It’s rare to taste and cover a world-first in whisky innovation – but recently, I attended the launch of a Peated Single Malt Whisky smoked with sugar kelp-infused local peat which was just that. 

Macaloney’s Island Distillery has created a very Canadian west coast take on peated whisky and in the process, won a World Whiskies Award for ‘new make and young spirit.’

This whisky is the culmination of a unique collaboration between Victoria BC’s Macaloney’s and Sidney-based Cascadia Seaweed. The seaweed or sugar kelp, is grown sustainably at 8 different places around Vancouver Island – with 7 different First Nations involved in the farms. 

Seaweed has long been used to fertilize peat bogs, but never infused with peat smoke as part of the process.  The mash created is then distilled repeatedly at a slower rate than most distilleries follow to create this award winning seaweed peated “clearach”, or clear spirit of 63% abv. 

On the nose and palate, the clearach is surprisingly drinkable.  To be sure, 63% abv is mighty hot, but it is sweet and fruity with some burning heather – actually rather refined and elegant with a touch of salt and viscous legs.  

The 3 year old 46% abv whisky with which the seaweed-peated clear spirit was made is outstanding. The nose and palate echo each other with Werther’s butterscotch candy and crème brûlée, sweet pipe tobacco, mandarin oil, dark chocolate and hazelnut.  There is no colour added to this masterpiece – it comes from the charred Portuguese red wine barriques. 

Juicy and mouthwatering, with the right amount of peat and a residual sweetness owed to the seaweed, it boasts a long and luscious finish topped with a little kosher salt, reminiscent of a walk on a west coast beach at low tide.  

It’s absolutely extraordinary to have such a world-class distillery creating award winning spirits in my own backyard. 

There’s a limited run of this whisky – it’s available for export to 13 different countries from the Macaloney’s website, or at the distillery itself if you live locally.  If you do, take the time to enjoy a flight of whisky or beer (they make that too), and enjoy a tour of their facility.