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Results of the 2023 Canadian Whisky Awards were announced tonight at the Victoria Whisky Festival in Victoria, B.C. For the first time in the thirteen-year history of the awards, a regional, artisan producer has taken the top spot.
Following a blind tasting by a panel of nine whisky experts, Palm Trees & A Tropical Breeze, distilled by North Vancouver’s Sons of Vancouver Distillery was named Canadian Whisky of the Year, Artisan Producers.
Read moreNovember 2022 NEws and Openings
Read moreEarlier this year, Shelter Point Distillery founder Patrick Evans sold majority ownership of the distillery to Chris Nelson of Nelson Investment Inc. (Evans continues to farm on the Campbell River, B.C. property where the distillery is located.) Stephen Goodridge, a founder of Goodridge & Williams Distilling, has been appointed Shelter Point's new General Manager.
Austin, Texas-based Milestone Brands acquired Victoria Distillers in June and plans to double volumes of products like Empress 1908 gin to more than 400,000 cases annually.
Source: https://www.touchwoodeditions.com/book/the-five-bottle-bar/
This fall, Five Bottle Bar by Jessica Schact of Ampersand Distilling in Duncan, B.C., will be published by Touchwood Editions. It's a cocktail book to help people build a full cocktail bar with just five-plus bottles.
Modern Luxuria wrote about Anohka Distillery, located west of Edmonton, makers of Tempest Gin.
Eau Claire Distillery in Turner Valley, Alberta, launched a Stampede Canadian Rye Whisky in partnership with the Calgary Stampede in June.
Alberta Open Farm Days on August 13 and 14 will include distillers like Pivot Spirits Craft Distillery in Rolling Hills, Alberta.
PA Now wrote about the vibrant brewing and distilling scene in Saskatchewan, including Last Mountain Distillery and Lucky Bastard Distillers.
The Ottawa Citizen reported that Dunrobin Distilleries is building a new distillery on the site of a former illicit cannabis grow-op site in downtown Stittsville, Ontario. Local legend has it that Elivs Presley once stopped at a former gas station on the same site to fill up his Cadillac in 1957.
Apikol, a Quebec micro-distilling and agri-tourism operation, received a $100,000 Canadian Economic Development grant in July to support its beekeeping operations and honey-based spirits.
In the U.S., on the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, women- and LGBTQ-owned Republic Restoratives Distillery in Washington, D.C., announced it would donate proceeds from the sale of its Dissent Gin to the National Network of Abortion Funds.
Drinks industry site Seven Fifty Daily rounded up a range of business models for craft distilleries in the U.S.
The B.C. Ale Trail site showed some love to its distilling siblings with a guide to five B.C. breweries that also have distilling operations.
Spirits accelerator company Distill Ventures hosted a roundtable event on Keeping Whisky Sustainable: access the free recording here.
Calgary hotel The Dorian (named and themed for the forever-young Oscar Wilde book The Picture of Dorian Gray) is producing bespoke craft spirits for guests in collaboration with Eau Claire Distillery.
The Calgary Herald asked some local distillers how having Russian spirits taken off local shelves could provide a boost to their business.
Many distilleries in B.C., Saskatchewan and beyond have been donating proceeds of some sales and creating unique products to support relief efforts in Ukraine.
O'Kenny Craft Spirits in Pembroke, Ontario, is creating a lazy-river style river-tubing experience this summer on its property adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway, on the Muskrat River, CTV Ottawa reported.
A construction industry news site profiled the historic Guelph building holding The Metalworks development (which includes Spring Mill Distillery)—including the copper casks, suspected of belonging to Prohibition bootleggers, found in a crawl space.
St-Ubalde, Quebec, Ubald Distillery won five awards, including a Best in Class, at the Craft Spirits Berlin Awards 2022.
Maritime Spirits, a Fibe TV series about craft alcohol producers in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and P.E.I., has 10 episodes for Bell customers, including episodes about Moonshine Creek Distilling and Deep Roots Distillery.
The Glenora Inn & Distillery got a high-profile nod from a recent Travel + Leisure story about distillery hotels.
Gnu Craft Spirits is open in Calgary, Alberta. Named for the African herd east and created by three social animals, the distillery so far has a London Dry Gin for sale, plus a lot of silent-”g” puns, on its website.
Snake Lake Brewing in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, is expanding into distilling with 1903 Distilling Company, within a former garage next to the brewery. The Sylvan Lake News reported that the new distillery hoped to release vodka, gin and canned hard lemonade by this spring.
Ottawa Magazine recently celebrated regional artisan distillers like Dairy Distillery, Dunrobin Distilleries, Artist in Residence and Whitewater Distilling.
Eau Claire Distillery in Turner Valley, Alberta, released an innovative Collector’s Edition collaboration bottling of its Rupert’s Whisky with the Calgary Flames.
Invermere, BC, mixologists Justin Atterbury and Steve Kuffler from Taynton Bay Spirits contributed a curated cocktail list to the opening of the Blind Pig Pub in Cranbrook, BC, according to the Cranbrook Daily Townsman.
Alberta’s newest farm-to-flask operation, Anohka Distillery, opened in Parkland County in December; its Tempest Gin is made in an unfiltered style with “more than 10x the botanicals,” sourced from around the globe.
Legendary brewer Peter McAuslan has turned distiller with the release of Peter McAuslan’s Quebec Single Malt Whisky, a lightly peated whisky aged in ex-bourbon.
The Saanich News reported that a bottle of Shelter Point single malt was presented to the Speaker of the House of Commons by MP Rachel Blaney, and will be considered for the Speaker’s Selection whisky of the year.
Stillus Craft Spirits is coming soon to Bloomfield, Ontario, in the Prince Edward County area of Eastern Ontario, already renowned as a wine region. Using a custom Frilli still from Tuscany in a facility by architect Lorne Rose, the distillery says it’s committed to social and environmental sustainability and plans to produce whisky, vodka and fruit spirits.
Edward Campbell Studio in Calgary, Alberta, recently published some great label-design tips on its E-Magic blog, using examples from its work for Confluence Distilling.
Ottawa Green Business recently profiled King’s Lock Craft Distillery near Ottawa for its sustainability practices.
During Alberta Open Farm Days (August 14 and 15, 2021), farm-based distilleries (including Eau Claire in Turner Valley, Pivot Spirits in Rolling Hills and Rig Hand in Nisku, Alberta) breweries and wineries opened their doors to the public, as part of a promising agri-tourism initiative.
Pembroke Today and 104.9 FM radio recently profiled O’Kenny Craft Spirits in Pembroke, Ontario, along with a neighbouring food business.
U.S. drinks-industry newsletter Daily Seven Fifty recently mentioned St. Lucifer Spirits in Québec for its water-pufication regime, in a story about characterful craft vodka.
A recent article in Modern Farmer mentioned Ontario's Laneway Distillers and its challenges selling direct-to-consumer in that province.
Bevnet recently reported that Nova Scotia's Fundy Gin infused with local dulse and other botanicals, is now available in the U.S.
According to BC Local News, Antidote Distilling will soon open in Port Alberni, B.C.
The 2021 Canadian Whisky Awards selected results have been announced. ADC has summarized the results with a focus on Canada’s artisan distillers.
Read moreEvents, in the media and other news from artisan distilleries across the country.
Read moreThe Gateway Gazette reported that Eau Claire Distillery, a farm-to-glass distillery in southern Alberta, launched Hawthorn Gin in partnership with with the Hawthorn Dining Room & Bar, located inside Calgary’s iconic Fairmont Palliser hotel. Hawthorn berry and 16 other botanicals flavour the gin, which celebrates renovations and a new cocktail menu that includes The Home Grown, a gin and tonic featuring the spirit.
Salish Sea Spirits joins distilleries on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, relocating this winter to Powell River, reports the Powell River Peak. The owners had previously been distilling honey-based spirits out of Kootenay Country Craft Distillery, and plan to use local apples and other ingredients after they relocate in March 2020.
The British Columbia Craft Distillers Guild held its 2019 AGM at Resurrection Spirits in Vancouver on November 16.
In late October, Nova Scotia’s fifth annual craft spirits festival, Spirited Away, was held in Lunenberg. Fan favourites like the Sip & Dash spirits-sampling tour and Distillers Marketplace returned, and innovations like a DIY gin session, a barrel reconditioning demo, plus cocktail-focused workshops on shrub-making, beer cocktails and the province’s spirited history rounded out the weekend.
Here’s some inspiration for seasonal spirits to add to your distillery’s mix: see what other artisan distillers make to combat the chill of fall and winter, from spiced spirits to festive cream and fruit liqueurs, holiday gins and the toast of Poland.
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