned that if they left the
whisky in the wood barrels longer than
required, it tasted dramatically better. This
process eventually inspired Black Velvet, a
sweet, light smelling bourbon with noted
hints of butterscotch, tropical coconut
and vanilla. Originally called Black Label,
Napier changed it to Black Velvet because
of its silky taste.
Very quickly, Black Velvet passed the
other Canadian whiskies at the distill-ery
in consumer demand throughout the
’70s. According to Davin de Kergommeaux,
independent whisky expert and author of
Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert, the
first batch of Black Velvet was so popular
it sold out within hours of its release to
the public.
FALL 2020 § POURED CANADA § 13