Napanee’s Cole Miller waited about six months for his whisky, Twelve Barrels, to finally hit the shelves at the LCBO.
He only had to wait a couple of hours to watch the bottles disappear from those same shelves, at the Napanee store at least. Thankfully for local whisky buffs, more shipments to the store quickly followed.
Last Monday marked the first time the whisky was sold at the provincial liquor retailer. “There have been a few delays, but nothing crazy long in the timeline. It hasn’t been too bad,” Miller told the Beaver.
With the first rollout, the whisky will be available in about 40 stores across Ontario, including most of the stores within the immediate region. He hopes to keep adding to the number of stores in the coming weeks.
“It’s pretty interesting, to say the least,” said Miller. “It’s exciting, but it’s just the start. We have a long way to go.”
The whisky enjoyed a big publicity boost in February when Miller appeared with Twelve Barrels on the CBC business reality television show Dragon’s Den. Although Miller and his would-be Dragon’s Den partners couldn’t finalize a deal, he has pressed on with his product.
Miller doesn’t distill the whisky himself; instead, he buys whiskies from other distillers to come up with his own blend. He says the end product is a blend of Canadian rye and wheat whiskies.
Although he plans on expanding sales beyond the province in the future, right now he says his main task is to establish his Ontario “footprint” with the LCBO.