Canada's only magazine dedicated to distillers, spirits and cocktail culture.
Every Vancouver Cocktail Week has its standouts—the events that industry folks, media, and returning guests keep mentioning in the same breath. This year, the buzz is building around experiences that feel precise, intentional, and culturally distinct. If you’re scanning the schedule for the week’s most coveted tickets, start here.
Want to “do” Vancouver Cocktail Week properly? The secret isn’t a bigger budget—it’s a better map.
The full 2026 calendar is officially live, and while the galas and cocktail-paired dinners are spectacular, there is magic to be found in the masterclasses, parties and neighbourhood crawls that don’t break the bank. We’ve curated the High-Value Edit: a shortlist of world-class VCW events that prove you can stretch your festival dollar without lowering your standards.
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 oz Brij3 Espadin Mezcal
0.5 oz Nakano Shuzo Co’s Citrus Mix Sake
0.75 oz Lillet Blanc
2 tsp Noilly Extra Dry Vermouth
Garnish: Lemon twist
INGREDIENTS
1.5 oz Derrumbes San Lois Potosi infused with corn tortilla (see note below)
1.5 oz Amaro Montenegro infused with charred poblanos (see note below)
Before Vancouver Cocktail Week became the city-wide celebration of sips, spirits, and evenings it is today, it all started much earlier in the day—with a very good idea and an even better drink.
Let’s rewind to January 2020. The original Punch Brunch wasn’t just another brunch—it was the moment Vancouver Cocktail Week came to life. A bold, daytime experiment that signaled something important: this city was ready to treat cocktails with the same creativity, care, and cultural weight as food.
INGREDIENTS:
• 1.25 oz Solmano Mezcal Espadín (either regular or mango)
• 0.75 oz Meletti Amaro (Montenegro is a good alternative)
• 1 oz Acidified Parsnip (see recipe below)
• 15 ml (0.5oz) Mango Coconut Syrup (see recipe below)
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 oz Solmano Mezcal Espadín con Mango
• 1 oz Martini Bianco
• 1 oz Suze (or, for a local option, try Woods Amaro Chario or Victoria Distillers Bitter Bianca)
• Garnish: Grapefruit twist
Davin de Kergommeaux founded the Canadian Whisky Awards in 2010 to boost the awareness and quality of our homegrown spirit, announcing the winners each January during the annual Victoria Whisky Festival.
Sixteen years later, as he prepares to hand the awards over to a new generation of whisky lovers, he describes the state of Canadian whisky as “diverse and robust,” and says: “Canadian distillers are doing stuff that was unheard of even 16 years ago. What we have is something really exciting and really Canadian.”
Ireland’s southern “second city” of Cork has many things going for it, including an easy walkability, a perhaps surprisingly impressive culinary scene and more than a brewery or two of note. For anyone with an interest in Irish whiskey, however, without question its top attraction is the Shelbourne Bar.
The day I stop by Simps Modern Beverage, located in an industrial part of Kelowna, everything is in cheerful chaos. Customers mill around the tiny shop, which is in the process of a makeover; behind the scenes, a small team is furiously packing boxes, answering calls, taking deliveries and sending even more of them out the door, everyone apparently doing at least three things at once.