(Not gonna lie: it felt smug to trade 50cm of snow in favour of blue skies and sunny drams.)

It’s with full hearts and much respect that we headed West in January, paying tribute to our friends and peers as they celebrated the 20^th anniversary of the Victoria Whisky Festival.

It takes passion and commitment to bring a whisky festival to fruition, even more so under the auspices of a government monopoly. (Like a big amount.)

That the Victoria Whisky Festival has done so as a charitable endeavour – powered by a literal army of volunteers who have raised upwards of $600,000 for local charities – is nothing short of epic, and speaks to service, dedication and community building.

It also speaks to how far whisky appreciation in Canada has come over the past twenty years, and it was heartwarming to see a swath of familiar faces from Spirit of Toronto and beyond, including some longtime whisky stans from La Belle Province.

Looking back we couldn’t have asked for a better start to the year. The commitment to excellence of our Victoria peeps has always set a high bar for Spirit of Toronto to follow, but this year feels even more daunting.

Gauntlet thrown. Our own tickets go on sale Tuesday April 7 at 10am (and with a quarter of them already pre-sold, just saying.)

In the meantime, keep reading after the signature for some of the weekend’s liquid highlights…

With much esteem,
Johanna

Johanna Ngoh
Founder, Spirit of Toronto and Whisky Social