Stacy Kyle has spent a good portion of her summer sorting, cleaning, cataloguing and showcasing bottles of whisky.

She鈥檚 the whisky curator at , a 性视界传媒 bar that boasts Canada鈥檚 largest whisky collection with close to 1,300 different kinds, or 鈥渆xpressions,鈥� as Kyle calls them, with most of the focus on Scotch and American varieties.

鈥淲e have more bottles than that, because we have backups of some of them,鈥� she explains.

鈥淭he total number of bottles is closer to 2,000. I haven鈥檛 counted them but I鈥檝e touched them all now,鈥� Kyle adds with a laugh. 鈥淲e alphabetized it, and sometimes we鈥檇 spend half an hour looking for a bottle that doesn鈥檛 exist, you know.鈥�

Since June, it鈥檚 been Kyle鈥檚 job to sort them all for display in the Skye Avenue lounge.

鈥淭here鈥檚 so many bottles we had to reinforce the shelves, and I don鈥檛 even know how many trips I made from the storage room downstairs, because a lot of the inventory wasn鈥檛 actually up here yet, only some of it was. There were a lot of bottles that were previously opened, load after load after load. We had the floor filled with bottles.鈥�

The collection was bought from the owners of Fets Whisky Kitchen, a landmark restaurant/bar in Vancouver. The establishment closed in 2022 after 36 years of business on Commercial Drive.

Kyle had a connection to the whisky collection before she started at Skye Avenue.

鈥淲hen I look on the shelves here, a lot of the bottles I imported and sold to Fets, so I鈥檓 tied to it that way,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 just feel like probably more than anything that I鈥檓 kind of like this guardian of this whisky collection, which is a really amazing collection. I think people who know whisky and know Fets know how amazing it is. Someone should be telling the story and being the guardian, and I feel really lucky to come to work and talk about whisky.鈥�

[gps-image name="37241865_web1_whisky_bottles.JPG"]Now that sorting of bottles is pretty much done, Kyle has shifted attention to hosting whisky events at Skye Avenue, opened last fall at the Central City tower. Up first, on Sept. 26, is Up in Smoke, a $65-per-person event to showcase five limited and rare Scotch whiskies, with food pairings, in the restaurant鈥檚 private dining room. (Visit for info, or call 604-590-0900.) Also happening are Whiskey Wednesdays, with flights and special cocktails.

Kyle has been importing whisky for around 15 years, and is one of few women in the business.

鈥淚 started drinking whisky when I was growing up in Calgary 鈥� rye and ginger was my drink,鈥� she notes.

鈥淥ver the past decade and a bit I took a lot of classes, went to a ton of events, just sort of threw myself out there before I probably was ready, but I really love doing the tastings and the events. That鈥檚 what I love most.

鈥淏eing a woman in this field is more common now, for sure, but it鈥檚 still not where I think it should be,鈥� Kyle adds. 鈥淚 was fortunate enough to be part of , co-founded by a woman named Becky Paskin, a journalist (who) created this foundation for bringing women in the whisky world together, which is really cool. But yeah, I did a tasting a few weeks ago and I was the only woman there, and I was the one presenting it, in a room of around 25 people. So we still have a ways to go.鈥�

At Skye Avenue, word is slowly spreading about their amazing whisky collection.

鈥淪ome people still don鈥檛 know that we have Fets鈥� collection, and we have their book of whiskies here. So we鈥檙e growing that awareness, and I鈥檓 here to help people who are looking for a specific bottle, for example. Collecting whisky can be expensive, but I say just drink it 鈥� you know, use the good china. Some bottles, OK, sure, you want to hold on to special ones, and I have a couple that I hope appreciate in value, as an investment, but that鈥檚 another side of things. We鈥檙e a place people can try something that they otherwise couldn鈥檛 afford to buy a whole bottle.鈥�

The most expensive 鈥渆xpression鈥� there is Vintage 1970, a 32-year-old from Bruichladdich, Islay, sold for $527 an ounce.

Kyle鈥檚 favourite is a bottle of The Sovereign.

鈥淚t鈥檚 on the shelf behind us,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a single-cask, single-grain (whisky) from a closed distillery, actually. That鈥檚 a bottle that I brought in. Aged single-grain whisky is like candy,鈥� she raves.

鈥淚t鈥檚 so good because grain whisky is distilled different than malt or single malt. It comes out more refined a higher alcohol strength. Single-grain whisky tastes really great after a couple of decades in a bourbon barrel, and this one is 26 years, distilled in 1988 and bottled in 2015, in Scotland. The distillery (Port Dundas) is closed now, doesn鈥檛 exist.鈥�

If you go:

• Visit the Skye Avenue Kitchen & Lounge at .
• Call 604-590-0900 or learn more online at

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