As part of Vancouver’s Cocktail Week, I had the opportunity to sit down for a rare deconstructed tasting and conversation with Andres Faustinelli, master blender at BEARFACE Whisky. Venezuelan-born Faustinelli approaches whisky with philosophical enthusiasm. “There is no other country positioned to create world-class whisky with such a distinct sense of place.” He raises a copita glass to his nose, and I do the same. Immediately, I realize this is not my father’s Canadian Club. Aromas of marzipan, crème brûlée, and dried apricot rise from the glass. On the palate, it’s silky, with just enough heat and spice to ward off an autumn chill. As a wine lover, my resistance weakens.
“Tell me more,” I say. “I’m listening.”
Indeed, Canada, I learn, is so strategically positioned that it remains a wild frontier in whisky making. Unlike American rye, which requires at least 51 percent rye grain, Canadian regulations have no minimum grain requirement. There’s even a “9.09 percent rule” that allows other spirits, including wine, to be used to enhance the blend. Compare that with Bourbon whiskey, which must contain at least 51 percent corn and be aged in new charred oak barrels, or Scotch whisky, where a single malt must be made from 100 percent malted barley, with a whole slew of rules for every other category. Canada, by contrast, leaves room for creativity.
BEARFACE was born from the idea that whisky could move beyond tradition and reflect Canada’s wild, adventurous spirit. The name itself nods to the fact that Canadian bears roam free. Etched on each bottle is the three-claw calling card of a bear on a birch tree.
BEARFACE Triple Oak begins as a single-grain Canadian whisky aged in ex-bourbon American oak barrels, then undergoes a unique process called Elemental Ageing. The whisky is then aged in a combination of American oak, French oak red wine casks, and air-dried virgin Hungarian oak, and placed in a shipping container where it’s exposed to the harsh Canadian climate to amplify the interaction between the wood and the whisky. The American oak imparts notes of honey, butter, and natural vanilla. The French oak adds dried fruit character and a deep amber hue. Finally, the virgin Hungarian oak, toasted in three different ways, adds spice and subtle smokiness. In Faustinelli’s hands, the result is a smooth, balanced whisky with layered fruit and restrained spice. Since its launch in 2019, BEARFACE has earned more than twenty international awards, including three Double Golds at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Next, Faustinelli leads me through the BEAR-BON experience.
BEARFACE BEARBON is crafted from three grains: sixty percent corn whisky, thirty-five percent rye whisky, and five percent malt whisky—all grown in Canada, distilled separately, and aged independently. The corn brings sweetness, rye adds structure and spice, and the malt imparts floral tones and hints of brown sugar.
Then the real magic happens.Faustinelli once again looks beyond the rules. He sources two-year-seasoned French oak barrels from the Okanagan wine industry. He seasons them with BEARFACE whisky and hand-chars them. These custom barrels help integrate the three grains, producing a whisky that feels both fresh and faintly reminiscent of old Southern charm.
But Faustinelli doesn’t stop there. Always searching for ways to reflect Canada’s broader landscape, he created the BEARFACE Wilderness Series—experimental whiskies shaped by the country’s terrain and ingredients. Imagine a whisky infused with matsutake mushrooms for a distinctly umami finish. Or one proofed with distilled seawater collected by artisanal salt makers from Mitlenatch Island off British Columbia’s rugged Pacific coast. The latest release, Wild Air, uses barrels smoked with birch bark to evoke the feeling of taking a deep breath on a mountain peak.
For Faustinelli, innovation represents whisky’s greatest potential—and there may be no better place to explore that potential than a country with limitless boundaries.
“Where do you find inspiration?” I ask as I sip my specially made Negroni with a BEARFACE whisky twist. Faustinelli smiles. “Asking the wrong people, the right questions.”