We chat to Rick Pipes of Merridale Cidery and Distillery about buying a craft cidery when craft cider wasn't a thing and starting to distill in the early days of legislation. Also chat about how many super old barrels of product they have right now, like the 12 year old cherry brandy that we tasted earlier this week.
BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #16 - Moon Distillery Green Shiso Vodka
You may recall I did the Red Shiso Vodka from The Moon Distillery back at “Spirit a Day” #4. It’s sister spirit is completely different, it leans heavily into the green Asian spices that Shiso is known for. Drying, complex spice with a solid smacking of “green”.
Alcohol - 40% / 80 proof
Color - Light but vibrant green
Nose - Musty crushed green leaf, subtle Asian spices
Taste - Straight away punches of Asian spice, reminding me of Singaporean hawker markets, fresh green leaf and hints of citrus
Finish - Leave the mouth full of shiso leaf punch, clean and dry
Best Enjoyed - Love to see this in more cocktails, great cocktail ingredient
Review #41 - Barrel Aged Gins Part 2
The last time I did a barrel aged gin episode, I did 14 which was excessive to say the least. So this time, I wanted to bring 5 gins that each had their own style and taste, from light wood to a wine barrel finished gin. All spectacular, showcasing Stillhead Distillery, Noteworthy, Liberty Distilling, Odd Society Spirits and Resurrection Spirits.
BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #15 - Spirit of Tea Earl Grey Black Tea Gin
Spirit of Tea is a collaboration with Anderson Distillery in Coquitlam and it's a damn tasty infused gin. The gin is pointed and herbaceous while the earl grey tea is floral, aromatic and just the right amount of tannins which are easy to over extract when infusing.
Alcohol - 40% / 80 proof
Color - Light gold
Nose - Subtle vanilla, earl grey tea spice and gentle botanicals
Taste - The gin botanicals (juniper and angelica root) are prancing with the bergamot and earl grey, you can tell it’s a gin first and the infusion second.
Finish - Spicy bergamot and earl grey with clean gin finish
Best Enjoyed - Earl Grey Martini, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg whites.
American Distiller's Institute Craft Spirit Awards
The American Distiller’s Institute announced the winner’s of the 2020 Craft Spirit Awards and Spinnaker’s new distillery along with Victoria Caledonia took home some serious metal. Congratulations to both.
Best of Category
International Liqueur - Spinnakers Chocoholic Creme de Cacao
International Whiskey - Victoria Caledonian Distillery Benrinnes & Glenlossie Speyside STR
Gold Medal
International Whiskey - Victoria Caledonian Distillery Benrinnes & Glenlossie Speyside STR
Silver Medal
International Gin - Spinnakers Botanical Beach London Dry Gin
International Vodka - Spinnakers Breakwater Vodka
International Liqueur - Spinnakers Chocoholic Creme de Cacao
International Whiskey - Victoria Caledonian Distillery Glenloy Single Malt Whisky "Island"
International Whiskey - Victoria Caledonian Distillery Peated Mac Na Braiche
Bronze Medal
International Gin - Spinnakers Navy Strength Gin
BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #14 - Odd Society Salal Gin
Created to mimic the classic sloe gin of the UK, Odd Society uses local indigenous salal berries to impart a gorgeous terroir driven flavor of eating the fresh berries in a West Coast rainforest. This is super seasonal but you have to try it in a BC Chaplin with Maple leaf Spirits Apricot liqueur and lime...equal parts.
Alcohol - 30% / 60 proof
Color - Deep purple almost black
Nose - Unripe blackberries, green leaf and hints of spice
Taste - So terroir driven, it takes you to the rainforest picking the berries. Concentrated blackberry, green seeds and hints of spice
Finish - The berries are in the front palate and the back palate is all classic floral Wallflower Gin
Best Enjoyed - Charlie Chaplin, equal parts Salal Gin, Maple Leaf Spirits Apricot and Lime Juice. Shaken and served up
Mainland Wildrose Whisky
What happens when you cross corn whisky with wild rose petals? If you guessed floral, chocolate sweetness you would be correct. This liqueur has converted more self-professed “non-whisky drinkers” than we have time to shake a stick at.
Alcohol - 25% / 50 proof
Color - Light pink
Nose - Corn whisky with hints of chocolate
Taste - Deep and complex rose with hints of chocolate and corn whisky, a little sprinkling of candied white sugar
Finish - Balanced sweetness with gorgeous floral and corn flavors
Best Enjoyed - Try this as a base with the Peeled and some lemon juice, hint of sugar
BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #13 - Okanagan Spirits Applejack IPA Whisky
A brand new release that I don't think has even gone public yet but it's tasty. Okanagan Spirits takes a citra hopped IPA mash and distill it, then distill an apple eau de vie. They combine 90% of the IPA whisky and 10% of the apple eau de vie and distill once more, then age for 5 years in American Oak. A balancing act of whisky, apple and hops with an amazing subtle vanilla oak backbone.
Alcohol - 42% / 84 proof
Color - Light copper orange with golden edges
Nose - Apple and vanilla hit you first. then hops and whisky
Taste - The whisky is the backbone to this, strong and spicy with the apple, hops and oak all connected and balanced
Finish - Spiciness of the whisky, sweet apple and the punch of grapefruity hops
Best Enjoyed - Neat, but would love to try it in a sour
Central City Peeled Orange Liqueur
Peeled Orange Liqueur is crafted using malted barley and is aged for three years in American oak. Infused with orange peels, this artisanal liqueur has a delicate sweetness and aromatic citrus character. Peeled is perfect on the rocks or in your favourite cocktail.
Alcohol - 44.7% / 89.4 proof
Color - Dark golden orange
Nose - Dried curacao peel, dusty spice jar
Taste - Bright orange peel, dry hoppiness, underlying baking spice and kick of the alcohol
Finish - Whisky forward, then dried curaco peel and then finishes with hints of sweetness and hops
Best Enjoyed - Sub in place for any curacao and triple sec. Ballsy orange pump
BC Spirits 'Spirit a Day" #12 - Long Table Distillery and Deep Cove Craft Pairs of Pears
I am going to be showing off some rarities in the coming weeks and this one is no exception. The super rare Long Table Distillery and Deep Cove Brewers + Distillers collaboration. Oregon Bartlett pears aged in Pinot Noir barrels for 5 years. Perfectly balanced between fruit and barrel, an exceptional drop.
Alcohol - 45% / 90 proof
Color - Deep copper with light orange edges
Nose - Light toasted with rich, complex pear from rich baked pear and bright fresh fruit
Taste - First hit is all pear, a mixture of fresh, baked and caramelized then it flows to the sweetness and toastiness of the Pinot Noir barrel
Finish - Sweet, toasty oak followed by pear skin and hint of vanilla
Best Enjoyed - Neat
Shelter Point Barrel of Sunshine
Perhaps if you saw the sunlight dance on the ocean waves near our farm, you’d wonder too: if you could bottle sunshine, what would it taste like? We thought about it and were determined to find out. Our answer: Sunshine Liqueur. Created in 2016, Sunshine is a small-batch, specialty blend of Canadian spirits and pure Canadian maple syrup coupled with a selection of natural extracts bursting with flavour. We call our signature blend, Orange Spice Maple.
Alcohol - 30% / 60 proof
Color - translucent brown with golden edges
Nose - Deep complex alpine style spices, a little reminiscent of alpine bitters
Taste - Curacao orange peel and burnt maple on the front with sweet alpine style herbs and spices filling the palate
Finish - Orange spice with hints of maple smoke and long baking spice
Best Enjoyed - On the rocks or in a Rusty Nail with any of the Shelter Point Whiskies
BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #11 - Sheringham Distillery Pacific Blackberry Liqueur
Today we taste another brand new release, Sheringham Distillery Pacific BlackBerry Liqueur. Made from local trailing blackberries, this is what blackberry liqueurs should taste like, concentrated berry, bright acidity and rich texture without heavy cloying on the palate.
Alcohol - 23% / 46 proof
Color - Translucent red with pink edges
Nose - Under ripe blackberry on the nose with a hint of alcohol
Taste - Bright and acidic berry flavors with hints of green along with a definite alcohol kick
Finish - Dry with acidity and alcohol removing any cloying sugar, gorgeous blackberries in the length
Best Enjoyed - Kazuki Gin, Blackberry liqueur and lemon juice; splash of simple
Dubh Glas Distillery Sage Advice
Our wildflower honey is collected by a local beekeeper in small batches. The bees collect nectar from the many flowers in the region, such as the bright yellow flowers of the Arrowleaf Balsamroot. The decision to use sage, the key herb in the recipe, was inspired by the aromatic wild sage which grows abundantly on the local hills thanks to the sunny dry climate of the Southern Okanagan. The spirits are then infused for 90 days with the honey, sage and a secret mix of herbs and spices.
Alcohol - 35% / 70 proof
Color - Light golden wheat
Nose - Classic Dubh Glas whisky backbone, hand rubbed sage and honeycomb
Taste - Rubbed sage, Christmas spice and honeycomb with a rich whisky backbone
Finish - The alcohol and spice drys out the honey sweetness, long herbal spice finish
Best Enjoyed - On the rocks or in a Rusty Nail with the elusive Dubh Glas single malt
BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #10 - Honeycomb Cream
I originally wanted to add this into the Whisky Liqueur episode but it came a day or two late. But never fear, Spirit a Day is here. There aren't too many cream liqueurs in the province so this was a great treat, the base is aged whisky with organic botanicals, BC cream and sweetened with honey. It's not overly rich and cloying like most macro made bream liqueurs, it's the perfect balance of cream, honey and the spices they use just take it up a notch. Perfect to add to your coffee in the morning.
Alcohol - 20% / 40 proof
Color - Light chocolate brown cream
Nose - Fresh honeycomb, subtle woody whisky, hints of Christmas spice
Taste - Whisky on the front palate with great spice and subtle almond, honey is predominant but not sweet, nice cream but not overly rich
Finish - Not cloyingly sweet, raw honeycomb with sweet cream to finish
Best Enjoyed - On the rocks, in your coffee or punch up your White Russians
Episode #12 - Davin de Kergommeaux, Award winning Author
Chatted with Davin over the phone about his newly released book, The Definitive Guide to Canadian Distilleries and how it came to be, the hurdles and in general the beauty of craft spirits in the country.
BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #9 - Noteworthy Navy Strength Gin
One of only 2 Navy Strength gins that I know of in the province, the Noteworthy Navy Strength pushes the floral lavender tones of the regular expression to the back of the palate and gives rich citrus flower with, great dry botanicals and that big 57% kick. This is for cocktail makers!
Alcohol - 57% / 114 proof
Color - Clear
Nose - Bright grapefruit peel juniper, citrus blossoms, dusty botanicals
Taste - Rich mouthfeel, pomelo skin, citrus blossom and hints of lavender
Finish - Neverending, pomelo skin with hints of citrus blossom linger long after
Best Enjoyed - Negroni and G&T, this is a cocktail geeks best friend
Review #40 - Whisky Liqueurs
Absolutely love whisky liqueurs like Drambuie (if you watch the episode, you will see my outburst LOL) and with whisky becoming bigger in the province, great whisky liqueurs were bound to happen. Tasted through the Dubh Glas Sage Advice, Shelter Point Barrel of Sunshine (again), Central City's Peeled and the new kid on the block, Mainland Whisky Wild Rose.
BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #8 - Maple Leaf Spirits Italian Prune
I love fruit brandies, the amount of stress that fruit goes through with fermentation and distillation go through to produce such luscious, aromatic distillates. Maple Leaf is one of the best brandy producers in the province if not the country, this example is fragrant, rich and complex with a clean slivovitz finish.
Alcohol - 40% / 80 proof
Color - Clear
Nose - sweet, fresh plums and musty prune
Taste - Rich, musty wooded prunes with balanced plum fruitiness in the back
Finish - Long and balanced, between musty prunes and fresh plums and pits
Best Enjoyed - Neat or in a cocktail, I think this should be used more in cocktail mixing
BC Spirits "Spirit a Day" #7 - Mad Lab Distilling Ulker Raki
My love affair for anisette is as well documented as it should be. I love French anisette, Greek Ouzo, Absinthe and the unusual and rare Raki from Turkey. This is one of the only examples in Canada and it doesn't disappoint. Sweet licorice and dusty anise, like an old timey licorice candy store.
Alcohol - 45% / 90 proof
Color - Clear
Nose - Sweet licorice and earthy anise
Taste - Earthy anise followed by sweet licorice even when mixed with water
Finish - Sweet licorice store, a little dusty anise
Best Enjoyed - Mixed with water 1:2 or 1:3 ratio
San Francisco Spirits Competition Award Winners 2020
The San Francisco Spirits Competition announced it’s winners today and British Columbia really shone through the huge amount of spirits tasted. Click the links to purchase these award winners!
Gold Medal Winners
Esquimalt Wine Company Rosso Vermouth
Macaloney's Caledonian Twa Cask Islay STR- Caol Ila & Bunnahabhain
Macaloney's Caledonian Twa Cask Speyside STR - Benrinnes & Glenlossie
Macaloney's Caledonian Twa Cask Highland STR - Blair Athol & MacDuff
