Canada's only magazine dedicated to distillers, spirits and cocktail culture.
A great bottle of whisky has always been the ultimate holiday gift, but this year Scotch brands are leveling up with immersive whisky experiences that include exclusive tastings, food pairings and even hotel stays. If your whisky tastes run more local, snap up a presale bottle of Sheringham’s rye-forward whisky, coming in 2024: it’s bound to be as stellar as their award-winning gin.
It’s always great to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar space, and so it was when we heard that Emily Vey was leading the bar program at the new(ish) Jungle Room in Vancouver’s West End. You probably remember her from the much-missed Diamond, as well as her thrilling run at the World Class Canada 2023 finals.
My early memories of punch are from college parties—party drinks cobbled together from curious arrays of cheap spirits mixed with saccharine juices and sodas and ladled from whatever vessel was large enough to quench the crowd. A mixing bowl in the best of times, a plastic trash can in the worst.
Nevertheless, we’d gather around, clink glasses and share stories over the ever-flowing bowl.
1.25 cups sugar, plus additional if needed
2 cups water
3 cups (750 mL bottle) Malfy Rosa
3 cups (750 mL bottle) Cocchi Rosa
2 cups lemon juice
3 cups fresh grapefruit juice
2 star anise
2 sticks cinnamon
One lemon, cut into wheels
Garnish: rose petals and your favourite sparkling rosé
5 oz Grey Goose vodka
1.75 oz Lillet Blanc
0.75 oz Strega
2 oz lemon juice
1.5 oz honey syrup (equal parts honey and warm water)
2 oz black wolfberry tea
2 oz cold-brewed jasmine tea
3 oz coconut milk
12 oz Bacardi Ocho
4 oz Rémy Signature Brandy
2 oz Luxardo Amaretto
4 oz fresh lime juice
8 oz pineapple juice
6 oz mandarin syrup (see recipe)
12 oz grapefruit soda
Garnish: edible flowers, dehydrated pineapple, fresh fruit slices or whatever captivates your imagination
If anyone knows what bartenders need, it’s Geoff Dillon, the founder of Dillon’s Small Batch Distillers in Beamsville. Along with his (mostly) rye-based gins, vodka, whisky and canned gin cocktails, he’s also introduced a line of liqueurs made from quality local products and designed to go straight into your cocktail shaker or mixing glass.
Craving a Sazerac? He’s got an absinthe for that. In the mood for a Kir Royale? Yep, there’s a blackcurrant liqueur. Thinking to try your hand at a White Negroni but struggling to find Suze? Try the Dillon’s gentian liqueur instead. And, of course, if you’re searching for an orange liqueur for a Margarita or Sidecar, well, he’s got that, too, along with amaretto, chocolate, coffee, limoncello and peach.
Whistler’s most-lauded new restaurant is fronted by a big, beautiful, boomerang-shaped bar, just as pleasant a place to while away an evening as the plush, shiny dining room: the full menu is available at the bar, and service is superb. Crush a plate of raw oysters with a Martini (there are six on the menu, but ask for one made with Copperpenny 006 Oyster Shell gin), and try creative mixology like the Phoenix, a Lot 40 Rye sipper fortified with Cocchi Americano Rosa and sherry, and topped with Laphroaig for a smoldering, savoury finish. A helpful glossary of “Intriguing Techniques & Ingredients” is your cheat sheet to deciphering some of the complex culinary-bar techniques used here. The B.C. edition of Fernet Hunter (a collab with Endeavor Snowboards) is available here, and would make an amazing amaro caldo on a chilly day.
Watch for: An eye-popping $49 deal this winter for a three-course menu during the week (Sunday through Thursday).
The late afternoon light filters through the window, casting a lazy haze over Main Street’s newest bar, The Watson.
The crew preps for opening, whirring around the dark wood and green leather interior accented with marble and gold fixtures. The space feels simultaneously Parisian yet West Coast, Art Deco yet contemporary.
Bar manager and partner Jordan Coelho says he wanted it to feel like a library and gestures to the apothecary shelf behind the bar that he hopes to deck out with homemade bitters. Their house-blend amaro already sits in pride of place, aging in Woodford Reserve barrels.
As opening approaches, shakers are already ringing out in the capable hands of bartender Thomas Dodds (previously of The Diamond).
