A Macaloney’s tour in action
VICTORIA – Whiskey is now a tourist attraction in Victoria.
Macaloney’s Brewers & Distillers Ltd. owner and founder Dr. Graeme Macaloney has championed the Northwest Whiskey Trail, the first ever international single malt whisky trail that already covers seven distilleries in Washington, Oregon and coastal B.C., starting in Victoria.
“Whisky tourism is a rapidly growing global phenomenon,” explains Macaloney. “Scotland gets two million visitors, as does Kentucky, and we’ve invested massively in that here now. It’s big for tourism. When I founded this distillery I specifically moved from Edmonton to Victoria to tap into the tourism because it’s a top North American destination here.
“It positions us perfectly for Asia-Pacific and continental America tourism,” he adds. “When I was designing tours of our distillery, I audited the best practices of Scotland and Kentucky, and brought together the best experience.”
Macaloney’s Brewers & Distillers founder/owner Dr. Graeme Macaloney in front of the peat smoker
Macaloney Distillers’ tour offers participants two samples of their award winning whisky as well as beer from their Twa Dogs Brewery, meaning their tours are a combination of single-malt and triple-distilled whiskey and craft beer tours.
“We have highly knowledgeable kilt-clad tour guides who are literally trained by me, the master Scottish whisky maker,” he notes. “It’s a fun, entertaining tour, and anybody that wants to know how our whisky is made, can see for themselves and explore the facility.
Guests get a 45 minute tour around the facility in a touch it, taste it, see & smell it experience’. All the senses are engaged, with five tastings included for $27.95. An exit study from Victoria Tourism indicated that 21 percent of tourists came to Victoria to visit local establishments. Macaloney Distillers holds 5-star Trip Advisor and Viator and 4.8 Google review ratings.
Macaloney’s new Sugar Kelp release
Not only is Macaloney Distillers attracting new people to Victoria, its products are heading elsewhere – at last count being exported to a dozen countries throughout the world.
“In the last 14 months, we’ve started exporting our gold medal single malt whiskies – all of our core products have gold medals – internationally to 12 countries,” he states. “We even have a panel on the carton with an embossed gold map of Vancouver Island that says ‘Come and visit Beautiful British Columbia’. We’re really trying to make a contribution to Greater Victoria tourism.”
The tour has already been a hit for cruise ship visitors, with 170 cruise arrivals expected to send people to the distillery.
Since they started distilling in 2016, they’ve brought in world-leading expertise and equipment, including some of North America’s largest pot stills from Scotland, that allows them to make international award winning whisky.
Macaloney Distillers has also just launched the world’s first Sugar Kelp-Infused Peated Whisky, which was crafted using the techniques which helped them capture three World’s Best awards and nationally, with eight Canada’s Best awards.
Tom Bush, Marketing, Tourism and Visitor Centre Manager for Macaloney Distillers says it comes down to “the fact we have taken ‘Scottish Best Practices’, (Graeme studied in his ancestral home of Islay, Scotland), and combined that with local B.C. and Washington ingredients: The grain, terroir, Vancouver Island water and sea air. That’s why we’ve managed to achieve such a huge amount of success.”
By Mark MacDonald
