News
Alberta’s Two Pine Ventures launched a crowdfunding campaign to build two “destination distilleries” in Okotoks and Bragg Creek, Shares in the distilleries start at $250 and the company seeks to raise more than $3 million through crowdfunding.
This past summer the Manitoba government announced support for small liquor producers by reducing and streamlining markup rates, as reported by a Winnipeg Sun story. And in New Brunswick, a 10-month pilot program started, allowing craft beverage alcohol producers like breweries, distilleries, cideries and wineries to sell each other’s products, without remitting markup to the province.
Fortune reported that U.S. craft distillers have lost an estimated $700 million in sales due to the pandemic.
Spirits brand incubator Distill Ventures (which is supported by Diageo) virtually held its first New World Whisky Summit in September and published The New World of New World Whisky whitepaper, free for download.
In other whisky news, industry site Seven Fifty Daily reported on Ireland’s Waterford Distillery’s experiments in proving the terroir of whisky, and on U.S. distillers looking to define American single malt.
Awards
Niagara College’s distillery program won a bronze at the U.S. Open Whiskey and Spirits Championships for its School Spirits Small Batch Rum.
The Newfoundland Distillery’s Seaweed Gin won a gold and its Cloudberry Gin won a silver medal at the blind-tasted New York International Spirit Competition.
Events
The Cornucopia festival in Whistler, B.C., is happening as a live event in November, with physically distanced tastings and stringent safety measure in place. Seminars include a Canadian Craft Gin tasting supported by ADC and a Best of B.C. Craft Spirits tasting supported by BC Distilled, plus other spirits-related events.
Among the virtual tasting events this year at the Spirit of Toronto Festival, a Virtual Warehouse Experience will host 15 whisky makers sharing cask samples from their warehouses. Tickets include a tasting kit and distilleries range from Zuidam in Holland to Heaven Hill in Kentucky, Leopold Brothers in Colorado and Springbank in Scotland.