It was a deal first announced this summer, but on Friday, it will all become official.
Black Velvet Canadian Whisky in Lethbridge has officially been purchased by Heaven Hill Brands out of the United States.
“We knew that Black Velvet was a terrific brand in that category, and the second-largest selling Canadian whisky in the world,” Heaven Hill president Max Shapira said.
“With that in the back of our mind, we knew that this would be a product that would fit perfectly with our portfolio.”
Friday marks the start of new ownership for Black Velvet Canadian Whisky, a company established in the 1970s in Lethbridge.
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READ MORE: Deal reached to sell Lethbridge’s Black Velvet Distillery
Heaven Hill Brands said the whisky made in Lethbridge will be mostly shipped to the U.S and the European Union.
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Black Velvet employs about 60 people locally and turns out roughly three-million cases of liquor a year.
Vice-president and general manager Claude Bilodeau said the distillery is closely connected to one of Lethbridge’s biggest sectors: agriculture.
On average, 10 rail cars a week deliver corn which is turned into the whisky.
“A big part of our business is the grains that we bring in,” Bilodeau said. “So there’s rail, there’s truck, all the ancillary suppliers for the business — it’s a very big business here in Lethbridge.”
The whisky ages for eight years in oak barrels, a patient process of blending Canadian and American business into one well-known Lethbridge product.
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