Micro-distillery in Winnipeg makes impact on the world stage

In the midst of escalating trade tensions that led Canadian provinces to remove U.S. spirits from store shelves, a Winnipeg distillery is making a huge splash after clinching a pair of gold medals at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Patent 5 Distillery, tucked away in Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District, started just six years ago. What began as a cocktail bar and gin-and-vodka operation is now turning heads globally for its premium, small-batch whisky.

“I’d love for people to come to Winnipeg and say, ‘I heard of this little distillery in downtown Winnipeg that makes gold medal whisky — let’s go visit,’” said Brock Coutts, co-owner of Patent 5. “We enter the larger international competitions in hopes we can show Canadians and Manitobans that we make great whisky here in Manitoba.”

Because Canadian whisky must be aged at least three years, the team had to play the long game — banking barrels and crossing their fingers while they waited.

“Most of the whisky we are releasing now is four-plus years old, and after four years in the barrel, it turns out we knew what we were doing back then,” said Coutts.

Their Sixth Anniversary Whisky and Estate Grown Three Grain Whisky both scored more than 90 points, earning gold at what’s widely seen as the Oscars of the spirits world. Co-owner Brock Coutts called it a major milestone due to their smaller size.

“There’s a distillery a bit north of us in Gimli that produces 1,000 barrels a day, and we produce one barrel a week — so we’re pretty tiny in the grand scale of things,” said Coutts.

While demand for Patent 5’s award-winning spirits is growing, especially from south of the border, their small-scale production means there’s not yet enough to export. For now, their focus remains on Manitoba — and proving that world-class whisky can come from the Canadian Prairies.

“One of the whiskies that won gold has sold out. The other will probably sell out in a few weeks, so we’re not really big enough to export to the U.S.,” said Coutts.