Whisky Barrel with Wooden Hoops

1857-1863

You are looking at Waterloo’s oldest existing whisky barrel. The red stencil marking on the barrelhead reads “Extra Rectified Rye and Wheat Whisky. Hespeler and Randall.” The Waterloo Distillery started distilling and selling whisky in 1857. When local farmers brought their rye and wheat grains to William Hespeler and George Randall’s Granite Mills in Waterloo, a portion of the grain was given as payment for grinding the grains into much-needed flour. The grain was then distilled into whisky by Hespeler and Randall at their Waterloo Distillery. Whisky was easy to make and profitable. By 1861, the distillery was producing 2,700 barrels of whisky a year. The whisky was stored and matured in handmade 45-gallon oak barrels. Barrels were made by local coopers using pine or hazel saplings as hoops (notice the bark is still visible on the hoops) and nailed in place with hand-forged square nails. Years later, Joseph E. Seagram bought out the Waterloo Distillery. The Seagram Distillery would grow to become one of the world’s most famous whisky producers.