Hendrick’s Gin Old Fashioned

Wildebeest’s Hendrick’s gin variation on the Old Fashioned. Wildebeest photo

Floral, fragrant and refreshing – Josh Pape’s gin-based take on the Old Fashioned has been a huge hit at Wildebeest.

INGREDIENTS:
1-inch cylinder of cucumber, or ½ oz (15 mL) cucumber juice
2 oz (60 mL) Hendrick’s gin
2 tsp (10 mL) runny honey (see note)
2 dashes Scrappy’s lavender bitters
Cucumber slice to garnish (optional)

METHOD:
Muddle the cucumber in a mixing glass. (Alternatively, stir in the cucumber juice with the rest of the ingredients.) Add ice, gin, runny honey and bitters and stir until the drink is well chilled and has reached your ideal level of dilution. Fine strain into an Old Fashioned glass over fresh ice. If you like, garnish with a slice of cucumber. Serves 1.

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Old Fashioned refashioned at Wildebeest

Cocktail-forward restaurant serving nine new takes on the classic for its fifth birthday

Four of the nine variations on the Old Fashioned on the menu at Wildebeest, which include versions made with rum, gin, tequila and bacon bourbon. Wildebeest photo

The Old Fashioned is, arguably, the original cocktail, or at least, the whisky version of it.

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Meet Davin de Kergommeaux, Canada’s rye guy

Davin de Kergommeaux, author of the book Canadian Whisky: The New Portable Expert, published by Appetite by Random House. Photograph By Jen Steele for Appetite by Random House.

Davin de Kergommeaux and I are lounging in the oak-paneled sitting room of Willistead Manor in Windsor, Ont., ancestral home of the Hiram Walker family, sipping rye and, fittingly, talking about Canadian whisky.

“I’ve got a lot of single malt at home, but preferentially, I drink Canadian whisky,” says de Kergommeaux. “I like the rye spices in Canadian whisky. It’s flavourful, well-balanced and enjoyable.”

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It’s time to try Canada’s oldest whisky

Canadian Club 40 Year Old is the oldest whisky ever released by a Canadian distiller

The Canadian Club 40 Year Old whisky, unveiled at the warehouse on Tuesday, Sept. 26, in Windsor, Ont. Joanne Sasvari photo

Only in Canada, you say? Pity. Everyone else will have to travel to the True North to get their hands on the oldest Canadian whisky that has ever been poured.

“In Canadian whisky, you’re never going to find a 40-year-old whisky – not until today,” Tish Harcus tells us as we stand outside the Windsor, Ont., warehouse where row upon row of barrels stand stacked upon each other.

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Sip your favourite movie as a cocktail with VIFF

Lights! Camera! Cocktails!

 

The Winds of Arrakis ‘VIFFtail’ available at Long Table Distillery until Oct. 14, 2017. VIFF photo

Whether it’s the Big Lebowski’s White Russians, James Bond’s Vesper Martini or the French 75s Yvonne knocks back in Casablanca, there’s plenty to drink in when it comes to cocktails and the movies.

So when the Vancouver International Film Festival’s sponsorship manager Morgaine Jennings was looking for a fun new idea for the 2017 festival, which began Thursday, cocktails seemed like the perfect fit.

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Bring Out the Gimlet

Bring Out the Gimlet. Foxtrot Tango Whisky photo

A modern update on an old-school classic: This cocktail was created by Shawn Soole at the new Foxtrot Tango Whisky bar at the Doubletree by Hilton Victoria.

INGREDIENTS:
1½ oz (45 mL) Sheringham Akvavit
½ oz (15 mL) Bols Ginger Liqueur
¾ oz (22 mL) Carrot Lime Cordial*

METHOD:
Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well and double strain into a large chilled coupe. If you like, garnish with a ribbon of sweet pickled carrot on a skewer. Serves 1.

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Foxtrot Tango Whisky for the win

Victoria’s new cocktail lounge evokes the cool retro vibe of 1950s Los Angeles

The new Foxtrot Tango Whisky bar at the Doubletree by Hilton Victoria. Foxtrot Tango Whisky photo

It’s the cool new cocktail lounge Vancouver has been waiting for. Too bad it’s all the way over there in Victoria.

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Bourbon Sour

Sons of Vancouver’s Bourbon Sour. Dan Toulgoet photo

“This is one of my favourite cocktails to make,” says James Lester, co-owner of the Sons of Vancouver Distillery in North Vancouver. His method of shaking the egg white with a single ice cube makes the froth impressively thick and rich.

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Sons of Vancouver’s amaretto earns global amore

North Van distillery wins worldwide attention thanks to Kaitlyn Stewart — but many have already fallen in love with its nutty liqueur

Sons of Vancouver’s James Lester with the No. 82 amaretto. Dan Toulgoet photo

What might just be Vancouver’s coolest cocktail lounge isn’t in a fancy hotel or a downtown hipster hangout. Heck, it isn’t even in Vancouver and it isn’t, for that matter, actually a bar.

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