Operating an Award-Winning Distillery in the Heart of the Prairies

Did you know that Saskatchewan’s extreme temperature swings actually make spirits taste better?

In Episode 03 of Rooted Here, we sit down with Barb Stefanyshyn-Cote, the owner of Black Fox Farm & Distillery.

Barb shares the fascinating reality of operating a distillery in Saskatchewan, explaining how their barrels interact with the dramatic prairie weather fluctuations to naturally enrich the flavor of their world-class spirits.

From cultivating the province's incredible soil to putting the true spirit of the prairies into every single bottle, Barb dives deep into what it takes to build an internationally acclaimed brand right in our backyard.

Connect with Black Fox Farm & Distillery:
🌐 Website: https://www.blackfoxfarmanddistillery...

This episode is presented by The Bamboo Podcast Network.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

The uh the newest product that we have is actually we released a whiskey liqueur. Oh it's called mistral. And a liqueur means that it's been sweetened. Okay. So that's whenever you see the word liqueur, like it's a uh a cherry liqueur. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Rooted here business and leadership podcast. Welcome to Rooted Here Business Leadership Podcast. I'm Duran Chetty, your host, and my today my special guest is Barb Stefanian Kote, co-founder and CEO of Black Fox Distillery. Hi, Barb. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 0:43

I'm well. Good morning, Duran.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Thank you. Um pleasure to have you here. I'm thankful that you agreed to come on the podcast. I look forward to the show.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

The pleasure is all mine.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Okay. Let's start with some origins and your background. So you and your husband came from a farming background. How did the lifestyle shape your mindset going into business?

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Coming from a farming background, both John and I grew up on the farm, I think it gives you a different view of perspective. Farming is about risk, farming is about long term, and those are two things that really helped us uh in this new whiskey business because it's uh it's all of the above. There's a lot of risk and it's a very long-term process.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Wow, yeah. Um so what did you farm?

SPEAKER_01 1:32

So be f I come from a grain and cattle farm. Okay. And so my parents raised purebred li uh cattle, and I'm still a little biased to the cementol cattle that I like. And uh my husband came from a grain farm. And we met in the College of Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

And went back farming at his parents' place for a while.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Okay, uh farming grain and all that stuff. I mean, that that would in the future lead to, no, I guess, black box and the understanding of the uh the ingredients that go into that product. Um so what uh specific skills or lessons from farming uh have translated directly into running your distillery?

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Some of the things that I would say that translated directly would be the sense of timing. In grain farming in particular, if things aren't done at a certain time, you miss the window of opportunity and therefore you you know you're you're set back a whole year. Because if you don't get that crop in the ground at the right time, then uh you we only have a certain amount of time here in Saskatchewan when when when things will grow. So timing was very important and attention to detail, because it's the details that really make or break you in a farm operation. And that's something that I think uh was really instilled at us in both of us from a very early age.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Wow, that's great. Um what sparked the idea to start a distillery in Saskatchewan? That's the one I wanted to ask. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

Well, John and I were farming 5,000 acres and we came to a crossroads in our career. It was either get larger or do something different. And we looked at our operation and we looked at what the future held for our family, and we said, you know, I don't think this is the route we want to take. So we decided to do something different. So we did what is considered sacrilegious in Saskatchewan. We sold the family farm. We sold thousands of acres and purchased 80 outside of Saskatoon. And what we wanted to do was we wanted to have a business where we were really much closely, much more closely connected to the consumer.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

When you're a grain farmer, what happens is you grow the crop, you put it in a truck, truck on a uh on a train, train on a ship, and you never get to see that end customer. What we wanted to do was to grow something or produce something that we could look people in the eye and they would say, Wow, this is really great. Or, wow, you need to go back to the drawing board. We were ready for both. So originally when we purchased the smaller farm, what we thought we were going to do is it was going to be vegetables in a winery. Oh, yeah. So we planted out acres of fruit, realized quite quickly that we knew nothing about fruit to make wine. We didn't even like wine. So why in the Sam Heavens would you ever start a winery? But a distillery is based on grain. And we knew grain. We knew how to grow it, we knew how to harvest it, we knew how to store it. We just didn't know how to make alcohol out of it, but how hard could that be?

SPEAKER_00 4:54

How hard? We're gonna find out. Um how did you go from concept to execution? What were the first concrete steps?

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Well, for us, I guess it did start with the planting of the orchards because we had started uh along the path of going for a fruit winery, and we planted those out, but the next concrete steps were to look at we really wanted to use our agricultural expertise, and we wanted to use it in a way that was lucrative. So we um the you know, you plant out the crops, that's an annual thing. I guess the first concrete steps was actually starting to build the building that the the uh that the the distillery is housed in.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

Oh wow, okay, yeah. Um how'd that go? How that go like I I'm sure there's a story there, isn't it? Oh design.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Building the building was good. And I guess uh we were still in the mindset that uh we were going to be uh farming of of some sort and uh on a much larger scale. But when we designed the building, we actually designed it that it could be used for multi-purpose. We weren't entirely sure, you know, of the success of our business and everything else. So you want to be able to be flexible. And we built the building so that it could accommodate all kinds of uh farming equipment or it could be used for different purposes. And in hindsight, uh we probably built it about three feet too short. So that and the reason being is that if our still would be three feet taller, it would be even better than it is today.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Oh wow. Uh yeah. At least you live you learn, eh? Yes. Um that kind of makes you ask the next question. Did you face any skepticism earlier on? And uh if so, how did you handle it?

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Oh goodness. Yes. So it in Canada, uh you cannot uh sell whiskey legally until it's been aged in a barrel for three years. That is the law. And so at two years of age, when our whiskey was two years old, we sent it away for adjudication. We did not know what we were doing. We had a lot of money already tied up into this operation, and we wanted to make sure that we were on the right track. And so we sent it away to the UK, where there are many, many experts, and the gentleman got back to us and said, Do not ever contact me again. He said, You are not our liars. This is not two-year-old whiskey, and I will not work with charlatans.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

So the first thing we had to do was look up what a charlatan meant, because we weren't entirely sure. And it's a liar and a cheat.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

And so w my husband John got in contact with this gentleman and said, Excuse me, what do you mean? Like, why are you saying this? And the gentleman said, This whiskey has way more color and way more flavor than a two-year-old whiskey should have. So what you are doing is you are purchasing someone else's whiskey, putting it in your in your barrels, calling it your own, and I will not work with you.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Wow, that's bold.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

It was bold. And so my husband sputtered and and uh said, Well, no, no, no, no, this is our whiskey. And John said, Maybe it's the grain that we use, because we use a grain called triticale, which is a wheat rye hybrid. And it's not very commonly used in the whiskey industry. Okay. And the gentleman said, Well, that could be some of it. So John said, you know, maybe it's the cask that we use, because we use brand new barrels uh that are sourced out of the U.S. with American white oak. And again, using brand new barrels is again uncommon. And the guy said, Well, that could be some of it too. So my dear husband puffed up his chest and said, Maybe I am just a good distiller. And the gentleman said, No. And so then the gentleman turned around and said, Where do you store your whiskey? And John said, Outside. And the gentleman said, Well, outside in a warehouse. And John said, No, no warehouse. And he said, Well, outside under a roof. And my husband went, no roof. And he said, Well, nobody does that. And we said, We know. What had happened is when we had uh built up our distillery, we had built the distillery, we had bought the still, we had started creating the farm, and we actually ran out of money. So we did not have the excess funds to build a warehouse. Right. But in Saskatchewan, we have lots of space. So we said we will set the barrels outside, and once it's time for uh once the money flows, then we will build a proper warehouse. What they've since discovered in our industry is that whiskey does not get its flavor from time in a barrel, it gets its flavor from the interaction of the liquid and the wood. Oh and how you get interaction is by temperature change. Whiskey warms up, it expands, it goes into the wood, whiskey cools down, it comes out of the wood. And by storing our whiskey outdoors, who has more temperature fluctuations than us here on the prairies?

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

And so we've got this whiskey now that has created amazing flavors in a shorter period of time and has gone on to win some incredible awards. But were we skeptics off the bat? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Wow. Interesting. Um What has been the most difficult period in your business journey so far?

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Oh, there's always difficult periods. Always, yeah. They they come and they go. Um COVID, when people cannot come out any longer, you know, the pandemic hits and uh we're restricted. Thankfully, we're producing alcohol, which is considered an essential service.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Medicinal.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Yes, who knew? And so that, you know, was we dodged the bullet that some other hospitality businesses weren't weren't so lucky to do. Um tariffs come into play, you have no control over that. Rules change. We're a highly legislated uh and regulated industry, so we're at the whim of whoever decides they want something different, different labeling, different bottle sizes, different um, you know, minimum alcohol volumes, minimum pricing, those are all things that uh come into play.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

I guess you you never think about that. That's that's gotta be uh interesting and difficult sometimes when things change on the fly and you've got to adapt your whole operation for whatever reason.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

It it does.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

And it's the cost of that too.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

Pardon me. And then it is something that you have zero control over. And then on top of that, we're the farmers. So we can't control Mother Nature, so we're growing our own ingredients to place uh to do the mash and the fermentation to to create our own spirits. And so that's another level of risk that we're taking.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Yes. Um so being the producer and the end producer of the product, um, is that a unique thing in the industry or is is that usually how it's done growing and seeing it through and then harvesting and then producing the product?

SPEAKER_01 12:35

I would say centuries ago it was very typical.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

Now it is not. It is um it is something that has been outsourced uh in many operations. It is also the chance um we uh chose that route because it is our expertise. That is where we shine. But it is also in Saskatchewan, we have two types of distilling licenses. There's a type one distillery and a type two. Type one means that you start the entire process with raw ingredients, 100% raw ingredients. Type 2 means you're allowed to bring in pre-made ethanol, pre-made vodka pre-made, gin, pre-made whiskey, and add it or put it into your bottles and call it your own.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

Interesting. I don't think I realized that. That's fascinating. Um can you describe a time when you had to represent Black Box, Black Box's brand to customers or clients, and how did you ensure your message felt genuine rather than scripted on the branding and the product?

SPEAKER_01 13:45

You know, having the message be genuine is really easy when John and I are speaking to the product or speaking to the business. When you have when you're bringing on team members, that's when it becomes challenging. And it's really interesting because it's actually today we're going into some team training and we're we we took a hard look at it. It's how do you make it sound genuine and authentic, that it's not scripted? There's and I think what we've settled upon, and we'll find out if we're successful later today, uh, what we settled upon is that these are the main points, these are the most important things that we want you to talk about. But we want you to talk about it in your words, and we want you to talk about adding in your experiences. How did you feel when you first came to Black Fox? How did you how do you feel when you've interacted with some of the guests that that uh come to see our distillery? Those all shape the story that you tell. And that's what we're encouraging them is to put their own spin on it. And I think that is what makes it more genuine and more relatable and more entertaining.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

Right. Okay. Uh this question kind of it's kind of been answered before, but we'll go we'll go with it. Um could you share a moment where things didn't go as planned and what you learned from it?

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Um we have many scenarios where things didn't go as planned. Um we've had crop failures where the crop was frozen and the and the the ingredients um you know we couldn't harvest. Fortunately for us in Saskatchewan, we have many options and we have connections. And John's cousin happened to be growing the grains that we were after, so we we could source them from him. But we do make that very clear that this was not grown by us. So again, transparency and authenticity and telling telling people. Um we've had situations where you needed a shipment to go uh to arrive in a certain country at a certain date, and you shipped it way ahead of time, but they got held up in customs. So then you start scrambling for different shipping options, and then you start uh uh uh evaluating the expense of air freight that has to go and and understanding how that works. Nothing is impossible. It may be extremely costly. The solution may not have been discovered yet, but I don't believe that there's a lot of impossibilities in this world.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

Now, on the flip side, what has been a breakthrough moment that made you feel this is working?

SPEAKER_01 16:34

I would definitely say the winning of some of the awards that we have uh we have received.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

The um we were two years into our journey and we our our oaked gin came home as the world's best. That's not a bad uh accolade to receive early on and to indicate that you're on the right track. And we have since won awards like we've been listed as one of the top 20 worldwide whiskies. We have gold medals and master's medals that are higher than gold. Our Hascap Gin received 99 points from the International Wine and Spirits Competition.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

They have only given out 99 points in four times in 60 years, and we're one of them.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

That is phenomenal.

unknown 17:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

Um what are some of your biggest barriers to entry, or what are some of the biggest barriers to entry in the distilling industry in Canada?

SPEAKER_01 17:37

The uh getting into the distilling industry, it really takes a lot of perseverance. Right. We had 29 permits approved before we could finally start uh distilling. So it's not a quick process.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

29, I hope.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

29. The 29th is the one we're most proud of. Um what had when we had started our distillery, our children were all underage. And when uh so they actually weren't legal to work in the distillery, but my husband called up the the head of the local liquor and gaming association and said, Look, we have four children, they are all extremely capable. Be darned if I'm going to hire someone when I have four people, four, you know, helping sets of hands in the house. And the line went dead. And we thought, oh goodness, we have just uh, you know, canceled our distilling license, they're going to revoke it. And the gentleman said, You sound a lot like my dad. So he signed the permit that our children were allowed to work in the distillery. They could sweep and clean and do everything else. They just weren't allowed to serve alcohol.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Wow, that's great. Okay. Uh, how did regulations, distribution, or funding challenges affect your growth?

SPEAKER_01 18:57

Um tariffs haven't been a great thing. Right. Um, however, we have not really done a lot of work in the U.S. and we have uh chosen different markets for that reason. Also recognizing that any one of the markets could turn on you in any time. Uh there is a lot of protectionism that goes on in the alcohol industry in other countries because they are extremely large businesses and and lucrative uh tax centers. So that is uh probably one of the things that I would say really affects um and I'm sorry, the question again.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Uh how do regulations, distribution or funding challenges affect your growth, if any.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

And they do. You know, we are shipping into countries that uh are are far away. You know, the actual the the state of of things, uh, you know, the state of world of the world right now, if you know, considering Iran and what's going on there, has really limited our shipments into the UAE. Okay. Uh and that is why it is so good to expand into other markets rather than having everything in one location.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

Absolutely. No, that's great. And it's it's nice to know that you have to think of that early on in in the uh pro in the uh journey there.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

And they're things beyond your control.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

They are, always are. Um Black Fox has just received Black Fox has received international recognition. Um how did you break into the global markets to get that recognition?

SPEAKER_01 20:35

Breaking into the global markets means awareness. Yes. And it means going there and being there. And you just have to do that hustle. You just have to get on an airplane and get to these markets and meet the people. I think it's even more critical right now in with all of the AI that is out there and the inability to vet people and meet them face to face and understand that they are an actual business and not just something that's been generated.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

Oh, really? Oh, maybe elaborate a little more on it. AI has really affected your industry.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Oh, definitely. It well it affects all international business. You don't know whom you're speaking with. You don't know who is uh on the other side of the the uh on the other side of the Instagram or the other side of the you know, and that's part of the problem because a lot of these uh businesses are so sleek and and slick and beautifully crafted that it's almost too good to be true, and sometimes it is. And so it's also I think that personal touch and that personal relationship is really important when you're in an ultra premium category, and that is where we are, and if that is the market that we are going after. So it's quite important, I think, to make those personal connections.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

What does it take for a local Saskatchewan product to compete on the world stage?

SPEAKER_01 22:06

It takes quality, it takes attention to detail, it takes perseverance because the part of the problem that we have in Saskatchewan is just our limited population. There is 1.3 million people in Saskatchewan, or there are 1.3 million people in Saskatchewan right now. I can go to Shanghai where there are, you know, close to 20 million people. Wow, we've got a gut. London, where there's six million people. It's uh it's the size of our population that really I think is sometimes restrictive.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Interesting. Um how has international validation impacted your brand at home?

SPEAKER_01 22:51

It has definitely been a valuable experience. It is, I think everyone's heard the story that you must travel at least 50 miles away before you become an expert. And so traveling even further has helped a lot. But it's also you're seeking out the people that are knowledgeable. We chose the UK market because they know whiskey. We chose the the UAE market, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, because they understand ultra premium products and luxury products. We chose Singapore because they are well known for their you know their financial astuteness, but also that they're willing to to spend on good quality products.

SPEAKER_00 23:40

Wow. Okay. Um leadership uh vision questions here. How has your leadership style evolved over time? Or do you even have a style? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

Good question. Uh I would definitely say my leadership style is uh has evolved. It has become a little more um uh compassionate.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

I would say that, uh in that you have to understand that people are all going through other things. This business is my business and it's my husband's business, and we live and we breathe and we sleep. This business, that's that's what we do. That is not the case for everyone. We want them to be a part of the team, we want them to be a part of the black fox family. We are um very proud of what we do, we believe we've got a good product, but this they also have other things in their world. And to understand that and to make sure that you make room for that, I think is critical. And I think that is what makes a stronger team. I also realize that culture does play an important role in that business, and the best thing you can do is if someone doesn't meet your culture, is let them go and find the culture that meets their their needs and their uh that because it's just not worth trying to mold them into your culture or having them totally not be part of it.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Right. No, I appreciate that. And it is always tough when you come to that re uh realization that things are not working out and you you have to make that tough decision to let someone go. It's always a tough one.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

And the the decision isn't that you're letting them go, you're letting them shine somewhere else. Because that you're doing it for both of you.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

Absolutely. Uh are there new markets, products, or innovations you're excited about?

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Oh, always. Always. We are really looking to expand our global footprint. Uh it is looking at new markets in I just returned from Singapore. Uh, we are looking at new cities in China. We are looking at strengthening our relationship in Hong Kong.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

So those are some of the areas that we're looking in the, you know, in Southeast Asia and in Asia. The UK is is quite strong. Europe may be a possibility, but I think Japan would probably be one that uh, again, an area where they're very knowledgeable about whiskey and would embrace a whiskey like ours.

SPEAKER_00 26:21

Interesting. Hey, that'd be that would be great. Um what does rooted here mean to you in the context of your business?

SPEAKER_01 26:30

Oh, I am so thrilled that you asked a question like that because we talk a lot about terroir. Now, terroir refers to all of those factors that come together that influence the flavors of an ingredient. It is the growing conditions, so it's the soil and the climate and the precipitation and the you know temperature fluctuations, it is the varieties that the the farmer chooses to grow, it is the harvesting conditions, it's the storage that that goes into it. And the whiskies that we create here, the whiskies, the gins, they can only be created here. We could give you, Dran, our recipe, and send you off into anywhere in the world, and you would not be able to recreate what we create here. Wow. And so rooted here means exactly that. It comes from here. This is the flavor of our place, and it is done with intention, and so that is it's a critical part of our process.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Wow, you know, right there I can see the uh passion of being a farmer coming through, growing, tilling the land, producing that product, getting it out to the people. I appreciate that. Um how do you balance growth with staying true to your original values?

SPEAKER_01 27:50

Ah, good question. The some businesses chase growth for growth purposes, and that is not what we want to do. What we want to do is create an incredibly uh an incredibly valuable and incredibly high quality product that resonates now, but it's going to resonate for centuries. I would love Black Fox Farm and Distillery to be here in 200 years.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

Oh, that would be awesome.

SPEAKER_01 28:25

Uh you know, just like McCallens, just like uh Pappy Van Winkle, just like all of these major brands, and that's what we're building.

SPEAKER_00 28:34

Legacy brands, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

A legacy brands is what we're doing, and they all started somewhere.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

You know, which goes into my next question. Uh, what legacy do you hope to build through your work?

SPEAKER_01 28:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:44

Black Fox.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

Well, yes, we would definitely love to have this this distillery and our whiskies be around for the next 200 years. Wow. It's, you know, would we love our children to be a part of the business? Yes, if they want to be. That's what uh that's the caveat that we we use. The um the other part of it is is that you need to create something that resonates with every every generation. Like right now, we believe it's the transparency and the authenticity. Now, while I don't think that'll ever fade, I do believe that there's going to be different tastes in the future, and there's going to be different thought processes, and there's going to be different occasions that people enjoy uh a gin or a whiskey at. And so it's you you we definitely will need to adapt.

SPEAKER_00 29:38

Good answer. Um final section of the podcast. We call it the rapid fire section. Uh-oh. Uh couple of questions right quick. You quick answer, and then uh we'll uh let you uh showcase some of the uh spirits you have here, talk about them a little bit. Uh first question early mornings or late nights?

SPEAKER_01 29:55

Early mornings.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

Okay. Coffee or something stronger?

SPEAKER_01 30:03

Uh personally, I'm not a coffee drinker, and the caffeine keeps me awake for days.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Okay. Well, uh biggest risk you've ever taken?

SPEAKER_01 30:12

I think the biggest risk we ever took was selling the family farm and doing something different.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

I would think so. Anytime you do something that drastic in your life, it can be scary and the unknown. Um one word that describes entrepreneurship.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Resilience.

SPEAKER_00 30:28

Okay. Best advice you've ever received.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

Oh, the best advice I ever received. Um today, no is no okay. The best advice I ever received is that when you're in sales, no does not mean forever. No means not now.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

Absolutely. Uh a habit that's key to your success.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

Oh, I have no good habits.

SPEAKER_00 31:01

Well, maybe good habits for you for business, I guess. Hey. Um one thing people misunderstood about your industry. One thing I misunderstood about your industry.

SPEAKER_01 31:11

I think a lot of people misunderstand that a lot of the production of spirits that's out there is very, very commoditized.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

And so that is uh when there's an opportunity to find something that's unique and authentic and transparent, those are the real gems.

SPEAKER_00 31:31

Okay. Uh favorite way to unwind after a long day?

SPEAKER_01 31:36

I love to read. I love to read fiction, I love to read business books, I really find that my my relaxation.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

Okay. Uh if you weren't in this business, what would you be doing?

SPEAKER_01 31:49

Oh, stand-up comedian.

SPEAKER_00 31:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:53

You know, I can see that.

SPEAKER_00 31:55

Uh what does success look like to you today?

SPEAKER_01 32:01

For us, success means that when people taste Black Fox, they enjoy the products and they have that uh connection back to the land. It's also that our team is well looked after and taken care of, and that we are doing things in a sustainable manner. That's uh those would be the the top priorities for for what success looks like.

SPEAKER_00 32:29

Okay, great. Thank you, Barb. Uh before we go, how about you tell us a little something about each one of these products you have here?

SPEAKER_01 32:36

For sure. Yeah. Uh at Black Fox, about uh 50% of what we create is of the quality that we will put immediately into a barrel to create to craft whiskey. Okay. And the other 50%, part of it is must be discarded because that's the stuff that uh is highly toxic and will make you go blind. But part of it is actually very, very flavorful, just the wrong flavor. So we redistill it and make gin. So that is why at Black Fox we make gin and whiskey, is because the gin is a co-product and a chance for us to be sustainable and use everything that we create. So I have brought four different products. I have two whiskeys and two gins. I will start with the uh the whiskeys. I have a white label whiskey here that is made with triticale. Okay. And triticale is that wheat rye hybrid grain. The other whiskey on the other end is our blended whiskey, and that is a whiskey that John makes every year, he creates differently. He takes the best of the best and crafts only 500 bottles, and each year is a vintage and an expression. This year the theme for the the blended whiskey is exploration.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Exploration, I think.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

Because we want you to go out and explore and try different things and see uh what they do. And then the two gins that I brought, one is a hascap gin. That is the one that received 99 points. It is made with the hascap berries that we grow on the farm. And I also have the oaked gin. So gin that's been in a barrel. It'll start off tasting like a whiskey and finish like a gin.

SPEAKER_00 34:28

Interesting, fascinating. I'm sure they're all delicious.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

Can I just share a little bit more about the bottles?

SPEAKER_00 34:36

Go ahead. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 34:38

So, what I wanted to point out about every bottle of Black Fox is that at the base of every bottle, Dran, those are Saskatchewan snow drifts. Those bumps are not mountains, those are snow drifts because they're not large enough to be uh mountains, and we don't have mountains in Saskatchewan. But if you turn the bottle over, you will see embedded in the base of the bottle the Canadian maple leaf.

SPEAKER_00 35:04

That is fascinating. I didn't realize that.

SPEAKER_01 35:08

So that is on all of our bottles, our whiskey and our gins. And on the whiskey bottle on top of every bottle is a coin. The coin carries a serial number, and when you place the serial number on our website, it generates a certificate of provenance that will tell you everything you want to know about your bottle of whiskey. Because we store our whiskey outdoors, it will tell you how warm the cask got and how cold the cask got, how many um hours of bright sunshine. But it also tells you more details about the whiskey itself, the alcohol level when it went into the barrel, and then when it came out, the char level on the barrel, and all those interesting things that whiskey enthusiasts like to know.

SPEAKER_00 35:53

Fascinating. Thank you, Barb.

SPEAKER_01 35:56

Well, thank you, Duran. This has been great.

SPEAKER_00 35:58

Rooted Year Business and Leadership Podcast.