Two Okanagan Craft Producers. One Barrel.

Barrel Proof — our flagship barrel-aged cider — is aged in freshly dumped whiskey barrels from Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery in Vernon, BC. It's a collaboration that makes geographic and craft sense: two producers working with Okanagan ingredients, sharing the same commitment to doing things properly, and finding a way to make both products better in the process.

Here's how it works and why it matters.

Who Is Okanagan Spirits?

Okanagan Spirits is one of Canada's most awarded craft distilleries, based in Vernon and Kelowna in the North Okanagan. They've been distilling since 2004 — one of the first craft distilleries in BC — and they produce a range of spirits including whiskey, brandy, gin, and vodka, all made from BC-grown ingredients.

Their whiskey program uses locally grown grain and ages in new and used oak barrels. When those barrels have done their job for the whiskey, they come to us.

Why Freshly Dumped Barrels Matter

Not all used barrels are equal. The key variable is how recently the barrel was emptied — what the industry calls "freshly dumped."

When a whiskey barrel is emptied, the wood is still saturated with whiskey. The char on the inside of the barrel, the oak itself, and the residual spirit all remain active. A freshly dumped barrel fills a cidery with the smell of whiskey the moment you open it. That's not an accident — that's the character we're after.

As a barrel sits empty, it dries out. The residual whiskey evaporates. The wood contracts. The character diminishes. A barrel that's been sitting empty for six months is a fundamentally different vessel than one that was emptied last week.

We use freshly dumped barrels. The difference in the final cider is significant — more pronounced vanilla and caramel from the oak char, more whiskey warmth from the residual spirit, more complexity overall.

What the Barrels Contribute to Barrel Proof

Oak barrels aren't passive storage containers. They're active participants in the aging process. Here's what Okanagan Spirits' freshly dumped whiskey barrels bring to our cider:

• Vanilla and caramel — from the char on the inside of the barrel, created during the barrel-making process
• Oak tannins — structure, grip, and body that you can't get from tank aging
• Whiskey warmth — subtle bourbon-adjacent notes from the residual spirit in the wood
• Micro-oxygenation — tiny amounts of oxygen seep through the wood staves, softening the cider and developing tertiary complexity over months
• Toasted wood spice — subtle spice notes from the oak itself

The apple character of the base cider — built on English cider apple varieties and Golden Russet for tannins and structure — integrates with these barrel contributions over months of aging. The result is layered in a way that tank-aged cider simply can't replicate.

The Aging Process

We fill the barrels with our base cider after fermentation and filtration are complete. The cider then ages for months — we taste regularly and pull when the balance is right. Not before.

Barrel aging is not a precise science. Every barrel is slightly different. The temperature of the aging space, the humidity, the specific history of each barrel — all of it influences the final product. This is why Barrel Proof is a limited release. We make as much as our barrel inventory allows, and we release it when it's ready.

Cider Club members get guaranteed allocation of every Barrel Proof release. When it sells out, it's gone until the next batch is ready.

Why This Collaboration Works

The Okanagan Valley is one of the most productive agricultural regions in Canada — apples, stone fruit, wine grapes, grain. The craft beverage scene here reflects that: cideries, wineries, distilleries, and breweries all working with local ingredients and, increasingly, with each other.

The barrel collaboration with Okanagan Spirits is a natural extension of that ecosystem. Their whiskey barrels are made for Okanagan grain. Our cider is made from Okanagan apples. The barrels connect both products to the same place — and the result tastes like it.

That's terroir working at every level of production.

Shop Barrel Proof — while it's available.

— Hardcore Cider Co.
100% Okanagan apples. Real BC fruit. No shortcuts.