The Alchemist – Winter 2015 by The Alchemist

PHOTO BY ISSHA MARIE AND ALISON PAGE

WINTER 2015

CL ASS ACT

DIY

LOCAL HERO

HOME GROWN

Creating Vancouverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cocktail scene

Home bar essentials

The Vancouver Cocktail

Sourcing your local spirits

CLASSICS. PERFECTED. Taste what happens when elite Fairmont bartenders team up to craft a new cocktail menu. Visit The Lobby Lounge at Fairmont Paciﬁc Rim to sip on a refreshing new idea.

The Lobby Lounge at Fairmont Paciﬁc Rim 1038 Canada Place Vancouver BC | 604.695.5502 lobbyloungerawbar.com | #LLconversations | @fairmontpaciﬁc

CURED. AGED. DISTILLED. GRAIN TASTING BAR exemplifies the Vancouver experience. Dedicated to local growers, brewers, wineries and distilleries, our menu offers a wide variety of flavours and spirits representing British Columbia.

655 BURRARD, VANCOUVER 604.639.4768 GRAINVBC.COM

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The Alchemist

2015

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Quietly doing our thing for 12 years.

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Contents 08 – CULTURE CLUB Charting the origins of Vancouver’s world-class cocktail culture by Alexandra Gill 15 – GIN TONIC How Long Table Distillery is giving gin its due respect by Fiona Morrow

15 Laura McGuire photo

22 – DO IT YOURSELF The essentials for creating a great home bar by Justin Taylor 30 – OUT OF THE PAST How one determined bartender revived the Vancouver Cocktail by Joanne Sasvari

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38 – WHISKY GALORE! Move over vodka and gin, B.C.’s whiskies are coming of age by Shawn Soole 46 – SMOKE ON THE WATER Sipping scotch on the Isle of Islay is a magical affair by Lauren Mote

52 – TERMS OF ENDEARMENT Can’t tell a crusta from a coupe? Learn the lingo with our glossary 57 – B.C. DISTILLERIES Where they are, and what they do

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Laura McGuire photo

The Alchemist

othing compliments a great spirit better than a great bartender, and here at The Alchemist, our goal is to celebrate and honour both. From our amazing mixologists and their divine libations, to the new B.C. distilleries bringing passion, care and innovation to their small-batch gins, vodkas, whiskies, liqueurs and more, we respect and salute them all.

This, our first issue, covers a lot of ground: the craft cocktail pioneers who put Vancouver on the map, and the cocktail that took the city’s name; the workings of Vancouver’s original urban distillery, and a look forward to the soon-to-boom B.C. whisky industry. Most importantly perhaps, we have collated a guide to the ever-growing ranks of distillers in the province, to help you in your quest to sample the best of B.C. Whatever your favourite tipple, please raise your glass and join us in a toast.

EDITOR: Fiona Morrow PUBLISHER: Dee Dhaliwal ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Gail Nugent gnugent@glaciermedia.ca DESIGN: Tara Rafiq, Anja Werner CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Alexandra Gill, Lauren Mote, Joanne Sasvari, Shawn Soole, Justin Taylor CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Laura McGuire, Issha Marie and Alison Page © The Alchemist 2015 Published by: Glacier Community Media 303 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Y 1J6 604-742-8678

Santé. Salute. Prost. Kanpai. Slange Var. Bottoms up. However you choose to say it: Cheers!

$11.99 – First issue complimentary

Our symbol: what is this? Alchemy is, loosely speaking, the act of transforming something of no discernible value into treasure—to the founders of the concept during the Middle Ages, this meant converting base metal to gold. The philosopher’s stone—the mythical substance that was a cornerstone of ancient alchemy (it was said to, among other things, grant immortality)—was often referred to as the “elixir of life.”

The Alchemist logo you see here and throughout this issue is a subtle, contemporary update of the philosopher’s stone symbol. We don’t mean to imply that the distillers, bartenders and assorted mix-masters found in these pages possess the ability to bestow eternal life (although, on some particularly good nights, they might make you feel they have). But in their small, individual ways, they do achieve a sort of alchemy with every bottle, every glass, every sip…

Fred Fung photo

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Culture club 08

TALENTED BARTENDERS HAVE PUT VANCOUVER’S COCKTAIL SCENE ON THE WORLD MAP

by Alexandra Gill

n the mood for a Sazerac? How about a Negroni punch bowl mixed with local gin and vermouth, or a playful spin on Arctic Ungava with a dash of citric acid and spritz of Laphroaig perfume? Whatever your poison, it can be found in Vancouver, home

to one of the most vibrant cocktail scenes in North America. It wasn’t always this way. The depth and breadth of the city’s spirited talent is all the more remarkable when you consider how far

WE WERE SMASHING DRINKS WITH CLUBS AND LIGHTING THINGS ON FIRE the community has come in 15 years with scant resources. Back at the turn of the millennium, when most seemingly sophisticated bars were still shooting Margaritas out of soda guns, two lonely trailblazers stood out from the crowd: Chris Stearns at Lumière and Jay Jones at West (then called Ouest) strove to mix cocktails that were as ambitious as the food coming out of their respective kitchens, incorporating bitters, sourcing then-obscure spirits such as absinthe, and introducing long-forgotten classic recipes. LEFT: Wendy McGuinness says local spirits must earn their place on her back bar. BELOW: A collegial rivalry pushed local mixologists to be ever more innovative.

“It was a challenge at the start, trying to persuade our patrons that a drink experience could be more than just some simple flavours that get you drunk,” recalls Jones, now the beverage manager for Vij’s Restaurant Group. It didn’t take long for the ball to start rolling. In 2004, the new Belgian-themed Chambar Restaurant, which injected fine

dining with a splash of fun Euro flair, knocked it out of the park immediately upon opening, with a serious cocktail program backed up by its kitchen. The now-cult classic Blue Fig (gin infused with roasted figs and served with a slice of blue cheese), the lavender syrup for sours, the Campari powder, the paper-thin dried pineapple garnishes—and many other elements that turned Chambar’s cocktail program into a citywide sensation—were cooked up in collaboration with pastry chef Eleanor Chow. “That was one of the things that helped us take the program to the next level,” says former bar manager Wendy McGuinness. “Eleanor really understood how to utilize fresh ingredients and highlight flavours. She helped us all take the simplicity of a well-made cocktail and make it more of a showpiece.” Over at George, the city’s first London-style cocktail bar, British transplant Nick Devine was also learning to adapt to the limited supplies on local liquor store shelves by mixing syrups and infusing his own spirits (which wasn’t technically legal). “People were blown away when they saw all the fresh herbs spread across our big wooden work table,” recalls Devine, who had come from London’s famed Soho House. “We were smashing drinks with clubs and lighting things on fire.”

Laura McGuire photo

The flames fanned, a lively cocktail culture ignited across the city. The diaspora from Chambar, and to a smaller extent George, spread to Gastown and smaller neighbourhood nooks where

THE RESTRICTIONS FORCED THEM TO BE CREATIVE. AND THE WORLD BEGAN NOTICING

Yet, for many years, it remained difficult to source certain essential ingredients. When not raiding farm fields for the local fruits and produce that typified Vancouver’s market-fresh kitchen cocktails, local mixologists were making regular runs to Seattle to buy bourbon, bitters and Crème de Violette. The restrictions forced them to be creative. And the world began noticing. In the lead up to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Imbibe Magazine welcomed Team Canada onto the international cocktail podium with a glowing two-page feature. In 2011, Tales of the Cocktail chose Vancouver as the site of its first satellite festival outside New Orleans. And, two years ago, the Diageo Reserve World Class invited Canada to compete for the first time. Vancouver’s Grant Sceney (bartender at the Fairmont Pacific Rim) placed fourth.

Laura McGuire photo File photo

nothing more ambitious than a highball had previously been served. Boneta, The Diamond, Pourhouse, L’Abattoir, Bao Bei, The Keefer Bar, The Cascade Room, The Refinery, Uva, The Granville Room—the list of serious cocktail spots kept growing.

“Not every distillery makes it on to my back bar,” says McGuinness. “They have to earn their place. But the ones that do are really advancing the city. When an international guest sits at your bar, you can proudly pull out a vodka and make a killer Martini and say ‘Hey, we make this here. We don’t just have great cocktail bars, but great spirits as well.’”

“Because Vancouver is a small big city we all knew each other and hung out together,” says McGuinness, explaining how the friendly rivalry pushed their competitive edge in a collegial way.

Alexandra Gill is the Globe and Mail’s Western Restaurant Critic and a freelance food and drinks writer for numerous publications. She moved to Vancouver at the start of the city’s cocktail renaissance. No wonder she never left.

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Jay Jones was one of Vancouver’s first cocktail pioneers.

The explosion of the local spirit industry goes hand in hand with that coming of age.

THE BLUE FIG Chambarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Blue Fig has become a Vancouver classic 2 oz roasted fig-infused gin 0.5 oz simple syrup Add infused gin and simple syrup to a mixing glass filled with ice and stir. Strain into a chilled coupe or Martini glass and serve with a side of blue cheese. To make fig gin: Slice four roasted figs and add to a bottle of gin. Rest 48 hours and strain through cheesecloth. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;by David Fesq

Scott Little photo

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Mix master TREVOR KALLIES FINDS INSPIRATION IN THE INTERNATIONAL COCKTAIL COMMUNIT Y Leading the beverage program at the Donnelly Group keeps Trevor Kallies on his toes.

people to check out the bar, and maybe experience a new single malt they haven’t heard of, or had the chance to try before.”

With responsibility for lists across the group’s pubs, cocktail taverns and nightclubs, his 15 years of experience behind the bar—10 as a serious cocktail contender— are invaluable.

The Granville Room and Clough Club are where he can take the cocktail list into more spirit-focused, eclectic territory.

At the Donnelly Group, Kallies says, it’s all about being able to craft a diverse range of top quality drinks that meet the needs of each room. “When I first got interested in cocktails, it was all about amari, bourbons and ryes— big, bold, spirit-forward cocktails,” he says. “That’s great for a few bars. It’s not great for others. I’m looking to create a balance.” The pubs in the group keep similar lists. “The thought process is: What’s fresh? What’s fruity? What’s delicious?”

It’s a different story at flagship pub, The Blackbird, with its 150-strong Scotch list. “The cocktail menu is designed to showcase that,” Kallies explains. “We want to entice

“That’s where we really have fun,” he laughs. “The Granville and Clough cocktails are a little bit more exciting, a little bit more innovative.” While he and his team are busy honing their own signature drinks for lists that change three or four times a year, Kallies always has an eye on what’s happening elsewhere, looking for amazing cocktails—either new, or long-lost recipes—that he can feature. This “Not Ours” list is not only great for customers, he says, it’s a way for young, upcoming bartenders to learn and experiment. “For me it’s about bridging the gap between what’s happening in Vancouver and what’s happening around the world,” he smiles. “The global cocktail community is a big deal, and we enjoy being a part of that.”

For more information about Donnelly Group bars and pubs, visit donnellygroup.ca

14 The Alchemist

Laura McGuire photo

Gin tonic

LONG TABLE, VANCOUVER’S ORIGINAL MICRO DISTILLERY, IS FUELLED BY PASSION

by Fiona Morrow

harles Tremewen loves gin. So much so, he hocked his house to start making it himself. He launched Vancouver’s first micro distillery, Long Table, in February 2013, and hasn’t looked back. Long Table’s first gin was the London Dry-style, and it remains the flagship product, aromatic and punctuated with the distinctive evergreen notes of juniper. Next

came what was meant to be the seasonal Cucumber, with vegetables from Pender Harbour macerated and infused during the distilling process. “That was intended as a summer fling,” says Tremewen. “It proved so popular, it’s earned a level of permanence.” It also won a gold medal at the 2015 World Spirits Competition (the London Dry took a silver).

WE DON’T USE ESSENTIAL OILS TO FL AVOUR OUR GIN; WE MACERATE ALL OUR BOTANICALS AS PART OF THE DISTILL ATION. WE ARE A SMALL-BATCH, HAND-CRAFTED OPERATION. The third of Long Table’s gins is the Bourbon Barrel Aged, a caramel-coloured, smooth-as-silk “whisky-man’s gin,” aged for three to four months in small barrels from Woodenville Whisky. After losing ground to vodka, gin—always popular with bartenders as a base for a classic cocktail—is enjoying something of a revival. “I think it is back in favour,” agrees Tremewen. “It holds such character in its essential herbaceousness, and those floral, peppery notes really open up and bring complexity to a cocktail.”

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Served in some of Vancouver’s top cocktailforward rooms, Long Table’s product is prized by bartenders for its high quality, complexity, and consistency.

That consistency comes at a price—for Tremewen, at least: like most high-end gins, Long Table uses Neutral Grain Spirit (ethanol that has been distilled five times)

DID YOU KNOW?

Almost half of all the gin consumed in the world is drunk in the Philippines. Their Ginebra San Miguel brand accounts for 43 per cent of the global market, but is unknown outside of the country.

Laura McGuire photo

PUTTING THE ‘J’ IN GIN

There is no gin without juniper berries, usually foraged in the wild. Long Table has recently sourced a B.C. wild juniper, and is just waiting for the berries to dry out and become ready for use.

as its base. It’s the same process used by Vancouver Island’s Victoria Gin, acclaimed U.S. small-batch Aviator Gin, and London’s first new hand-crafted gin in 200 years, Sipsmith. It’s also the method used by globally revered Hendrick’s. “We want people to recognize the quality of the product we are making,” he says. “We don’t use essential oils to flavour our gin; we macerate all our botanicals as part of the distillation. We are a small-batch, handcrafted operation.” But, in B.C., the moving target known as the province’s liquor laws, currently insists that the “craft” designation (and financial breaks that come with it) can only be applied to those making grain to bottle spirits—creating a base on site from B.C. grown grain, potatoes, or whatever else the distiller chooses to use. (Determined after

Laura McGuire photo

Long Table has been distilling gin in their German-made copper still since February 2013.

the distillery licences were first granted, the designation has forced at least one small operator to literally pour barrels of handcrafted rum down the drain to meet the regulations; another had to get rid of litres of lovingly-tended pear brandy.)

Tremewen stands by his gin-making process, and remains hopeful that the regulations will eventually be tweaked. “All of us distillers are at the forefront of a new industry in B.C.,” he says. “There is room for us all, and room to grow.

For Shaun Layton, one of Vancouver’s leading bartenders, and creator of the gin-forward cocktail program at recently opened Juniper restaurant, Long Table is one of B.C.’s best gins, and says the base alcohol is not a concern.

“We are all alchemists,” he smiles. “And we all share the same passion for our craft.”

“I’ve toured craft gin distilleries in England and the U.S., and this distinction seems to be a uniquely B.C. approach, and one that doesn’t necessarily make for a better product,” he notes. “What matters is what comes out of the bottle.”

Fiona Morrow is a freelance writer and editor. She writes for numerous publications including the Globe and Mail, the Guardian, and Vancouver magazine. THE L AST WORD

“A perfect Martini should be made by filling a glass with gin then waving it in the general direction of Italy.” —Noël Coward

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Setting the bar YACINE SYLL A BRINGS A SPL ASH OF EUROPEAN FL AIR TO A VANCOUVER FAVOURITE

Cocktails have always been serious business at Chambar. The trend-setting French/North African restaurant burst onto the Vancouver scene just over a decade ago, and has been leading the pack ever since. Last year’s move up the street to expanded premises meant room to build a bartender’s dream: the wood at Chambar is 30 feet long, giving its mixologists plenty of creative freedom to run their distinct section. “Even though we’re a high volume restaurant, we put out complex, wellpresented cocktails that usually only small restaurants can produce,” notes bar manager Yacine Sylla. Chambar has never been shy and retiring: this is a room that brings the buzz, and its bartenders know how to create a great atmosphere as much as they do a great drink. Sylla smiles. “We definitely put on a show.”

Originally from Paris, Sylla came to Canada—and Chambar—nine years ago (he was introduced to owners Karri and Nico Schuermans through a colleague in a top London restaurant).

travels across Europe and South East Asia bring, he says, added nuance to his cocktails. For years he worked behind the scenes, dealing with suppliers and looking for new products that would work with the Chambar philosophy of fresh and local. “We love being able to use local products,” he says. “Odd Society Spirits in East Vancouver is a great example of a local distillery producing a product we are happy to support.” The menu at Chambar is seasonally-driven— and that goes for the cocktails, too. Sylla estimates that at least 75 per cent of the house list is completely redone each quarter. Innovation is always evident, from coconut ice spheres in a new take on an Old Fashioned, to an Angostura bitters ice cream topping the Siegert Float—a heady mix of rye, Drambuie, cinnamon and ginger beer. Open all day, Chambar offers additional, lighter cocktails at brunch. “And breakfast, too, if people are so inclined,” Sylla adds. “I love what we do here,” he grins. “High quality, high energy. And lots of fun.”

He says his secret is his palate: his work and Chambar, 568 Beatty St., 604-879-7119, Facebook.com/chambarrestaurant, @chambar

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Spirited away B.C.’S OLDEST CRAFT DISTILLERY HAS MADE AN INTERNATIONAL IMPACT

At the grand old age of 11, Okanagan Spirits is the oldest craft distillery in the province. That may make it a relative newbie on the international scene, but it hasn’t stopped the world from paying it serious attention. Since its inception in 2004, the family-owned and operated Okanagan business has twice been named Distillery of the Year at the annual World Spirits Awards, and two years

ago became the first and only one of its kind in North America to be given a “world class” rating. “We recognize as a business, we are not really a new business, but as a distillery we are exceptionally young,” says marketing director Rodney Goodchild. “We’re still learning and we’re still growing.”

and that’s where the creativity and diversity has come from.” It also helps to be located in farming country with easy access to locally grown fruits and grains for all their base ingredients, allowing them to offer a selection of more than 25 spirits ranging from the province’s first homegrown single malt whisky to various gins, vodkas, liqueurs, fruit brandies, and even aquavit and absinthe. The biggest seller is their signature Blackcurrant Liqueur, which earned 97.9 out of a possible 100 points to become the highest-rated product ever awarded at the World Spirits Awards.

That growth, including a second, 16,000 square-foot facility in Vernon, came after the notoriously restrictive B.C. Liquor Control and Licensing Branch finally loosened up their rules a bit. “When we first started, the industry just didn’t allow growth or encourage growth,” Good-

child explains. “Back then we didn’t have distribution—we weren’t allowed distribution— because it was controlled purely by the board. We couldn’t get access to the markets so we had to create our market: we had to get people to come to us. We are always making something different and unique, something outside the norm,

“It is a product that we’ve really tailored and has worked over the years,” says Goodchild. “People think of blackcurrant liqueur as crème de cassis, and ours is more cassis than crème. The taste has a real pop, goes really well on its own, or over ice cream, or with soda or vodka in a cocktail. The versatility of it is very broad.”

Okanagan Spirits Distillery, 267 Bernard Ave., Kelowna, 778-484-5174, and 5204 24th St., Vernon, 250-549-3120 okanaganspirits.com, facebook.com/okanaganspirits, @okspirits

The Alchemist

Issha Marie and Alison Page photo

Do it yourself ALL THE INGREDIENTS AND TOOLS YOU NEED TO BEGIN SERIOUS BARTENDING IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR OWN HOME

by Justin Taylor ICE Ice is key to both the temperature and dilution of a drink. Use large, fresh cubes directly from the icebox when shaking or stirring. Ice that’s been out for too long— that is glossy and wet—will over-dilute your drinks, and fast! Invest in a few different shapes and sizes of ice moulds: over-sized,

square, or even spherical moulds are great for spirits on the rocks. LIQUOR Basic spirits that should be found on any home bar: vodka, rum, gin, Scotch whisky, bourbon, rye, brandy and tequila. Take your time to research and invest in

LIKE SALT AND PEPPER TO A CHEF, BIT TERS PROVIDE SUBTLE BUT CRUCIAL SEASONING TO SO MANY GREAT DRINKS. quality spirits, keeping in mind there is no need to overpay. You’ll also need a few liqueurs: I recommend Campari, Cointreau, and both sweet and dry Vermouth. Using quality ingredients will always affect the outcome of your drinks for the better. LEFT: A good home bar should include a few key implements. BELOW: Quality spirits and bitters make all the difference to a cocktail.

TOOLS To tend like a pro, you’ll want: a sharp paring knife, a cork and cap opener, a Japanese bar spoon, a jigger, a juice press, a Hawthorne strainer, a fine-mesh strainer, a muddler, a towel, and a Boston shaker. (See glossary p. 52 for definitions.) SWEETENERS Start by making your own simple syrup: combine equal parts sugar and boiling water, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Keep refrigerated. Feel free to experiment with different sugars, maple syrup, agave, honey, or even liqueurs.

ACID Freshly squeezed lemons and limes add bite, freshness and complexity to many cocktails. Consider using other citrus fruit and berry juices as well. Just make sure they’re fresh—not from a bottle. BITTERS Like salt and pepper to a chef, bitters provide subtle but crucial seasoning to so many great drinks. No home bar is complete without Angostura, Peychaud’s and orange bitters. GARNISH Fresh limes, lemons and oranges are the most important garnishes, appearing in scores of cocktails. You should also source a good brandied or preserved cherry, olives, and cocktail onions. MIXERS Single-serve portions of carbonated beverages are best for the home bar—no one likes a cocktail made with flat soda. The independent brands of tonic water, ginger beer, soda water and cola found in specialty supermarkets tend to come in smaller containers—and they taste better, too. I recommend Fentimans. GLASSWARE Different cocktails require different types of glasses. You’ll need three different styles to get started: a stemmed Martini glass for stirred drinks served without ice, an Old Fashioned glass for cocktails and spirits that are served on the rocks, and a highball (or Collins) glass for cocktails that have either juice or soda added to them and tend to be lighter and more refreshing. REFERENCE GUIDES A good book will help take your skills to the next level. The Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique by Jeffrey Morgenthaler is the best on the market, and popular with professionals. It covers all the essentials in depth, and provides recipes for every occasion. Justin Taylor is bar manager at Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar, Vancouver.

Issha Marie and Alison Page photo

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THE BURRARD GIMLET

A fresh twist on a classic

1.5 oz Gillespieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sin Gin 0.5 oz Green Chartreuse 0.5 oz wildflower honey water (1:1 ratio) 0.75 oz fresh lime juice 3 dashes Bittered Sling Lem-Marrakech Bitters 1 pinch Vancouver Island Sea Salt Mist of Okanagan Spirits Taboo Absinthe

Combine all ingredients (minus Taboo Absinthe) in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake vigorously for 15 seconds and fine strain to a half-rimmed Vancouver Island Sea Salt cocktail glass. Using an atomizer or mister, spray a fine amount of absinthe over the glass for aromatics. Garnish with a lime twist. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;by Justin Taylor

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Room at the top BAR MANAGER PETER VAN DE REEP SEEKS OUT SPIRITS THAT ARE A CUT ABOVE At “Upstairs” at Campagnolo, the intimate restaurant and bar above Campagnolo’s Main Street location, you don’t have to reach for the top shelf to find a choice selection of spirits. Bar manager Peter Van de Reep prides himself on eschewing the entry level Bourbons that can be found at any lounge or hotel bar—in favour of stocking more complex offerings. He shares a commitment to supporting local, sustainable products with Campagnolo’s Executive Chef Robert Belcham, and also brings in the best of B.C.’s spirits and aperitifs. “We’re trying to go a step above,“ says Van de Reep. “So you use spirits that most people aren’t using in their well. And it means you get an obviously better cocktail.”

He began his cocktail education as a serious student of the bar, poring over books and studying the techniques of Vancouver cocktail legends Jay Jones, Chris Mason Sterns and Christopher Flett.

different cocktail recipes swirling around in his head, drawing on them to get to the root of what each customer wants when they walk through the door. “It’s like a flow chart,” he says with a grin. “You ask somebody if they want a boozy and rich drink, or if they want something more refreshing or easy going, and you sort of narrow it down from there.” Or, you can just ask him for a recommendation. This winter, he’s excited about the Amaro Abano bitters from Italian liqueur company Luxardo. He built his Mile Zero, a wintry take on a Boulevardier, around them, incorporating American rye, and vermouth from Vancouver’s Odd Society Spirits. “It almost smells like a really high-end cologne,” he laughs. “It has really complex aromas of cedar and other fragrant woods and spices. I don’t wear colognes, but every once in a while you come across one where you’re like, “Wow, that’s an incredible scent.’ This is one that you can actually drink, and it’s delicious.”

Van de Reep now keeps upwards of 100 Upstairs at Campagnolo, 1020 Main St., 604-484-6018, Facebook.com/CampUpstairs, @CampUpstairs

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Delta rising AT G&W DISTILLING, STEPHEN GOODRIDGE HAS BIG PL ANS Stephen Goodridge built G&W Distilling’s Delta-based distillery himself. From scratch.

“I’m a mechanical engineer by training. I wanted to do it myself,” he says, as if nothing could be easier. He moved to Vancouver 14 years ago, leaving his native Barbados—and the rum distillery he had built and run—behind. When

the B.C. distilling laws changed in 2013, he left a senior position with the Mark Anthony Group to start making his own liquor. His first product, Sid’s Vodka, was ready by early 2014 and, 18 months later, is stocked at some 50 retail stores across Vancouver. It’s also the house pouring vodka at Vancouver’s Pidgin and Mission restaurants.

He followed Sid’s with Silverdawn, a higher end vodka that hit the ground running, picking up a silver award at the 2014 International Wine and Spirits Competition. It’s served at several hotel bars including Hawksworth and the Fairmont’s Pacific Rim and Chateau Whistler. Years of developing brands with mass-market appeal have given Goodridge a nose for what works. So he wasn’t certain when liquor store owners started encouraging him to move into gin. “I had this sense that while, if asked, people will say they like the idea of drinking gin, they don’t actually like the taste.” For G&W’s first gin, Tempo Renovo, he decided to tweak the recipe, holding the juniper back and pushing the fruit forward. “Renovo means refreshment,” he explains. “I wanted to make a gin that was a little more drinkable.” Connoisseurs fear not: Goodridge is already planning further variations on his Tempo line—one with a more aggressive, high juniper content, and another, more laid back, cucumber-style. For his first move into brown liquor, he called on his experience making rum: G&W’s Mapleshade

Repose is an artisanal rested spirit aged in American and French oak—basically a young whisky, popped from the cask earlier than the requisite three years. “We can’t call it a whisky, but even real Scotch drinkers are liking it—it’s similar in style to an Irish whiskey,” he notes. With a supplier of rye confirmed, he says there will be a Sid’s Rye coming later and, potentially, a “very high end” rye vodka. “Hopefully we can really grow this business,” he says. “I’m out doing tastings every week, and I know our products are hitting the mark.”

G&W Distilling, Unit 8-7167 Vantage Way, Delta, 604-376-0630, sidsvodka.com, silverdawn.ca

Hotel Georgia photo

Out of the past The Alchemist

RAISE A GL ASS TO THE RESURRECTION OF THE VANCOUVER COCKTAIL

by Joanne Sasvari

in, sweet vermouth, Bénédictine and orange bitters. It sounds simple, but so do many of the world’s legendary cocktails. And the Vancouver Cocktail deserves to be recognized among the classics.

Katie Huisman photo

LEFT: The Hotel Georgia (pictured), the Sylvia and the Waldorf all created signature cocktails in the 1940s and ’50s. ABOVE: Steve Da Cruz dug into city archives to find the Vancouver Cocktail recipe. RIGHT: The Sylvia Hotel was granted Vancouver’s first cocktail lounge licence in 1954.

Rob Newell photo

THE VANCOUVER COCKTAIL JOINS A LEGION OF FORGOT TEN DRINKS THAT HAVE RECENTLY BEEN REDISCOVERED BY DOGGED COCKTAIL HISTORIANS

What’s that, you say? Never heard of YVR’s hometown cocktail? You’re not alone. The Vancouver Cocktail joins a legion of forgotten drinks that have recently been rediscovered by dogged cocktail historians. In this case, that historian was bartender-turnedconsultant Steve Da Cruz. “It actually found me,” he recalls. In 2006, Da Cruz was working in a Gastown bar, back when Vancouver’s most historic neighbourhood was pretty much a wasteland for anyone searching for a proper drink.

Gastown’s Gassy Jack statue. “He’s a character,” Da Cruz says. “He’s got this thick Scottish brogue, and dresses like a cowboy.” He also knows his spirits. He found a kindred soul in Da Cruz, and would bring him gifts of vintage spirits and equally vintage stories. Among them was the tale of the Vancouver Cocktail. “He brought me the recipe one day on a napkin and said, ‘This is what we used to drink at the Sylvia Hotel,’” Da Cruz recalls. “So I made it, and it was delicious.”

Then, one day, Josiah Bates walked in. Bates, now in his 80s, had grown up in Scotland. In the 1950s, he moved to Vancouver, where he joined the fire department, then was ordained as a prison minister, and eventually became a partner in the OK Boot Corral store near

Intrigued, Da Cruz dropped by the West End’s iconic hotel to ask about the cocktail. “And nobody knew what I was talking about,” he says. So he headed over to City Hall, where he found that, in 1954, the Sylvia Hotel was the first establishment in Vancouver

THE VANCOUVER COCKTAIL WAS RUMOURED TO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE MYSTERIOUS 1959 DEATH OF ACTOR ERROL FLYNN

to be granted a cocktail lounge licence. The Vancouver Cocktail was created in celebration: a fragrant, fruity-spicyherbaceous white-spirit concoction that was surprisingly deep, rich and complex. A contradictory affair, it was indeed a bit like Vancouver itself.

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Hotel Georgia photo

The Sylvia wasn’t the only hotel in the city with a signature cocktail. A decade earlier, the Hotel Georgia had created a delicately aromatic sour as its namesake tipple. The Waldorf Hotel, too, had a house cocktail

that was so popular customers would phone in and have it delivered to them when they were out on the town. What people loved, Da Cruz notes, were its six extravagant garnishes. “It was more about the snacks.” By the early 1960s, last call had rung for these classic cocktails. What killed them is up for debate. Trendy Tiki culture took its toll. So did the increasing popularity of vodka and wine. It didn’t help that the rebellious mood of the 1960s rejected anything that went before as square and, worst of all, old. In the case of the Vancouver Cocktail, perhaps it was the rumour that an excess of the drink may have contributed to the mysterious 1959 death of actor Errol Flynn. Luckily for us, the Vancouver Cocktail has been dusted off again, just like the long-lost Vieux Carré in New Orleans and the Hanky Panky at London’s Savoy Hotel. Today, all these classic cocktails can once again be enjoyed in the cities where they were invented. The Vancouver Cocktail is a terrific drink. But more than that, it is a taste of history in a glass—no small thing in a city that tends to forget it even has a past worth preserving. As Da Cruz says happily, “It’s an interesting story, filled with ill repute.”

SWEET GEORGIA

The recipe for the Hotel Georgia Cocktail was discovered in the hotel archives during renovations in 2011.

Joanne Sasvari is a Vancouver-based writer who covers food, drink and travel for a variety of publications, including a weekly drinks column for the Vancouver Sun.

Laura McGuire photo

THE VANCOUVER COCKTAIL T he Sylvia Hotel’s signature cocktail was created in 1954

1.5 oz London Dry style gin such as Victoria Gin or Long Table Gin 0.75 oz sweet vermouth such as Punte E Mes or Odd Society Bittersweet Vermouth 0.25 oz or “a good splash” of Benedictine liqueur 2 dashes of orange bitters

Place all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and stir well. Strain into a chilled Martini glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon peel. —Original recipe from the Sylvia Hotel

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The cocktail concierge JUSTIN TAYLOR HAS CREATED A SERIES OF DRINKS DESIGNED TO CELEBRATE VANCOUVER For bar manager Justin Taylor, a cocktail list should be, “fun, approachable, and unpretentious.” After seven years at Yew Restaurant in the Four Seasons, Taylor took a short hop across town to take charge of the bar at Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar in the Sutton Place Hotel—jumping at the chance to build a drinks program from the ground up. Putting together his signature list, Taylor decided to tell the story of Vancouver through cocktails: from the Lost Lagoon to the Van Dusen Sour, his creations are designed to take his customers on a journey. “I’m like another concierge in the hotel,” he smiles. “And the conversation around the bar becomes organic. It’s a great way to introduce guests to what the city has to offer, and hopefully entice them to try something new. ”

For him, a new cocktail begins with a good name: “It’s always the name first— does it make sense? Then I hit on the spirit, and from there I build the rest of the components.”

He’s most proud of the Gerard—named after the Sutton Place’s iconic bar—called one of the 101 best new cocktails by worldrenowned authority, Gary Regan. With an Islay Scotch base, the Gerard also boasts maraschino liqueur, Fernet-Branca and cherry bitters. “It was challenging to build,” Taylor admits. “It’s hard to mix Islay whisky because the smokiness is so deep and strong.” They may offer a way in to the city’s streets, but these are hardly pedestrian drinks: the Chief Skugaid—named for an infamous rum ship that ran out of Vancouver—utilizes forest tea tincture and chai and lavenderinfused maple syrup; the savoury Chinook features dill, celery bitters and a toasted caper garnish. Taylor’s dream is to take his list on the road. “Imagine if we rented a trolley bus and mixed and served the cocktails as we hit each destination,” he grins. “Now, that would be cool.”

Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar, 845 Burrard St., 604-642-2900, Facebook.com/blvdyvr, @blvdyvr

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Urban legend HOW ONE OKANAGAN MAN’S HOBBY BECAME A SERIOUS BUSINESS Mike Urban had a booze habit. Making it, that is. After tinkering with homemade beer and wine, he felt that the next logical step could be distilling.

The big leap came in 2009 when, on a trip to France, he happened to visit a Cognac distillery. He immediately identified an opportunity in the Okanagan. At the time, there were plenty of wineries and breweries but no distilleries. Within eight months of returning, he had British Columbia’s first

craft distillery up and running. The lightning speed timing was crucial. “If I figure out something good, I go for it quickly before can talk myself out of it,” Urban admits. The licensing only took a couple of months. Now it takes over a year. Despite a fairly easy start, the challenges have come since. He has to deal with six different tax agents in Canada, and all the associated paperwork. He also has a lot more competition. While there are only 60

distilleries in Canada, twothirds of these are in B.C. Another game changer: the craft distillery license now stipulates that the base alcohol must be made exclusively with raw ingredients grown in B.C. That meant Urban had to drop producing his own favourite tipple—rum. With plenty of local grains and fruit available in the Okanagan, Urban Distilleries offers a range of vodka, gin, whisky and fruit brandies. None are intended to be carbon copies of better-known brands, but to make their own mark. In particular, his infused vodkas, with natural flavourings such as vanilla bean, lemon grass and habanero pepper, are putting the distillery on the map. The Spirit Bear Gin is also a hot seller. It’s a unique combination of floral, citrus, lavender and apple. “I wanted to make a gin that was very much the flavours and aromas of the Okanagan.” The Urban Single Malt Whisky is especially novel.

It’s actually bottled with a chunk of oak barrel to encourage further development of the spirit in the bottle. “Being a craft distiller we can do things that you can’t do at a big commercial distillery.” As if making the stuff isn’t enough, Urban Distilleries also offers five-day workshops for people who want to open their own distillery. They just received a winery license as well and have plans to produce mead, the original honey wine. Based on Urban’s track record, it’ll be ready for sale in no time.

Urban Distilleries, #6-325 Bay Avenue, Kelowna, 778-478-0939, urbandistilleries.ca, @spiritbearvodka

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Thinkstock photo

Whisky galore! B.C.’S FLEDGLING INDUSTRY PREPARES FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE

by Shawn Soole

WHISKY IS ONE OF THE MOST REVERED AND VARIED DRINKS IN THE WORLD, BUT ONLY A HANDFUL OF LOCAL MAKERS HAS HAD THE OPPORTUNIT Y TO PRODUCE ENOUGH TO BOT TLE FOR THE MARKET

LEFT: Whisky is set to be the next boom in B.C. spirits. BELOW: The small batch Laird of Fintry single malt is distributed by annual lottery.

fter just five years in business, British Columbia’s distillers have already confronted some mighty challenges. For one, it takes years of practice to make a quality product. Plus, craft liquor is expensive—not only for consumers at the till but for makers at the still. From the moment the barley seed is planted to the time it’s poured from the barrel and bottled, small batch spirits are time and labour intensive.

Supplied photo

It’s especially tough in this province for craft distillers to make a buck. Government regulations use the “craft distillery” designation to add value to agricultural products; in this way, these liquors are no different from cottage-crafted cheese or farm-gate preserves. To employ the “craft” designation, provincial legislation requires distillers to use only local ingredients. “This creates some challenges,” says Matt Phillips, of Victoria’s Phillips Fermentorium Distilling Co. The upside,

he’s quick to point out, is that accompanying tax breaks “give distillers the incentive to create an authentic local product.” Phillips has been receiving praise for his locally sourced craft beers for years, but less well known is that he’s also held a distilling licence since 2007. After some small-scale experiments, he’s put down a first batch of whisky, which raises yet another challenge: aging. Whisky is one of the most revered and varied drinks in the world, but only a handful of local makers has had the opportunity to produce enough to bottle for the market, or to age it long enough to capture high industry praise. (The handful of artisans making gin and vodka—first on Vancouver Island and in the Interior, now throughout the province—don’t experience quite the same time pressure.) Phillips Fermentorium is now part of a larger country-wide trend. Small-production single malt and blended whiskies as a whole have surged in the last

THE DIRECTION OF WHISKY COMING FROM THE FERMENTORIUM IN THE NEXT DECADE IS GOING TO BE EXCITING. EXCITING, TOO, WILL BE THE BREADTH AND DEPTH OF ITS COMPETITION

Supplied photo

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few years in Canada, thanks in part to forgiving rules such as having to age for only three years. Nonetheless, the whiskies made by some of the oldest distilleries in the province—among them Okanagan Spirits, Merridale Estate Cidery, Victoria Spirits and Urban Distilleries (the first to market)—are very good, varying in style from Pemberton’s Organic Single Malt, the lightest in B.C., through to the deep and nuanced Merridale Whisky Jack’s, finished in apple cider brandy casks.

40 Urban Distilleries’ single malt was B.C’.s first.

The latter is made by Merridale Estate Cidery, which, despite having only been open since 2007, is one of the Island’s oldest distilleries—an advantage of time that has allowed proprietor Rick Pipes to experiment with a classic eau de vie, the colourless fruit brandy distilled from fruit other than grapes. He incorporated that experiment with organic barley— from B.C., of course—producing a small run (only 333 bottles) of Whisky Jack’s. Malting grain has always been a major expense, and was a big

reason behind Phillips recently installing a malting plant onsite in Victoria. “Well, it dovetails well into our whisky plans, as it allows us to use grains grown here on the island, giving us a real connection to place,” he says. Along with a wide assortment of barrels, the direction of whisky coming from the Fermentorium in the next decade is going to be exciting. Exciting, too, will be the breadth and depth of its competition. From Sheringham in Sooke laying down a red fife whisky and Granville Island’s Liberty releasing its first aged whisky this year, to the yearly releases of Laird of Fintry from Okanagan Spirits and Pemberton Distillery’s Organic Single Malt, to Shelter Point’s upcoming releases, the British Columbian whisky trade is only gaining momentum. It won’t be long before the rest of Canada is tasting the full breadth of our terroir and style. Shawn Soole is an award-winning bartender. Based in Victoria, he’s also a writer and consultant.

Shawn Soole photo

TELL ME WHAT YOU WILL Showcasing local ing redients in a classic style

50ml Merridale Whisky Jack 20ml Odd Society Bitter Sweet Vermouth 10ml Merridale Apple Cider Brandy Dash of Bittered Sling Suius Cherry Bitters

Stir all ingredients and strain into a small coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;by Shawn Soole

One of a kind, hand-crafted seasonal cocktails showcase the best Vancouver Island products. The bar program highlights the region’s bounties with an impressive list of B.C. distilleries, breweries and wineries, as well as rare Canadian and American whiskeys. Open seven days a week, 5pm - late 509 Fisgard Street, Victoria, BC (250) 590-8795 | www.olorestaurant.com

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CAN BE HALF EMPTY

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AS LONG AS THERE’S

WHISKY

42 Purveyors of specialty wines, spirits & ales

FOR OUR STORE LOCATIONS, PLEASE VISIT METROLIQUOR.COM

In the latter half of 2014 over 100 licensed establishments across the province were ﬁned or suspended by the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch, resulting in over 300 business days lost to suspensions and almost $400,000 in monetary penalties. Many of these contraventions could have been avoided if staff and management were better informed and trained on BC’s liquor laws. Alcohol & Advocacy is a web-based resource for hospitality and distilling industry professionals who need to stay current on the laws and policies that affect the way liquor is manufactured and sold in British Columbia. British Columbia has a checkered and complex history with the regulation and sale of alcohol. It is a history punctuated by plebiscites, government commissions and reports. 2015 was no exception: some 73 “new” recommendations that will change the way alcohol is sold were endorsed by the government, and a new Liquor Control and Licensing Act was passed. Alcohol & Advocacy is written by Dan Coles, a lawyer and retired bartender with Owen Bird Law Corporation. His blog offers readers

analysis and commentary on British Columbia’s shifting liquor law landscape. Alcohol & Advocacy helps owners and operators stay informed on the laws that affect them most. Understanding British Columbia’s dynamic legal landscape requires perspective. Prior to 1900, B.C. had a notorious saloon culture—bars were open 24/7. British Columbians’ fondness for beer and the more potent ardent spirits prompted the drafting of rules and regulations designed to maintain order. Prohibition came into force on October 1, 1917. The ineffective regime quickly became corrupt, and barely three years later British Columbians rejected prohibition in a plebiscite that resulted in the creation of the system of government control over liquor, which continues today. If you or your establishment is facing regulatory action by the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch, or if you require assistance with contracts, leases or employment matters, contact Dan Coles at Owen Bird. Owen Bird is a full service law ﬁrm based in Vancouver that regularly assists clients with all of their corporate and litigation needs.

Local & Independent since 1969. 604-688-0401 • owenbird.com • bcliquorlaw.com • @liquorandthelaw

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Balancing act SIMON OGDEN ENCOURAGES HIS CUSTOMERS TO PUT THEIR DRINKS IN HIS HANDS Balance. Whether it’s blending the elements of the perfect cocktail or juggling work and play, balance is key. It’s a philosophy bartender Simon Ogden takes to heart, both behind the bar and in life. Ogden left the bright lights of Vancouver behind five years ago for Victoria’s Veneto Tapa Lounge at the Hotel Rialto. There he discovered not only a friendlier, more relaxed pace of life, but the creative freedom to design his own signature cocktail program. “It was the best decision I ever made,” he says. At Veneto, Victoria’s premier cocktail bar, Ogden strives to put the perfect drink in front of his guests every night, inviting them to “spin the wheel” and allow him and his team to create original cocktails based around the guest’s preferred flavour profile.

“When I came up with the idea, I had no idea how it would take off,” he says. “Eighty per cent of the drinks off my bar now are made that way.”

The concept not only allows guests to try something they’ve never had before, but it encourages Ogden and his staff to get creative with the drinks they concoct. “It helps the bartenders from getting bored, and there’s some real flashes of brilliance,” says Ogden. “If I had to make the same 10 drinks over and over again, I’d go insane.” When it comes to making the perfect cocktail, balance takes on many forms. There’s the balance between the flavours of sweet, tart and bitter, between temperature and water dilution, and between spirits and mix. While Ogden relishes the opportunity to create new and innovative cocktails every night, he’s cognizant of the fact that the classics will likely never be improved upon. “They’re classic for a reason,” he says. “For example, I don’t think we’ll ever top the Manhattan. All the flavours are present and accounted for, all of them perfectly balanced.”

Veneto Tapa Lounge, Hotel Rialto, 1450 Douglas Street, Victoria, 250-383-7310 venetodining.com

Smoke on the water EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC OF ISL AY, ONE SCOTCH AT A TIME

The Alchemist

by Lauren Mote

he romantic Isle of Islay in Scotland’s southern Hebrides is best known for its moors, treacherous weather, high seas, early Viking settlements—and, yes, its whisky. For, buried within that dramatic landscape, exists rich soil redolent with peat, and a water supply heavy with briny minerals. No wonder, then, that Islay is home to some of the finest and most distinctive single malts in the world, among them, Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Lagavulin. The unique style and character of Islay’s complex, smoky Scotch attracts aficionados from far and wide, keen to visit the island’s eight distilleries. They come to understand the true meaning of the Gaelic uisge beatha (“water of life”) firsthand.

TOP: Islay is known for its dramatic scenery and changeable weather. MIDDLE: Ardbeg produces the ‘peatiest’ of the Island’s whiskies.

Stock photo

Lauren Mote photo

After a quick and blustery flight from Glasgow to Islay, on our way to tour the island’s famous distilleries, we sported coffee-stained shirts and wide eyes. The air turbulence underscored Islay’s remote location and added an incredible roller-coaster-like excitement to the journey. Soiled clothing notwithstanding, we felt we had traversed a rite of passage in order to reach this far-flung and magical place. Islay represents the alpha and omega of smoked-out spirits, the specialized style originating from the peat bogs—an ancient collection of decayed heather, plants and fungi that nurture the land. Discovering the process of making these unique single malts, connects Islay—and its ancient industry—indelibly with its people.

Stock photo

We had the opportunity to discuss this deep connection between the Ileach community and their land at a local wedding. Not only did every man, woman and child from hither and yon attend the nuptials—Islay’s

BOTTOM: Whisky is the lifeblood of the island.

population is roughly 3,000 (plus 6,000 sheep)—but some of the more sincere and significant conversations I had about whisky during my visit happened here. Teenagers discussed the generations of their families who have been working in Scotch-related industries. Here, the “water of life” is as cherished as the stories that accompany it. On Islay, no two distilleries are the same. Whether it’s the shape of the stills, the water source, or the amount of time the barley spends in a cloud of peat smoke, each expression of whisky here is unique. In the southern Port Ellen area alone, the three 19th century Kildalton Distilleries—Laphroaig, Ardbeg and Lagavulin—although geographically similar, couldn’t be more different. Laphroaig uses heavily peated water from the Kilbride River for its production, along with peat bricks culled from their own bogs on the Glenmachrie Peat Moss. The whisky is cold peat-smoked, and never chill-filtered.

ON A STILL DAY, YOU CAN HEAR THE FLOOR MALTINGS AND BARLEY FLICKING AT L APHROAIG, THE CHIMNEYS OF ARDBEG AND THE SMASHING WAVES AT L AGAVULIN

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Be sure to carry a flask with a wee dram of the local ‘water of life’ on your adventures.

CHIPS AHOY

If I had to describe each of the three Kildalton whiskies as chip flavours (and why not?) Laphroaig would be the Dill Pickle, Ardbeg, the Sour Cream & Bacon, and Lagavulin, the Smoky BBQ. Pair a dram with its respective chip and you’ll see. —LM

floor maltings and barley flicking at Laphroaig, the chimneys of Ardbeg and the smashing waves at Lagavulin. On a clear day, Ireland seems to be within arm’s reach at just 50 kilometres across the water, but, as the rolling thick fog approaches, the horizon is quickly swept away.

Lauren Mote photo

Ardbeg’s lifeline has been a storied affair: epic highs and foreclosure, acquisition, demolition and rebirth. Using the most heavily peated malt than any other Scotch distiller, their “peatiest of all the peats” moniker is worn with pride. Over at Lagavulin, the dry, round and softly-peated whisky is the result of a particularly long distillation cycle. Their 16-year-old Lagavulin—their quintessential expression—is championed by collectors and drinkers alike. On a still day, you can hear the

There’s plenty to do on Islay even if the whisky industry isn’t your focus, but carrying a wee flask from which to enjoy a dram or two of the local Scotch can surely only enhance a stroll through the picturesque landscape, a game of golf, or a visit to the Islay Woolen Mill to hear stories of the kilts made for Mel Gibson’s Braveheart. And any visit should include a walk through one of the island’s graveyards and churches. Here, surrounded by the energy of all those who have gone before, you can almost hear the land trying to whisper its ancient tales into your ear. Lauren Mote is co-owner of artisanal bitters company, Bittered Sling, and bar manager of Uva Wine & Cocktail Bar.

Issha Marie photo. Glassware by Parched Penguin.

LOUP-GAROU

French for ‘were wolf ’ or ‘moondog’ 1.5 oz Johnnie Walker Platinum Label Blended Scotch Whisky 0.5 oz Lagavulin 16-Year-Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 0.75 oz Punt E Mes 0.25 oz Jagermeister Herbal Liqueur 2 dashes Bittered Sling Cascade Celery Bitters 2 dashes Bittered Sling Moondog Bitters 2 dashes Vancouver Island Smoked Sea Salt Water

Put all ingredients in a mixing glass, add ice and stir for only 10 turns. Strain using a Julep strainer over fresh ice in an Old Fashioned glass. Garnish simply with an orange peel. —by Lauren Mote

50 The Alchemist

Terms of endearment {a cocktail glossary}

YOU CAN ORDER A RUM AND COKE LIKE A PRO OR A BOULEVARDIER LIKE A SCHMUCK —THE KEY TO SHOWING YOUR COCKTAIL PROPS IS ALL IN THE LINGO AMARO A generic term for Italian herbal liqueurs, favoured by bartenders for complex cocktails. Famous examples include Averna, Cynar, and Fernet-Branca.

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APERTIF/APERTIVO The European term for a drink or cocktail traditionally taken before a meal to stimulate one’s appetite. The opposite of a digestif/digestivo. Classic examples include Campari, Aperol, Pastis and Vermouth.

BITTERS An alcoholic preparation made with aromatic herbs, roots and/or fruits. Originally created as medicines, they were adapted for use in cocktails and continue to be a key ingredient today. Common brands include Angostura, Peychaud’s and Regan’s. BOSTON SHAKER A shaker that consists of two glass or steel cups that are placed one inside the other and requires a Hawthorne Strainer to be utilized before pouring the cocktail into the glass. The most common shaker with North American bartenders.

BROWN LIQUOR A generic term for whisky, Cognac or other spirits that have a dark hue, often as result of the aging process. In contrast to clear liquor such as vodka or gin. BUY BACK A complimentary drink given by a bartender to a customer usually as a reward for loyalty, good tipping or just general good behaviour. Asking for one, however, automatically disentitles you. CASK STRENGTH A whisky that has a high alcohol percentage that comes straight out of the cask and is not diluted with water. It’s typically in the range of 59-65 per cent. The similar term for high-alcohol gin is navy strength; for rum, it’s overproof. COBBLER SHAKER A three-piece shaker that includes a built-in strainer. The most common shaker with home bartenders, but rarely seen in reputable bars. COUPE A classic stemmed cock-

tail glass typified by its sloping curves. Was popular pre-Prohibition, was thereafter supplanted by the more common martini glass, but is making a comeback. CRUSTA An 18th century cocktail preparation that uses a sugared rim, lemon juice, lemon peel and sugar—and precursor to both the Margarita and the Sidecar. The Brandy Crusta is currently back in vogue. DIGESTIF/DIGESTIVO The European term for a drink or a cocktail taken after a meal to aid in the digestion of a meal. Classic examples include brandy, port, most liquers and the cult classic Fernet-Branca. The opposite of an apertif/apertivo. FERNET-BRANCA An amaro from Italy that’s intensely bitter; its singular herbal taste has made it either loved or hated. Order by asking for a “Fernet.” FINE STRAIN A second strain of a cocktail through a fine sieve to

Old Fashioned amongst others. NEAT A spirit poured straight into a glass with no ice, usually used in reference to whisky. When a spirit is shaken or stirred before being poured into a glass with no ice it’s referred to as straight up (often shortened to simply “up”). ORGEAT A sweet, almond-based syrup used in drinks such as the Mai Tai.

Laura McGuire photo

The mark of a meticulous bartender can be seen in the use of a second, fine strain, to remove any small fragments of fruit or ice after shaking.

remove all particles. Also known as the double strain. The mark of a meticulous bartender.

Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930. The major reference manual for pre-Prohibition cocktails.

FREE POUR When a bartender pours a drink straight from the bottle without the use of a jigger or other measuring device. Loved by customers, hated by good bartenders (and bar owners) for its lack of precision.

HAWTHORNE STRAINER A circular strainer used in conjunction with both the Boston and the French shakers.

FRENCH SHAKER A metal twopiece shaker where both parts fit tightly together, but still requires the use of a Hawthorthe Strainer before pouring. Also known as a Parisian shaker, it’s most popular in Europe. GLENCAIRN A tulip-shaped glass used specifically for tasting/drinking single malt whisky. HARRY CRADDOCK Legendary barman who wrote the seminal

JAPANESE BAR SPOON A long elegant spoon used for stirring drinks, fetishized by bartenders. An example of Japanese obsession with quality in cocktail making. JIGGER A measuring tool for drinks, typically 1.5 ounces. Also refers to the actual measurement of 1.5 ounces, as in, “I’ll have a jigger of rye.” MUDDLE To use a pestle-type object, often referred to as a muddler, to grind and mix ingredients in the bottom of a glass. Used in the creation of the Mojito and the

“PROFESSOR” JERRY THOMAS Legendary 19th century bartender, revered by all drink makers. Author of A Bon Vivant’s Companion, the first serious cocktail book, published in 1862. SHRUB A sweetened vinegar-based syrup once popular in colonial America and resurrected by bartenders, who prize the acidity it brings to modern cocktails. STRAW TASTING The process of a bartender placing a clean straw in the drink, placing his/her finger over it and then removing the straw to hygienically taste to make sure the cocktail is perfect. A sign of exceptional quality control. TWIST A strip of citrus fruit skin. A proper bartender will create a twist to order and then remove any pith to avoid bitterness. A wedge is a larger piece of fruit with both skin and interior; a wheel is a thin, cross-section of fruit. WELL The basic brand of liquor served to a customer if they don’t request a specific spirit by name. “The bar was so good, they used Absolut in their well.”

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B.C. Distillery Listings 1

Ampersand Distilling

Arbutus Distillery

Central City Distillery

Father-and-son team, Stephen and Jeremy Schacht, hand craft their spirits on five acres of organic farmland in the Cowichan Valley, distilling both a signature Ampersand Gin, and a newly released Per Se Vodka from their own 100 per cent organic wheat.

Head distiller Michael Pizzitelli brings both his science background and experience in brewing to Arbutus Distillery’s ever-growing range of botanicalforward spirits. Lemon verbena replaces the traditional orange and lemon rinds in the Empiric Gin; the Baba Yaga Absinthe boasts a “myriad” of homegrown herbs and spices.

The successful B.C. brewers of the popular Red Racer beers, Central City was quick to spot the potential of turning their expertise onto spirits. Their gin and vodka will soon be joined by both a single malt and a rye whisky.

Products: Ampersand Gin, Per Se Vodka Find it at: Vancouver: Legacy Liquor Store; Victoria and Vancouver Island: various liquor stores Tasting Room: No, tours and tastings by appointment 4077 Lanchaster Rd., Duncan, 250-737-1880 AmpersandDistilling.com @ampdistillingco Facebook.com/ampdistillingco

Products: Coven Vodka, Espresso Vodka, Empiric Gin, Baba Yaga Absinthe, Juniperus Lupulus Harvest Hopped Gin, Mulled Brandy Liqueur Find it at: Legacy Liquor Store, most private liquor stores Tasting Room: Yes 1890 Boxwood Rd., Nanaimo, 250-714-0027 Arbutus-Distillery.com @arbutus-distillery Facebook.com/arbutusdistillery

Products: Seraph Gin, Seraph Vodka, Spirit IPA, Spirit of Merlot, Betty’s Vodka Iced Tea Coming Soon: Single Malt Whisky and Rye Whisky Find it at: Legacy Liquor Store, BCLDB, various independent liquor stores Tasting Room: Brew pubs in both Vancouver and Surrey 11411 Bridgeview Dr., Surrey, 604-588-2337 CentralCityBeer.com/distillery @CentralCityBrew Instagram.com/CentralCityBrew Facebook.com/CentralCityBrewing

B.C. Distilleries 4

De Vine Spirits The name says it all: De Vine’s Vin Gin is distilled from grapes (Pinot Gris and Gruner Vetliner), not grain. Clearly an innovative bunch, their latest offering, Honey Shine, brings a touch of the Caribbean to B.C., with a honey-based take on rum. Products: Vin Gin, New Tom Barrel-Aged Gin, Honey Shine Beekeeper’s Reserve, Pomme Barrel-Aged Apple Brandy Find it at: Firefly Fine Wines & Ales, Libations Tasting Room: Yes 6181B Old West Saanich Rd., Saanichton, 250-665-6983 DevineVineyards.ca @deVineVineyards Facebook.com/DeVineVineyards

The Alchemist

spirit Akavit aged in Pinot Blanc wood, a Kentucky-style Moonshine, as well as a pre-mixed vodka iced tea. Products: Rosemary & Olive Gin, Deep Cove Vodka, Apple Pie Moonshine, Sweet Tea Vodka Coming Soon: Barrel Aged Akvavit Find it at: Legacy Liquor Store, Brewery Creek, various private liquor stores Tasting Room: Yes 2270 Dollarton Highway, North Vancouver, 604-770-1136 DeepCoveCraft.com @DeepCoveCraft Instagram.com/DeepCoveCraft Facebook.com/DeepCoveBrewers

Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers This North Shore distillery augments its rosemary and olive-infused gin and awardwinning vodka, with a variety of small-batch seasonal releases. This winter look out for the Scandanavian-style celebratory

Dragon Mist Distillery Using B.C. wheat grown in Dawson Creek, this Surrey-based distiller began with a vodka, before adding a gin and two expressions of baijiu—a Chinese-style hard liquor likened to whisky. Sip it straight up, as you would a high-quality tequila.

Products: Dragon Mist Vodka, Dragon Mist Gin, Dragon Mist Baijiu, Blueberry Liqueur, Coffee Liqueur Find it at: Berezan Liquor Store, Brewery Creek and others Tasting Room: No 213-19138 26th Avenue, Surrey, 604-803-2226 DragonMistDistillery.com 7

Dubh Glas Though whisky is owner Grant Stevely’s true passion, the first signature release from this Oliver-based operation was the small batch Noteworthy Gin, hand-crafted from B.C. barley. There will be Scotch, it just needs time to age. Products: Noteworthy Gin Find it at: Liquor stores across the Lower Mainland Tasting Room: Yes 8486 Gallagher Lake Frontage Rd., Oliver, 778-439-3580 TheDubhGlasDistillery.com

B.C. Distilleries 11

Kootenay Country Craft Distillery Lora and Kevin Goodwin strive to achieve a100-mile philosophy in their spirit production, using organic heirloom wheat, and seasonal flowers and fruits. Their gin and vodka is proofed out with the spring water that runs freely down the Selkirk Mountains.

Fermentorium Distilling Co. Owned by Phillips Brewing Company, Victoria’s Fermentorium has found another use for hops in a liqueur that can be served on ice or as a float in your beer, crafted a collection of tonics for mixing, and infused its Stump Gin with foraged coastal herbs. Products: Stump Gin, Hop Drops Find it at: Metro Liquor Tasting Room: No 2010 Government St., Victoria, 250-380-1912 Fermentorium.ca 9

G+W Distilling Stephen Goodridge has shot out of the distilling gate, already garnering awards and fans with two expressions of vodka, an approachable gin, and a whisky-style rested spirit. Different varieties of gin, another higher-end vodka, and a rye are in his plans. Products: Sid’s Vodka, Silverdawn Vodka, Tempo Renovo Vancouver Dry Gin, Mapleshade Repose

Coming Soon: An apertif Find it at: Private liquor stores across Vancouver Tasting Room: No 7167 Vantage Way #8, Delta, 604-376-0630 SidsVodka.com, SilverDawn.ca 10

Gillespie’s Fine Spirits Friendship, a fun attitude, and a shared love of booze inspired Kelly Woods and John McLellan to start their Squamish-based still. Their spirits are designed to be cocktail-friendly; their website is full of recipe ideas. Products: Gastown Shine Vodka, Sin Gin, Lemoncello, Aphro Chili Chocolate Elixir Find it at: Liquor stores across the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and Whistler Tasting Room: No 38918 Progress Way, #8, Squamish, 604-390-1122 GillespiesFineSpirits.com @gillespies1 Instagram.com/gillespiesfinespirits Facebook.com/GillespiesFineSpirits

Products: Valhalla Vodka, Kootenay Country Gin, Kootenay Country Huckleberry Ginger Cinnamon Vodka, Kootenay Country Elderflower Vodka, Kootenay Country Black Currant, Cucumber And Tarragon Vodka Find it at: Legacy Liquor Store, most private stores in the West and East Kootenays. Tasting Room: Tours and tastings—by appointment for larger groups 7263 Gustafson Rd, Slocan, 250-355-2702 kootenaycountry.ca facebook.com/Kootenay-Country-Craft-Distillery-Ltd

B.C. Distilleries 14

Long Table Distillery Gin is at the heart of Long Table, with London dry-style, cucumber and bourbon barrel-aged varieties fueling its many awards. This downtown Vancouver distillery also produces vodka, as well as seasonal liqueurs such as akavit.

Legend Distilling

The Alchemist

Repurposing a former doctor’s office on the Naramata Bench, Dawn and Doug Lennie created their craft distillery together, drawing on the local bounty of the Okanagan for the base and flavours of their gin and vodkas. Their spiked cold brew coffee liqueur uses Summerland’s Backyard Beans.

Products: Shadow in the Lake Vodka, Doctor’s Orders Gin, Blasted Brew Spiked Coffee Liqueur, Defender Island Smoked Rosemary Gin, Slowpoke Fruit Infused Vodkas Find it at: Brewery Creek, Burrard Liquor Store, Crosstown Liquor Store, Darby’s, Firefly Fine Wines & Ales, Grandview Liquor Store, Legacy Liquor Store, Steamworks Beer and Wine Shop, Value on Liquor Tasting Room: Tours and tastings by appointment 3005 Naramata Rd., Naramata, 778-514-1010 LegendDistilling.com

@legendnaramata Instagram/legendnaramata Facebook.com/legendnaramata 13

The Liberty Distillery With prime real estate on Granville Island, Liberty is open for tours, tastings and daily drinks in their cocktail bar. With a mission that strives to produce the finest spirits possible, using the finest local products, Liberty produces vodka, different expressions of gin, and various whiskies—both white and barrel-rested. Products: Truth Vodka, Endeavour Gin, Endeavour Origins Gin, Endeavour Pink Gin, Endeavour Old Tom Gin, Railspur No. 1, Railspur No. 2, Railspur No. 3 Find it at: Liquor stores across the Lower Mainland Tasting Room: Yes 1494 Old Bridge Road, Granville Island, Vancouver, 604.558.1998 thelibertydistillery.com facebook.com/TheLibertyDistillery @TLDistillery

Products: Cucumber Gin, London Dry Gin, Bourbon Barrel Aged Gin, Texada Vodka, Coming Soon: Rotating Seasonals: Langbord Akvavit, Amaro No. 1 – Linnaeus, Tradizionale Limoncello, Marc Du Soleil Find it at: Legacy Liquor Store, BCLDB, Darby’s Liquor Store Tasting Room: Yes 1451 Hornby St., Vancouver, 604-266-0177 LongTableDistillery.com @LT_Distillery Instagram.com/longtabledistillery Facebook.com/LongTableDistillery

Maple Leaf Spirits Originally from Germany, Jorg Engel embraced the Okanagan spirit, creating a range of fruitbased liqueurs and brandies, as well as a variety of grappas,

B.C. Distilleries produced from distilling the skins and seeds of grapes, after the local wineries have extracted all their juices.

Products: Fruit Liqueurs, Canadian Kirsch, Pear Williams, Italian Prune, Aged Italian Prune, Grape Spirits Find it at: Pacific Spirit Liquor Store, Legacy Liquor Store Tasting Room: Yes 948 Naramata Rd., Penticton, 250-493-0180 MapleLeafSpirits.ca @MapleLeafSpirit 16

Merridale Estate Cidery

Odd Society Spirits

Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery

Moving from cider to spirits proved an obvious continuation for this Vancouver Island business. The experienced cider house applied their traditional fruit focus to distilling, creating a range that includes gin, fruit brandies, a rested whisky, and even a carbonated vodka.

This East Vancouver distillery was built in a former motorcycle garage, and is deep in the heart of East Side craft beer country. Its three founding self-described “odd” owners are busy producing different expressions of gin, vodka and both white (unaged) and single malt whiskies.

A family-owned award-winning distillery with a wide range of products to its name, including an absinthe, and both rye and single malt whiskies. Tours and tastings are available in both its Kelowna and Vernon locations.

Products: Cowichan Vodka, Cowichan Gin, Stair’s Pear Brandy, Cowichan Cider Brandy, Blackberry Mure Oh, Apple Oh de Vie, Winter Apple Cider, Cowichan Copper Gin Find it at: Various liquor stores across the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the Interior Tasting Room: Yes: each tasting is $5 and all proceeds go to local charities

Products: East Van Vodka, Wallflower Gin, Crème de Cassis, White Rye Mongrel, Odd Bird Barrel Aged Vodka, Canadian Single Malt Casks Coming up: Salal Gin Find it at: Firefly Fine Wine & Ales, Point Grey Beer & Wine Store, and other liquor stores in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island Tasting Room: Yes

PO Box 358, 1230 Merridale Rd., Cobble Hill, 250-743-4293 MerridaleCider.com @merridalecider Facebook.com/MerridaleCider

1725 Powell St., Vancouver, 604-559-6745 OddSocietySpirits.com @OddSpirits Instagram.com/oddsocietyspirits Facebook.com/oddsocietyspirits

Products: Fruit Liqueurs, Gin, Vodka, Rye Whisky, Taboo Genuine Absinthe, Eau de Vie, Laird of Fintry Single Malt Whisky, Aquavitus, Master Distiller Series Whiskies, Marc (Grappa Style), Bittered Sling Bitters Coming Soon: Spirited Dinners, where the menu is paired with craft cocktails Find it at: Legacy Liquor Store, BCLDB Tasting Room: Yes 5204 24th St, Vernon, 250-549-3120, 267 Bernard Ave, Kelowna, 778-484-5174 OkanaganSpirits.com @okanaganspirits Instagram.com/OkanaganSpirits Facebook.com/okanaganspirits

B.C. Distilleries 19

Old Order Distilling Company A biologist and a former finance expert respectively, Graham Martens and Naomi Gabriel now own and operate a fine Mueller copper still from Germany. The Penticton distillery takes barley from Vanderhoof, malts it in Armstrong, then distills it with spring water from Anarchist Mountain. Products: Heritage Vodka, Legacy Gin Coming Soon: Genesis Whisky in 2018 Find it at: Legacy Liquor Store Tasting Room: Yes 270 Martin St., Penticton, 778-476-2210 OldOrderDistilling.ca @OldOrder_Spirit Facebook.com/OldOrderDistillingCompany

The Alchemist

Pemberton Distillery Master distiller Tyler Schramm uses local organic Pemberton potatoes as the base for his extensive range of spirits and liqueurs—including his homage to the humble spud that fuels his business, the Kartoffelschnaps. Products: Schramm Vodka, Organic Absinthe, Schramm

Gin, Barrel Aged Apple Brandy, Special Reserve Apple Brandy, Kartoffelschnaps, Pemberton Valley Single Malt Whisky, Hemp Vodka, Byron’s Organic Coffee Liqueur, Blueberry Liqueur, Hazelnut Liqueur, Plum Liqueur, Strawberry Liqueur, Whisky & Honey Liqueur, Pure Organic Vanilla Extract Coming Soon: Cask Whisky Find it at: Legacy Liquor Store, Liberty Wine Merchants, Brewery Creek, Firefly Fine Wines & Ales Tasting Room: Yes 1954 Venture Pl, PO Box 76, Pemberton, 604-894-0222 PembertonDistillery.ca @pembydistillery Instagram.com/pembydistillery Facebook.com/pemberton.distillery 21

Shelter Point Distillery Rather than rush their whisky to market, this Vancouver Island team is waiting for the first batch of their single malt to reach its best. In the meantime, customers can enjoy their Still Master single malt vodka. Products: Still Master Vodka Coming Soon: Shelter Point Distillery Single Malt Whisky, Aged Custom Blended Whiskies, Maple Liqueur Find it at: Vancouver island liquor stores, a few select stores in Vancouver Tasting Room: Tours and tastings available spring through fall 4650 Regent Rd, Campbell River, 778-420-2200 shelterpointdistillery.com @ShelterPoint facebook.com/ShelterPointDistillery

Sheringham Distillery James MacIsaac was a successful chef before he turned distiller, and he brings his local, sustainable attitude towards food to his small batch spirits. Coastalbased on Vancouver Island, Sheringham includes handharvested local kelp among the botanicals in its Seaside Gin. Products: William’s White, Sheringham Distillery Vodka, Seaside Gin Find it at: Across Vancouver Island liquor stores Tasting Room: Visits and tastings by appointment only 2631 Seaside Dr, Shirley, 778.528.1313 sheringhamdistillery.com facebook.com/sheringhamdistillery

B.C. Distilleries 24

Urban Distilleries A trip to France and an unplanned tour of a Cognac distillery put Mike Urban on the path to making his own liquor. Now owner of the largest distillery in the province, Urban has collected several international awards for his spirits. Products: Spirit Bear Vodka, Spirit Bear Gin, Spirit Bear Espresso Infused Vodka, Urban Single Malt Whisky, White Bear Whisky, Grappa Moscato, Calvados, Kirsch Coming Soon: Fruit Liqueurs Find it at: Legacy Liquor Store, BCLDB, Darbyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Liquor Store Tasting Room: Yes 325 Bay Avenue #6, Kelowna, 778-478-0939 UrbanDistilleries.ca @SpiritBearVodka Facebook.com/urbandistilleries

Sons of Vancouver James Lester and Richard Klaus hail from northern B.C., but named their small distillery for Vancouver to emphasise their philosophy of keeping as local as possible. They say their amaretto, sweetened with B.C. blackberry honey, is a tribute to their mothers.

Products: Amaretto, Vodka, Chili Vodka Coming Soon: Barrel Aged Amaretto Find it at: Legacy Liquor Store Tasting Room: Yes 1431 Crown St. North Vancouver, 778-340-5388 SonsOfVancouver.ca @sonsofvancouver Facebook.com/SonsOfVancouver

B.C. Distilleries 25

Von Albrecht & Associates Founder Marcus Von Albrecht was an award-winning chef when he started the company. The XFour vodka range is distilled from rye and corn in Vernon; the lemonade base for their coolers is made from Von Albrecht’s great-grandfather’s original recipe. Products: XFour Vodkas, Percy’s Old Fashioned Lemonade Vodka Coming Soon: Bremner’s Blueberry Vodka, Xoxolat Chocolate Cocktail Find it at: Various Vancouver private liquor stores Tasting Room: No 25

Victoria Spirits

The Alchemist

Launched in 2008, Victoria Gin is now a nationally-recognized brand, the image of a youthful Queen Victoria gracing bottles on bars across the country. Their first small batch, limited release whisky was launched in early 2015.

Products: Victoria Gin, Oaken Gin, Left Coast Hemp Vodka, Craigdarroch Whisky, Twisted Bitters Coming Soon: A brand new distillery in a bigger location under new ownership, with new branding. Find it at: BCLDB, Coal Harbour Liquor Store, Legacy Liquor Store Tasting Room: Not right now 9891 Seaport Place, Sidney, 250-544-8217 VictoriaSpirits.com @victoriaspirits Instagram.com/victoriaspirits Facebook.com/victoriaspirits

2220 Vauxhall Pl., Richmond, 604-273-3445 VonAlbrecht.com 27

Wayward Distillation House Harking bark to the earliest recorded alcohols, Comox-based Wayward starts all its products by first creating mead, an ancient wine made from honey. That pure B.C. honey forms the base, and offers a touch of sweetness on the nose, to these uniquely crafted spirits.

Products: Unruly Vodka, Unruly Gin, Shot in the Dark, Espresso and Cacao Bean Liqueur Coming Soon: Bourbon Barreled Gin, Olympic Krupnik Find it at: Various Vancouver liquor stores Tasting Room: Yes 2931 Moray Ave, Courtenay, 250-871-0424 WaywardDistillationHouse.com @WaywardDH Instagram.com/WaywardDistillation, Facebook.com/WaywardDistillation 28

Yaletown Distilling Company A successful brewery in the heart of the city, Yaletown moved into spirits in 2013, creating gin and vodka with B.C.-grown wheat and barley. Tours and tastings are available onsite. Products: Yaletown Vodka, Yaletown Gin, Yaletown Hopped Gin, Yaletown Mandarin Vodka, Honey Spirit Find it at: Legacy Liquor Store, The Tasting Room, The Distillery Bar Tasting Room: Yes 1132 Hamilton St., Vancouver, 604-669-2266 YTDistilling.com @YTDistilling Instagram.com/YTDistilling

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PROFESSION

Hairdresser

FAVOURITE HAUNT

“Upstairs” at Campagnolo WHAT’LL YOU HAVE?

The Alchemist

Negroni

Quentina Siah “‘UPSTAIRS’ AT CAMPAGNOLO IS SOMEWHERE I’VE BEEN GOING SINCE IT OPENED, AND I FEEL COMFORTABLE THERE ON MY OWN. PETER VAN DE REEP, THE BAR MANAGER, HAS SUCH A PASSION FOR LEARNING ABOUT SPIRITS AND COCKTAILS, I JUST LOVE GEEKING OUT WITH HIM.”

EXPERIENCE the UNUSUAL

CHARM of

HENDRICK’S GIN

OD DLY

INFUSE D

B CUM with ROSE and CU