Your chance to taste and discover spirits from 40 distilleries from around the province will be Saturday, April 14 at the annual BC Distilled.
Canada’s biggest artisan and micro-distillery event continues to grow, with 12 new distilleries featured among the nearly four dozen slated to take part in 2018’s festivities.
“British Columbia is the leader in artisan distilling in Canada,” said festival founder Alex Hamer. “BC Distilled is the best opportunity for fans of local spirits to try what the province has to offer, and meet the people who make these great spirits.”
At the public tasting event, attendees will have the chance to sip and mingle, and the opportunity to chat with reps from the 40 distilleries pouring their spirits. Among them will be many of the recently-awarded winners of the Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition, including Odd Society Spirits Mia Amata, Victoria Distillers Empress 1908 Gin, Merridale Cidery & Distillery Cowichan Copper Gin, and Wayward Distillation House Depth Charge–all gold medal winners.
If what you taste compels you to want to add a bottle to your home bar, there will be an onsite Legacy Liquor pop-up shop.
A week prior to the tasting event is the popular Distillers Dinner at Vancouver’s esteemed Forage restaurant. Chef Chris Whittaker will feature six cocktail and spirit samples from BC distilleries, paired with six terroir-based courses.
Here are all 40 of the distilleries participating at the Tasting Event for BC Distilled 2018:
- The 101 Brewhouse + Distillery
- After Dark Distillery Ltd.
- Ampersand Distilling Company
- Bohemian Spirits Ltd
- Central City Brewers & Distillers
- Crow’s Nest Distillery
- De Vine Wines & Spirits
- Deep Cove Distillers
- Dragon Mist Distillery
- The Dubh Glas Distillery
- Fermentorium Distilling Co.
- Gillespie’s Fine Spirits
- Goodridge&Williams Distilling
- Legend Distilling
- The Liberty Distillery
- Long Table Distillery
- Lucid Spirits
- Mad Laboratory Distilling
- Maple Leaf Spirits Inc.
- Merridale Cidery & Distillery
- Monashee Spirits Craft Distillery
- Moon Distillery Ltd.
- Odd Society Spirits
- Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery
- Old Order Distilling Co.
- Resurrection Spirits Inc.
- Roots and Wings Distillery
- Salt Spring Shine Craft Distillery
- Shelter Point Distillery
- Sheringham Distillery
- Sons of Vancouver Distillery
- StillHead Distillery
- Tailored Spirits
- Taynton Bay Spirits
- True North Distilleries
- Tumbleweed Spirits
- Victoria Distillers
- Wayward Distillation House
- The Woods Spirit Company
- Yaletown Distilling Company
Read our expert take on last year’s festival here.
—by Lindsay William-Ross, Vancouver is Awesome