BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #43 - Long Table Distillery Marc du Soleil

I don’t think we make enough grappas and marcs in BC with such a rich wine culture. The Long table Distillery Clos du Soleil collaboration gives an amazing example of aged Marc. Funky and fruity, tastes like you are drinking a delicious cheese board.

Alcohol - 43% / 86 proof

Color - Light wheat gold

Nose - Dried fruit, quince, pear, apricots, hints of warm oak and funky cheese notes

Taste - Like a liquid cheese board, subtle vanilla backing with dried fruit, quince, hints of funky cheese.

Finish - Soft oak, slight fruit and funk

Best enjoyed - A perfect pairing for the above

Elder Bros. Farms Apple Strudel Schnapps

Alcohol - 30% / 60 proof

Color - Cloudy light yellow

Nose - Stewed apples and spice

Taste - Truly is like apple strudel, stewed apple, cinnamon and spice with hints pastry.

Finish - Stewed apple with spice but clean, no residual sugar

Best Enjoyed - Warm apple cider

BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #42 - Merridale Distillery Cowichan Rhumb

I have gone into depth about BC “Rum” before but wanted to dive in with the Merridale Distillery Cowichan Rhumb. Rich with stone fruit, spicy vanilla and hints of smoky oak. Want to throw this is with classic rums in a blind tasting to see if people can pick it out.

Alcohol - 43% / 86 proof

Color - Light copper with golden edges

Nose - Stone fruit, spiced vanilla and toasty oak

Taste - Stone fruit, smoky vanilla, toasted caramel, hints of oak and spice

Finish - Round vanillas and spicy oak, just a subtle smoke undertone

Best Enjoyed - Neat or in a cocktail calling for calvados

Elder Bros. Farms Elderberry Schnapps

Alcohol - 30% / 60 proof

Color - Deep red

Nose - Medicinal, herbal black berry

Taste - Unique, an amalgamation of all black berries including cherry, herbal almost subtle amaro tones with hints of green leaf and floral notes

Finish - Clean and dry but full of herbal notes, black berries and hint of floral notes

Best Enjoyed - Chilled and sipped after dinner

BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #41 - Gillespie's Raspberry Gin

It’s gorgeous and sunny outside so I thought let’s do a spring time tasting with Gillespie's Fine Spirits Raspberry Gin. Balanced between the gin and real raspberry flavors. Try in a classic Clover Club or on its own topped with Fever-Tree Sicilian Lemon.

Alcohol - 28% / 56 proof

Color - Medium rose pink

Nose - Fresh and underripe raspberries, a hint of green pits, floral notes

Taste - Floral raspberries, fresh and juicy, the gin and flavor is balanced without either taking over. Gin is classic citrusy London Dry style.

Finish - Citrusy gin botanicals with juicy ripe raspberry

Best Enjoyed - In a classic Clover Club or in a highball with Fever-Tree Sicilian Lemon

Elder Bros. Farms Cherry and Honey Schnapps

Alcohol - 30% / 60 proof

Color - Light translucent dark pink

Nose - Spiced cherry, forward and in your face

Taste - Cherry pie filling, slightly spiced, hints of tannic skin, pits and green flavors. Only subtle honey comes through

Finish - Clean cherry, hints of spice and a slight burn

Best Enjoyed - Blood and Sand

BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #40 - Stillhead Apple Brandy

For the 40th episode, I thought I would do a taste off between the two Stillhead Distillery apple brandies that I have. Amazingly similar but different. Love this product from them. The first is heavy vanilla in the finish while the second gives strong tannic apple, floral notes and spice.

#1 Apple Brandy

Alcohol - 40% / 80 proof

Color - Deep burnt orange

Nose - Stewed apple, maple syrup and oak

Taste - Stewed apples, maple syrup, subtle oak but punches of vanilla with hints of spice

Finish - Round with deep cooked apple, maple syrup and subtle oak

Best Enjoyed - Neat or in a cocktail calling for calvados

#2 Apple Brandy

Alcohol - 40% / 80 proof

Color - Medium copper orange

Nose - Burnt maple, spicy oak and complex apple

Taste - Complex apple, brighter tones than the first, more broad apple profile, skin, pulp and floral apple blossoms. The maple is subdued but the spicy rye barrel comes through moreso.

Finish - Bright complex apple flavors with spicy oak and hints of burnt maple

Best Enjoyed - Neat or in a cocktail calling for calvados

Elder Bros. Farms Elderflower and Cherry

Alcohol - 30% / 60 proof

Color - Light translucent pink

Nose - Cherry comes through first with floral elderflower after

Taste - Cherry pie filling, slightly spiced, hints of tannic skin and pits with floral notes of elderflowers

Finish - The cherry and elderflower linger on the palate with no cloying sweetness

Best Enjoyed - Try as a modifier in a cocktail

BC Spirits "Spirit a Day' #39 - Wayward Distillation House Krupnik

A traditional spiced honey liqueur from Poland. The Wayward Distillation House leans into bright orange, complex spice and that beautiful honey that they are famous for. Usually a fall / winter liqueur, I think you should embrace this for summer; add it to your daiquiris and make dark and stormys with it.

Alcohol - 40% / 80 proof

Color - Rich orange copper

Nose - Dry Christmas spice, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg with hints of caramelised honey in the background

Taste - Rich runny honey and honeycomb with those dry spices prickling the palate and then the storn round orange peel giving bright tones in the finish

Finish - Warming spice, bright acidic orange and honeycomb

Best Enjoyed - In a Daiquri or a Dark and Stormy

Elder Bros. Farms Elderflower and Honey Schnapps

Alcohol - 30% / 60 proof

Color - Light translucent yellow

Nose - Fresh elderflower pollen, hints of honeycomb

Taste - Real fresh elderflower, once you taste the real thing, it’s hard to back to the macro stuff. The honey is fresh honeycomb.

Finish - Minimal residual sweetness, floral elderflower and honeycomb

Best Enjoyed - As a base spirit in a cocktail, embrace the schnapps.

BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" Odd Society Society Prospector Rye

I don’t think I have ever had this in a tasting so it was a perfect candidate. Odd Society Spirits Prospector is 100% BC Rye aged in heavily charred American Oak barrels. It’s spicy, complex stone fruit and subtle caramels and vanilla. This is a must have for your classic rye cocktails.

Alcohol - 46% / 92 proof

Color - Light to medium wheat

Nose - Dried apricots, rye spice, hints of sweet vanilla

Taste - The intense complex rye hits you first with floral violets, fresh rye bread, stone fruit and hints of vanilla and caramel

Finish - That amazing spicy rye just lingers on the palate along with vanilla and caramel.

Best Enjoyed - Sazerac or Manhattan

BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #37 - Rathjen Cellars Creme de Cassis

An island contender to compete with the ever popular Odd Society Cassis. The Rathjen Cellars Creme de Cassis is a fortified black currant wine which gives it a unique flavor profile, gorgeous black current, hints of acidity, great in a Kir Royale.

Alcohol - 20% / 40 proof

Color - Dark purple, almost black

Nose - Gorgeous black currents, fragrant and deep

Taste - The taste is different to macerate liqueurs, it’s complex from the making of the black currant wine then being fortified. Giving a broader flavor of black currant with hints of green and great acidity.

Finish - Almost zero residual sugar, bright acidity and left with gorgeous black currant in the finish

Best Enjoyed - Kir Royale

BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #36 - Okanagan Crush Pad Narrative Brandy

This one from Okanagan Crush Pad is their aged Spirit of the Vineyard. Triple distilled and aged for 3 years in neutral French oak. It’s still aromatic, floral and an amazing eau de vie. I hope that have some more laying down with more age.

Alcohol - 50% / 100 proof

Color - Light copper, almost orange

Nose - Aromatic grape notes, subtle oak and vanilla

Taste - Rich oak, gorgeous stone fruit, hints of vanilla and grape blossoms

Finish - Dry, complex but not over reductive oak, hints of spice, cinnamon, cloves and hints of vanilla bean.

Best Enjoyed - Go for a classic sidecar with this one.

Shelter Point Canada One

CanadaOne is named after the distiller’s cut—the purest one percent of a spirit that is achieved for a brief moment at the peak of distillation. To get to that one percent, we use one grain, from one farm, at one distillery. Our vodka is refined and smooth, distilled in a 20 plate column still for maximum purity. With true provenance, we use barley grown right in front of the distillery. Once it’s in a glass, there’s no mistaking it. CanadaOne vodka is as pure as the barley and spring water it’s made from—an unmistakably Canadian vodka.

Alcohol - 40% / 80 proof

Color - Clear

Nose - Taught grain on the nose, barley driven

Taste - Barley driven on the palate, flavorful and rich, not overly processed.

Finish - Mouth filling, complex grain finish

Best Enjoyed - In your favorite cocktails

BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #35 - Sons of Vancouver Coconut Rum

Another "April Fool's" release from the gents over at Sons of Vancouver. I absolutely love the way that they take what most companies would see as an April Fool's prank and actually create it. This is definitely a caramelised honey rum forward spirit at 40%, this is big and then resides to toasty coconut on the finish.

 Alcohol - 40% / 80 proof

Color - Light slightly cloudy off white

Nose - Distinct honey rum with subtle coconut notes

Taste - Rum is first, that honey rum is mouth filling with gorgeous clean caramel notes, then comes the toasted coconut, reminding you of what coconut rum should taste like

Finish - Toasty coconut with that strong honey rum still lingering, hints of sweetness

Best Enjoyed - Pina Colada baby

One Foot Crow Vodka

An easy drinking Vodka smooth and warm. Made from wheat with a kiss of rye. Distilled on the grain to maintain a hint of it’s origins.

Alcohol - 40% / 80 proof

Color - Clear

Nose - Funky grain notes, soft caramel

Taste - Grain forward, definitely get the heavy wheat mashbill. Funky grain, hints of caramel

Finish - A balance of sweet grain with hints of heavy grain. Very flavorful finish

Best Enjoyed - In your favorite cocktails

BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #34 - Legend Distilling Wyatt Whisky

A real rarity in BC, 90% wheat, 10% rye whisky aged in red wine and cherry port casks. Gorgeous palate of spice balanced with nuanced red wine. Great example of innovation from Legend Distilling.

 Alcohol - 46% / 92 proof

Color - Dark translucent copper

Nose - Funky wine notes, spicy wheat tones

Taste - Deep, musty grain, almost barn wood, funky red wine notes and nice rye spice

Finish - Grain forward with hints of rounded red wine

Best Enjoyed - Neat

Okanagan Spirits Vodka

The journey begins with the annual grain harvest, just a few kilometers from our family distillery in Vernon. We then hand-grind, ferment, and distill on-site at both locations (Vernon and Kelowna) using alembic copper pot stills including a state of the art, 50-plate, copper-pot still to ensure absolute purity.

Alcohol - 40% / 80 proof

Color - Clear

Nose - Softer vanilla barley notes, wet concrete

Taste - Mouth feeling subtle vanilla, grain and caramel tones

Finish - Fresh and clean, leaving a malted barley flavor

Best Enjoyed - In your favorite cocktails

BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #33 - Okanagan Spirits Rhubarb Liqueur

It's spring time regardless of the lock down, the Okanagan Spirits rhubarb liqueur just kicks you in the mouth with gorgeous sweet, fresh rhubarb. Deep fruit, but not stewy, bright acidity and a clean fruity finish.  

Alcohol - 24% / 48 proof

Color - Light watermelon pink

Nose - Fresh uncut rhubarb, in the garden, leaf and all

Taste - Gorgeous slightly cooked rhubarb but with fresh, bright acidity. Not overly stewy or sweet

Finish - Fresh rhubarb with amazing acidity

Best Enjoyed - In a spritz

Mad Lab Vodka

Our first released product, our premium vodka is triple distilled through our direct-fire pot still, taking less and less each time, collecting only the best of the "hearts" from each run. Once it has been distilled thoroughly enough, it is then carbon filtered for an incredibly smooth finished product.Mad Laboratory Vodka has a very soft creamy texture to it, with light caramel and toasty notes. Little burn on the front of the palate, warms the throat as it goes down for a beautiful experience.

Alcohol - 40% / 80 proof

Color - Clear

Nose - Light rain on hot concrete, subtle vanilla

Taste - Subtle vanilla, toasty barley and light caramel

Finish - Slight burn, clean note of toasty barley and hints of vanilla

Best Enjoyed - In your favorite cocktails or neat