James Bay Distillers Ltd

James Bay Distillers, Ltd. is a craft distillery, spirits manufacturer and exporter of super premium Canadian, Scotch and American whiskies, gins, vodka and finocchietto.   They have operations in both Washington State and British Columbia. Thier goal is to make every spirit a "sipping spirit," exceptional right form the bottle.  

The distillery was started by two co-founders, Ernest and Leigh Troth, who are joined by a number of other investors and supporters in their quest to make a wide selection of best quality internationally inspired spirits. Ernie & Leigh formed  company while living in Virginia, then moved to British Columbia in 2017 where the City of Victoria and the Province loved our plans, but we didn't quite find the right spot.

Ernie Troth hails from Washington State, but has lived and worked close to 15 years abroad, mostly in Europe and the Middle East. He holds a BA degree from Chicago, an MA in International Economics from Geo. Washington University in DC, and an MBA in International Marketing from New Haven.

After working abroad, he settled in Virginia, where he met his wife, Leigh. During the course of business development for the distillery, Ernie worked part-time and as a volunteer worker at both US and Canadian distilleries, took courses from the American Distilling Institute and others. Developing sensory  perception for distillates is an acquired ability, and he combines the sensory process with chemistry and detailed analytics.