Musician times bourbon-style whisky release with Canada-U.S. trade war

Published Mar 27, 2025 • Last updated 3 minutes ago • 2 minute read

Mississauga musician Chris Gormlry released the second bath of his “unapologetically Canadian” bourbon-style whisky, Nectar of the Gods. just as the Canada-U.S. trade war was heating up. Photo by Okanagan Spirits

The 2025 release of the second batch of Mississauga drummer Chris Gormley’s “unapologetically Canadian” bourbon-style whisky, Nectar of the Gods, couldn’t have come at a better time.

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The musician, who quit Canadian band The Trews last year to help raise his five-year-old twins, says it wasn’t his idea but rather that of his business partner, Tyler Dyck, the CEO of Vernon, B.C.-based Okanagan Spirits craft distillery, to release it just as American spirits were being removed from government store shelves due to the Canada-U.S. trade war.

“After the tariffs and the trade war and obviously the stuff that’s happening with America, he called me and said, ‘Hey listen, we’re ready to release batch two.’ And I was like, ‘When are you thinking of doing it?’ And he was like, ‘Tomorrow.’ I give all the credit to Tyler. He’s like, ‘I just think it’s a great time to capitalize on it.’ They’re pulling American bourbon off the shelves and whisky drinkers are dedicated to their spirits and a lot of people can’t get bourbon so this is a truly a Canadian bourbon.

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“It’s made the exact same way they make bourbon in the states but you can’t call it bourbon because it’s made in Canada,” he added. “You have to call it a bourbon-style whisky or Canadian bourbon. It was a genius move by the distillery because it is capitalizing on people being proud to support a Canadian version of an American product.”

Gormley, who started creating music videos under his solo Whisky Hunter persona during COVID, was on tour in the Okanagan when Dyck first reached out to him about creating their own whisky two years ago.

They also knew each other from whisky circles.

“He was like, ‘I love your music. Let’s do something weird together, something artistic.’ And he’s like, ‘Let’s release a whisky but you release a song in tandem with the whisky and the whisky will be inspired by the song and the song will be inspired by the whisky.’”

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That was back in 2023 and the first 300-bottle batch of Nectar of The Gods was sold out in two months via Okanagan Spirits website which is the only place customers can purchase it ($85 for 750 ml.)

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Other than creating music and videos as Whisky Hunter, Gormley is still making music with both The Trews and Big Sugar, helping to write material for both of their latest albums.

He also helped write the latest record by Adrian Sutherland who’s up for a best contemporary Indigenous artist of the year Juno award in Vancouver on Sunday.

“I’m still very much in the music business,” he said. “When I discovered I could do it and still be home on the weekends, it’s like ‘Ah.’ The (twins) are blossoming and it’s the perfect time for daddy to be home with them.’”