Belfour Spirits, founded and led by Hockey Hall of Famer, Stanley Cup winner and Olympian Ed Belfour, launched its ultra-premium whiskey brand and family of products, The Spirit of Champions.
For the past five years, two generations of the Belfour family (including Ed, son Dayn, 30, and daughter Reaghan, 27) have been working to produce a whiskey worthy of a championship; one that tastes as luxurious as its unique packaging, a 1920s-inspired, decanter-like bottle with a pattern that resembles cut crystal.
“My grandparents in Canada were moonshiners, so we like to think this was our destiny,” Ed says.
Applying lessons learned by both father and son during their respective, professional hockey careers and industry education from attending two whiskey schools (Canadian Craft Distilling Institute in Kelowna, B.C., and Moonshine University in Louisville, Ky.), they have used teamwork, patience and attention to detail to distill 1,700 barrels of whiskey to date.
All but 12 of its 1,700 barrels were distilled and continue to age in Statesville, N.C., by Ed and Dayn, in partnership with Southern Distilling.
They made the other 12 barrels first during Dayn’s internship at Woody Creek Distillery in Basalt, Colo. Those barrels aged the brand’s Limited Edition Straight Rye Whiskey. Fewer than 2,700 bottles exist and all are presented in a one-of-a-kind collector’s bottle and box.