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

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

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

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.”

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.


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.

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.

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


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.
School days, school days, dear old golden rule days – nope, don’t miss ’em.
But there’s still something about September that makes you want to learn something new. It’s even better if that something new has a boozy kick to it. So why not pick up one of the season’s new cocktail books and drink in some liquid education? Start with these spirited volumes.