News & Openings

News and Openings 

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.

In the News

• 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.

News & Events

News

The Newfoundland Distillery Company in Clarke’s Beach, Newfoundland, has released four flavours of bitters capturing some of the province’s native botanicals and flavours: Cloudberry, Chaga & Chanterelle, Seaweed & Nettle and Sweet Gale & Wild Rose. They’re available not only at the distillery and online but in NLC stores.

Ontario recently announced it was extending the Small Cidery and Small Distillery Support Program to 2021–22, providing $2.6 million annually to help eligible businesses grow.

In Grandview, Manitoba, a group of investors under the Grand Vieux Liquor Co. banner has purchased a former Manitoba Hydro customer service building, with the intention of creating a distillery and restaurant.

Events

Rig Hand Craft Distillery in Nisku, Alberta, resumes its one-day Distilling 101: The Basics of Spirits Production workshops by proprietor Geoff Stewart on Sunday, September 20 at the distillery.

The Wine & Spirits Festival, originally planned in Toronto for this past June, has been rescheduled as an outdoor event at Toronto’s Sugar Beach on October 2 and 3, 2020.

News, Events & Openings

In the News

Spirit Awards for Blind Tasters

At Niagara College in Ontario, students in the country’s first college-level Artisan Distilling program competed late last year to develop the kind of skills coveted by our own Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition. During the first annual Spirit Awards at the Canadian Food & Wine Institute, they competed in a blind-tasting challenge of four-spirit flights each of London dry, Ontario, contemporary, signature botanical and flavoured gins. Students applied sensory evaluation training to choose winners in each category.

Do you conduct blind-tasting and comparative-tasting sessions with your staff? Here are some spirits sensory evaluation tools, from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, the Society of Wine Educators and a Canadian Whisky Tasting Wheel from Pernod-Ricard WhiskyDoc, Dr. Don Livermore, to help get you started.

Vancouver Island Forges a New Trail

The new Vancouver Island Spirit Path invites tourists and locals into the distilleries that define five regions of the Island, providing maps and routes for each. Tourism Vancouver Island partnered on the slick website, which includes on-point socially responsible imbibing and B.C. Craft information for consumers.

Events + Openings

Events

• January 15–26: Tribute to Craft Spirits Festival brings together B.C. and Alberta distilleries in Lake Louise and Banff, culminating in a two-day street festival of tasting on the second weekend.

• February 23: Rig Hand’s Geoff Stewart continues with a series of Distilling 101 workshops, an introduction to mashing, fermenting, distilling and dilution/flavouring in Nisku, Alberta.

• April 4: BC Distilled in Vancouver. 40 Artisan Distilleries will showcase their spirits at Canada’s largest artisan distillery festival.

• April 6–8: American Distilling Institute’s 2020 Craft Spirits Conference and Vendor Expo lands in New Orleans.

Openings

• Island Shiners (Sooke, B.C.)

• Wiseacre Farm Distillery (Kelowna, B.C.)

• Mainland Whisky (Surrey, B.C.)

• Two Rivers Distillery (Calgary, A.B.)

• Bridgeland Distillery (Calgary, A.B.)

• The Crabbie Goat Distillery (Valleyview, A.B.)

• Distillerie Cote des Saints (Mirabel, Q.C.)

Events + New Distilleries

New Distilleries

• Smooth 42 Craft Distillery in Brownlee, SK

• Heretic Spirits in Collingwood, ON

Events

Alberta and P.E.I. – Rig Hand Distilling’s Geoff Stewart has been leading distilling workshops, including one on November 3 at his Nisku distillery and a four-day event held in Charlottetown, PEI, this past October 7–10 in partnership with Bio Food Tech PEI. (Stewart is from New Brunswick, and told CBC last year he planned to expand his distillery to the East.)

B.C. – Cornucopia, B.C.’s premier winter festival of food and wine, held in Whistler, is embracing artisan spirits this year. On November 16, CASC lead judge Charlene Rooke will lead a tasting of eight B.C. artisan grain whiskies; on November 17 she’ll be pouring a tasting of eight B.C. small-batch gins, and pairing them with local tonics and tonic syrups.