A Beautiful Man;
He was a beautiful man.
Jay Wheelock was a kind and generous soul, grateful for every opportunity to share his love of whisky with others. He was admired and respected throughout Canada’s whisky world. So, when Jay died unexpectedly in 2020, Canadian whiskydom went into shock.
It is not surprising that another kind and generous whisky soul, Grant Stevely of Dubh Glas Distillery, has chosen to quietly honour Jay’s memory with a commemorative bottling. Named "A Beautiful Man;" the release is a fitting tribute made in the same understated manner, both he and Jay assumed.
Gandhi’s Blending Masterclass
Before he had planned this new whisky, Stevely, as he likes to be called, attended a Dhavall Gandhi blending class hosted in early 2020 at Odd Society Spirits in Vancouver. Gandhi had been a blender at The Macallan until he took a position with Lakes Distillery in the UK. “This class gave us a different perspective on how to blend whiskies,” says Stevely, “what to look for in the base and how to add to it.”
And while Stevely fine-tuned his blending chops in East Vancouver, back home at Dubh Glas, in the Okanagan, single malt whisky awaited his return. One of these was ageing in casks that would soon have sentimental value.
Beautiful Barrels
“Jay called me up one day and said, “Stevely, I’ve got some barrels. Do you want to put some whisky in them?” The barrels were 46-litre octaves from the Glenglassaugh distillery, part of Wheelock’s portfolio at the time. “I was totally into them; what could you say about barrels with perfectly seasoned wood that are small and exhausted for Scotland’s climate but in our hot, dry environment it was ideal.”
Jay’s Glenglassaugh Octave barrels had been made by dismantling used ex-bourbon barrels then repurposing the staves to make smaller casks – a technique Stevely himself uses to make his own 100-litre barrels. But wood alone is not magical. The ageing process is complex with many elements and conditions. In the hands of a trained chef, seasoning brings food to life. A seasoned barrel fortified with wine or spirits can do the same for whisky.
Dubh Glas cut its teeth on the octave casks with a single barrel release. It was very limited and sold out quickly, but more octaves lay waiting in the warehouse. “After Jay passed away, we decided to blend a couple of his barrels in with one of our 100-litre barrels. What was showing on the Glenglassaugh barrels was traditional Scotch whisky notes. It relates back to Duvall when we were doing the blending class, this would be a great whisky to build on. I was super happy with this blend.”
“We didn’t tell this story much because we didn’t want to profit on a friend’s passing,” explains Stevely. “This is a quiet tribute to him right down to that semicolon in the whisky’s name. Jay had a semicolon tattooed behind his ear.” And this whisky hits that mark with its own version of subtle punctuation.
Tasting Dubh Glas A Beautiful Man;
The mellow nose is layered with powdered sugar, lemon and apple hard candy. Low tones of pale molasses give way to gentle malty notes and golden raisins. A pleasing peppery heat sizzles on the palate with a medley of sweet herbs, hints of licorice and a very agreeable jellybean fruit accent. The finish flares then settles into soft oaked vanilla and peppery grain.
Stevely proofed A Beautiful Man; at 44.2%, a happy accident. “I was shooting for 46% but made a mistake, you can’t get a 100% on the math test all the time, but when we tasted it, it tasted good at this range and decided to keep it. Jay was a unique guy; let’s just keep it at this unique alcohol percentage.” A complete and fitting tribute to a truly beautiful man.