With Its Master Blender Series, J.P. Wiser’s Schools the Competition
Don Livermore, the Windsor, Ontario, distillery’s master blender, took inspiration from his PhD dissertation to craft the inaugural 2026 release in the new series.
One of Canada’s oldest continuously operating whisky brands, J.P. Wiser’s is no stranger to accomplishment. But the most important feather in its cap? That would be its master blender: Don Livermore. One of the world’s few whisky blenders with a PhD, Livermore has spent the past three decades lifting J.P. Wiser’s blending program to new heights, experimenting with different types of wood. To celebrate his 30th anniversary with the brand, Livermore created the Master Blender Series, with the inaugural release replicating the dissertation whisky that earned him his doctorate.
“In my 30 years at the Hiram Walker distillery, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a number of high-quality J.P. Wiser’s Canadian whiskies,” Livermore says. “By returning to the foundations of my original Dissertation blend, I wanted to take the scientific roots of rye, corn, and dual-distillation, and push them into exciting new territory to create the Master Blender Series.”
But it is not just the blend of rye and corn and dual-distillation technique that defines this whisky. PhD or not, every blender knows that a whisky is worth little more than the wood it is aged in. And when it comes to this 1,500-bottle limited-edition whisky, Livermore mustered up the finest barrels at his disposal. Finished in a combination of black sea oak, once-used Speyside, and heavily charred white oak barrels, as well as port casks, the Master Blender Series 2026 release uses the most exciting and expansive array of wood that Livermore has ever worked with at J.P. Wiser’s.
The J.P. Wiser’s Master Blender Series 2026 is now available as a distillery exclusive.
