Don DiMonte is more than a whisky maker with the ‘it’ factor. He’s a community support worker for his Last Straw Distillery’s star ingredient: grain. This is why grains considered too challenging for the world of commodity whisky sometimes appear unannounced at his distillery north of Toronto. They are looking for a second chance. Grains passed up by bakers and about to become cattle feed deserve more. DiMonte invites them in, develops their potential, and gives them an oaken home.
DiMonte’s distilling skills are in tune with his empathy for grain. He finds opportunity in grain that others discard. When the new owners of a bankrupt distillery were ramping up a gin run and wanted to offload a mash of malted corn before it spoiled, “I went and got it,” DiMonte explains. “Such an unbelievable flavour came off the still.” Malted corn, it turned out, though expensive and challenging to work with, makes exceptionally flavourful whisky. But, “Hell hath no fury like a mash scorned!” DiMonte knew he wanted more and turned to K2 Milling, the source of the original malted corn. With this, Last Straw’s old-school community-minded, single-farm whisky programme began.
Rested in a number 3 char American oak barrel, the spirit matured into a soft, sweet, creamycelebrates the origins of Last Straw whisky. Today, Last Straw sources exceptional grains from several small communities, each producing whiskies with characters all their own.
