Bearface Whisky Review: Wilderness Series 01 Matusake Edition

Editor’s note: This review was originally published in 2023 by Jacob Wirt. It was updated and republished in June 2025. 

Bearface whisky is something of a pan-Canadian product. Although the mash bill leans heavily on corn (99.5% corn to 0.5% malted barley, to be precise) and eschews the rye commonly associated with Canadian whisky, it travels across much of the country. The core spirit is distilled in Ontario before being transported to a B.C. winery, where it is prepared to undergo a unique maturation process that Master Blender Andreas Faustinelli has termed “elemental aging.”

This can be thought of as something like backcountry Jefferson’s Ocean— casks are stored in repurposed shipping containers that leave the maturing whisky somewhat exposed to the elements of the remote Canadian North. Of particular interest is the intense seasonal fluctuation of temperatures in this part of the world which introduces both variables of extreme cold and extreme heat to the interaction between wood and alcohol.

I tasted three of Bearface’s offerings– their flagship and two special bottlings. Bearface’s flagship bottle is the Triple Oak, aged in a combination of American ex-bourbon barrels, French former red wine casks, and virgin Hungarian oak. I also tasted the Oaxaca edition of their One Eleven Series, which takes advantage of the flexibility available to the Canadian whisky category by blending in one part mezcal to ten parts of Bearface’s whisky. Inter-liquor blending of this sort is disqualifying for many major whiskey categories, but it is fair game for Canadian whisky, which grants a wide latitude for experimentation.