On Jan. 23, Glenora Distillery president Lauchie MacLean announced the Federal Court of Appeal in Ottawa had upheld the firm's registration of its trademark single malt.
Begun in 1990, Glenora faced its first challenge over the name "Glen Breton" 10 years later, when it launched Glen Breton Rare Canadian Single Malt Whisky as one of its trademark names.
The Scotch Whisky Association, which opposed the trademark registration bid, has successfully barred distilleries outside of Scotland from calling their whiskies "Scotch" and argued using Glen was deceptively misdescriptive.
Early in 2007, the year I visited, the Trade-marks Opposition Board in Ottawa ruled Canadians would not be confused by "Glen," since many international whisky makers use the word. Then, last year, Mr. Justice Sean Harrington of the Federal Court of Canada denied the trademark application, saying the word implied Scottish roots.
After successfully appealing that ruling, MacLean said he hopes the whisky association will not carry the battle into a fourth round by appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada.
He expressed hopes the Nova Scotia company and the protectors of the Scotch name will be able to develop as smooth a relationship as the taste of Glenora's whiskies.
Its buildings, including a guest inn, pub and fine-dining restaurant, are on both sides of McLellan's Brook.
The tree-lined stream flows down from the Mabou Highlands south of Inverary on the west coast of Cape Breton -- where about 25% of the population has Scottish roots. This province's name, in Latin, means New Scotland.
During my tour, whisky director Donnie Campbell said the water that supplies the distillery carries the flavour of apples since it flows over the roots of trees in nearby orchards that bear the fruit in autumn.
Glenora was conceived by Bruce Jardine, who realized no single malt whisky was made in the area, despite its Scottish traditions.
The ancient Gaelic language can still be heard in these highlands and Gaels are credited with inventing "Uisge Beatha," which translates as "The Water of Life."
Jardine went to Scotland and travelled for a year, studying the traditional methods of Scotch-making, which ranges from the bottling of single malts to blends produced from a variety of whisky aged and stored in wooden kegs before being mixed together after years of aging, Campbell said.
Some brands of Scotch are made from as many as 42 different whiskies, he said.
"Half the world's whisky is Scottish, but only 31/2% is rare single malt," Campbell said.
North America is known for similar liquors: Rye in Canada, bourbon in the U.S.
But unlike those alcoholic beverages made from various grains such as rye, barley and corn, Campbell explained, "single malt whisky has to be 100% barley.
Canada's first large-scale distillery was established in 1799 by Montreal-based beer-brewing magnate John Molson (1763-1836). By the 1840s, there were more than 200 distilleries in Canada, with J.P Wiser, Henry Corby and Hiram Walker having established southern Ontario has the country's premier whisky-making region.
Under new ownership since 1994, Glenora imports its barley from Scotland, where it is malted to the company's specifications, Campbell said. "The reason we malt the barley is to germinate and convert the starch to sugar ... that's what we use to make our whisky."
Using barley, yeast and water, the company aims to produce about 50,000 litres a year.
"When we distill, the smell fills the glen," Campbell said.
Jardine, who lost the company after going into receivership in 1994, died in his 40s just before the distillery's first bottling was completed in 2000.
"It's sad," Campbell said. "Nobody knew what would happen, but he had a pretty good idea."
The first bottling sold out and the second bottling "was gone before ever hitting the shelves," he said.
Doing their own bottling and labelling by hand, employees now ship some Glenora award-winning whisky to Europe.
Glen Breton is described in a brochure as having a "medium-bodied, but pleasantly fiery aroma that combines butterscotch, heather, honey and ground ginger "with elongated, wood-infused undertones."
The sips we sampled on a balcony overlooking the giant traditional copper cooking pots truly lived up to the promise. In the end, for whisky-lovers, the true test is all about taste.
MORE INFORMATION
The guest season runs from early May to mid-October. In addition to a gorgeous setting along Route 19/Ceilidh Trail -- which connects to the world famous Cabot Trail on the western side -- the area offers a variety of music and entertainment, hiking trails, waterfalls, beaches, hunting, fishing, deep sea fishing, horseback riding, windsurfing, whale-watching, golf courses, museums, galleries and -- of course -- a Glenora whisky tour. (In Ontario, the LCBO advertises a 750 ml. bottle of Glen Breton Rare Canadian Single Malt Whisky at $89.55.)
For more, write Glenora Inn Distillery, P.O. Box 181, Mabou, N.S. B0E 1X0, phone 1-800-839-0491 or visit glenoradistillery.com. For travel information, contact the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage toll-free at 1-800-565-0000 or novascotia.com.
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