If the Scots in the Hotel Grand Pacific ballroom felt threatened having their legendary whiskies upstaged on the world stage last year by a Canadian competitor, they weren鈥檛 showing it.
Ian Logan, international brand ambassador at Chivas Brothers, couldn鈥檛 contain his playful irreverence.
鈥淲hen the Scots came over in the 18th and 19th century, we were actually doing missionary work,鈥� he quipped.
鈥淚鈥檒l quite happily tease Don Livermore [master blender for J.P. Wiser鈥檚] and tell him it was the Scots expats who showed Canadians how to make whisky.鈥�
Logan said 鈥渋t鈥檚 good for whisky in general鈥� that a Canadian malt whisky, Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye, was named 2016 world whisky of the year.
It was awarded 97.5 points out of 100 in Jim Murray鈥檚 Whisky Bible, heading the whisky guru鈥檚 top live list that contained not a single Scottish whisky.
Logan鈥檚 reaction came before Thursday night鈥檚 Canadian Whisky Awards dinner that kicked off the 11th annual Victoria Whisky Festival.
Lot No. 40, a Corby Distilleries whisky from Windsor, Ont., was named best Canadian whisky of 2015.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a rye whisky sensation,鈥� declared jury chairman Davin de Kergommeaux.
Dave Broom, the Glasgow-born whisky writer, said it didn鈥檛 surprise him it took so long for the world to embrace Canadian whiskies.
鈥淒omestic markets are often the toughest because you never quite have faith in your product,鈥� he said, noting Canadian whisky has long filled an important American market need for high-volume, low-margin whisky.
鈥淣o one has really taken it seriously. The whiskies have always been there, and the distillers and quality, but they weren鈥檛 being promoted and marketing departments are now realizing they鈥檙e sitting on a goldmine.鈥�
Roberto Roberti, service manager with Vancouver-based Fountana Group, recalled his own amusing experience when he was category manager for duty-free sales at Vancouver airport.
鈥淐anadian whisky is a souvenir product, like maple syrup. It鈥檚 Canadiana,鈥� said Roberti, who beseeched his boss to capitalize on that by putting a maple leaf on packaging to boost sales.
When told it was too costly, the passionate pitchman said he鈥檇 buy 500 maple-leaf stickers himself.
鈥淚 said you can fire me if they don鈥檛 sell,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey lasted just three days.鈥�
Alwynne Gwilt, the London-based founder and editor of Miss Whisky who grew up in Prince George, was back at the festival for her third year.
鈥淚 always try to spend a few days there and come back down to Victoria. It鈥檚 a good chance to catch up,鈥� said Gwilt, whose past whisky-and-chocolate tasting events have been festival hits.
鈥淚 wanted to mix it up a bit this year, and I was thinking how there鈥檚 been a lot of controversy saying things have changed too much in the whisky industry.鈥�
It inspiredthe book Whisky Wander, the glamorous connoisseur鈥檚 journey through whisky history since the late 1800s.
鈥淚 chose some key aspects to show people where it鈥檚 come from and hopefully where it鈥檚 going,鈥� said Gwilt, who covered the art of blending, Prohibition tales and the rise of single malts.
Miss Whisky gamely revealed one of her favourite whisky-related movies.
It鈥檚 The Angels鈥� Share, British director Ken Loach鈥檚 bittersweet comedy about the adventures of a Glaswegian small-time hood鈥檚 life-changing outing to a whisky distillery in the Scottish Highlands.
鈥淚 know [Edinburgh-based whisky expert] Charlie MacLean really well, so it was amazing to see him being his normal self, and I鈥檝e been to Balblair Distillery, where it was filmed,鈥� she said.
鈥淚t brought home to me what an incredible industry this is and how lucky I am to work in it.鈥�
