Before the barrel, before the years of waiting, before any of it, there's new make spirit.
New make is the polished distillate that comes off the still before maturation begins. It's clear, it's high proof, and it already tells you more about the whisky you're building than people give it credit for. The fermentation character, the grain, the cut points, it's all already there. The barrel's job is to transform and develop what's already in liquid, not to rescue something that went sideways at the start.
It's also, genuinely, one of the most interesting (AKA nerdy) things you can taste in a distillery. You're drinking the beginning of something, and imagining the final product.. The only question is how long you're willing to wait to find out how it ends.
Happy World Cocktail Day. The one occasion where ordering a second round counts as cultural participation.
We've been quietly making the case that better cocktails start with better whisky. Our Wheated Rye slides in here perfectly: soft where a lot of ryes are sharp, with enough complexity to hold its own neat, and enough versatility to work in whatever you put in front of it. Old Fashioned, Highball, or something you've been tinkering with for the past six months.
Today feels like the right day to put it to work. What are you building with it?
Bottle #18 is open and itâs tasting like the bulk candy aisle.
Release #18 "Off Brand Nordic Red Berry Gummies": Aged 3.5 â 4.5 years in a mix of ex-bourbon and new oak casks, 63.9% ABV. Fruity, a little mischievous, and blended specifically to capture the kind of candy shop nostalgia that's hard to engineer and even harder to ignore.
Nose: Maraschino cherry syrup, red gummy candies, and fizzy cola. Palate: Sweet nougat and sarsaparilla spice. Thereâs more going on than the nose lets on. Finish: Polished antique wood. The oak was there the whole time.
As for the name, our lawyers told us not to get sued, so this was the compromise.
Blending - 1 part science : 2 parts art
Every cask we fill ages a little differently. Some lean fruity, some bring bold rye spice, others carry deeper notes of oak and sweetness. Blending is the process of tasting through those casks and figuring out how they fit together, making small adjustments, comparing samples, and chasing that moment when everything suddenly clicks.
When youâre blending, itâs easy to get completely carried away focusing on the tiny details. Winning Best Blending Team of the Year (2026) at the Canadian Whisky Awards was a nice reminder that weâre probably obsessing over the right ones.
What does charring a barrel accomplish, and how is it done?
âCharâ refers to the black, burnt layer inside of a whisky barrel. Barrels can be charred to different levels, largely determined by how long in seconds the inside of the barrel is exposed to a direct flame. Char level 3 and 4, are most common in the industry, but levels 1 through 6 are possible (weâve even heard of 7 or 8 being achieved, but itâs hard to imagine thereâd be much barrel left at that point).
Each level will influence the speed/level of maturation, affecting the aging spirit differently through more/less contact with charcoal and changes in overall aroma and flavour profile. In the end, char level is all the personal preference of the whisky maker in crafting the perfect spirit. We use chars #3 and #4 most commonly at the distillery, because they provide a good mellow, without pulling out too much character from the spirit.
You know that feeling when you're trying to be responsible, healthy groceries, good habits, big week at work; and then the bulk candy aisle happens?
One bin catches your eye. Those red berry gummies. The ones from the movie theatre when you were a kid. "Just a taste wouldn't kill meâŠ"
That's the exact feeling we kept coming back to while putting together our 18th release âOff-brand nordic red berry gummiesâ. A blend of 100% rye aged 3.5 to 4.5 years, matured in ex-bourbon and new American oak; and somehow, against all odds, it smells exactly like a candy shop.
The nose opens with bright red berry candy and cherry syrup, with a little cola bottle thrown in for good measure. On the palate you get sweet nougat, a sarsaparilla root beer thing that's hard to explain but impossible to miss, and a finish that settles into polished oak.
Release #18 drops this Saturday at 1 PM at the distillery and online at store.sonsofvancouver.ca
Set your alarms.
The sun might be playing hard to get, but the whiskyâs still flowing, and weâre still out here trying to make the internet slightly smarter (and at least 12% more entertaining).
Our YouTube channelâs been rolling along, tackling the questions everyone debates after their second dram: Are single malts actually âbetterâ than blends? Do age statements really mean better whisky? We also take you behind the scenes at the distillery so you can see how the magic, and the mess, actually happens.
If youâre into whisky nerdiness with a side of sarcasm, nowâs a solid time to catch up. New videos are live. Linkâs in the bio. Go fall down the rabbit hole.
Some whiskies belong on a dimly lit bar shelf. This one? It belongs wherever you are.
Our Wheated Rye is as beautiful as the landscape behind it, rich vanilla, toasted sugar, rye spice, and charred oak, bottled at a solid 50.5% ABV. Itâs the kind of whisky you take on an adventure, not just admire from across the room.
Sip it neat, pour it by the fire, or pass it around with friends who appreciate the good stuff. Just donât let it sit too long, it wasnât made to collect dust. And if youâre already thinking about the day your bottle runs dry, donât worry, thereâs plenty more where this came from.
Weâre often using once-used barrels to either mature or finish our whiskies. Most of the time those barrels come hydrated and ready to fill, but sometimes they need a little extra TLC. Whether itâs an ex-bourbon barrel or an ex-sherry barrel, we always want to pull as much of that flavour out as we can, so this is how we rehydrate those barrels without washing away all that flavour from the previous liquid.
Throwing it back this Thursday to Release 17: âOoey Gooey Sticky Cinnamon Bunâ, the whisky that made us question whether we shouldâve opened a bakery instead. Just kidding, distilling whisky is our calling.
That blend of rye and wheat that took a detour through amburana, tawny port, and toasted oak before landing in your glass⊠it didnât exactly whisper. It showed up loud with cinnamon and sticky dried fruit.
If you grabbed a bottle, howâs it treating you now? Has it opened up into full pastry-shop mode, or are you picking up something we didnât see coming?
Our first core whisky, SOV Wheated Rye. Your new fave go-to bottle, the one you grab to share with your closest friends.
Vanilla sugar sweetness from that punch of wheat, classic rye spice, and layers of charred oak; this bottle doesnât just sit on your shelf looking pretty, it delivers.
At 50.5% ABV, itâs made to sip the way YOU prefer, neat, on ice, or in an Old Fashioned. However you drink it, just make sure youâve got time to sit back and enjoy, because this whisky deserves your full attention.
Available for purchase through our storefront, online on our website, at select private liquor stores in BC, and through Liquor Marts in Manitoba.
Keen on knowing when our next release will be available?
Sign up for our mailing list to be the first to know about our upcoming releases as well as being the first to grab a bottle before theyâre available to the general public.
Follow the link in our bio, provide us with your email, and henceforth, youâll be in the loop for all upcoming releases.
May your glass never be empty again
