CANADIAN WHISKEY
During the Prohibition Era, seventy-five percent of all the alcohol smuggled into the United States was smuggled from Canada, where it was still legal. The Canadians were making the best quality whiskey, at the time when an American bootleggers were selling just about anything they could get their hands on to turn a profit.
There is no whiskey brand more synonymous with the Prohibition Era, and the Chicago gangster Al Capone, then Old Log Cabin, distilled in Montreal, Canada by Distillers Corporation from the LaSalle distillery.
Old Log Cabin Was Made Exclusively For Smuggling Into The United States During Prohibition
LaSalle distillery founder, Sam Bronfman, expanded illicit distribution into New York, New Jersey and Chicago. Ships would navigate to the edge of United States controlled waters, on the East Coast and Great Lakes––known as rum rows––and conduct transfers directly with American smugglers.
What’s Makes a Canadian Whiskey?
Canadian whiskeys must be mashed, distilled, and aged in Canada: rested in small wood vessels for not less than three years, and contain not less than 40 per cent alcohol by volume. Canadian whiskey may contain caramel and flavoring, however, within these these stipulations Canadian whiskeys can vary considerably.
Canadian whiskies are most typically blends of whiskeys made from a single grain, principally corn and rye. Sometimes, wheat or barley are used for flavoring. The availability of inexpensive American corn––with its higher proportion of usable starches relative to other cereal grains––has made it the go-to base ingredient for Canadian whiskey as well, with flavoring grains blended in.
