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At Odd Society Spirits, innovation is all about collaboration

LEFT: Kylie Bartlett works with bartenders across the province to create cocktails using Odd Society’s spirits. Lou Lou Childs photo

The Tasting Lounge at Odd Society Spirits in East Vancouver is a veritable beehive, buzzing with collaboration. Behind the bar, Kylie Bartlett shakes a frothy Tree Sum cocktail and strains it into a coupe glass. The neon-green libation was created by Vanessa Bourget, owner of Exile Bistro, and is made with a foraged-pine-needle, parsley syrup that Ms. Bourget trades to the craft distiller in exchange for the drink’s other key ingredient, Odd Society’s Wallflower Gin.

Part of the distillery’s Visiting Cocktail program, the forest-fresh Tree Sum is just one of many collaborations that allows Odd Society to live up to its name as an unusual innovator within British Columbia’s still somewhat oddly disconnected worlds of craft spirits and bartending.

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B.C. Distilleries

Odd Society Spirits

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This East Vancouver distillery’s three founding self-described “odd” owners are busy producing different expressions of gin, vodka and both white (unaged), and single malt whiskies.

1725 Powell St., Vancouver
604-559-6745
OddSocietySpirits.com

Read more about Odd Society Spirits

• Demystifying vermouth: The Alchemist tasting panel samples the fortified, aromatized elixir

• Bitter & sweet: Why you should be drinking vermouth made in B.C.

• Recipe: The Drive

• A barrel of fun: Private-cask whisky sales are a “futures” investment in B.C.’s small-batch distillers. Here’s how and why they do it.

• Amour for amaro: The Alchemist’s tasting panel revels in the complexities of made-in-B.C. amaros, vermouths and aperitifs

• Recipe: Locals Only Negroni

• Recipe: Elder Sour

• Odd Society releases Elderflower Liqueur

• Bartender in a bottle: Raise a glass to the supporting cast of B.C.’s cocktail scene—local craft syrups, sodas, tonics and other mixers

• Recipe: Sea to Sky Rad-ler Beer Cocktail

• It’s G&T time: The Alchemist’s tasting panel searches for the best B.C. gin to enjoy with your tonic

• Recipe: Gins & Roses

• Business in the back, party in the front: Distillery tasting rooms are some of the hottest cocktail bars in B.C. Here are a few to try in the Vancouver area

• Recipe: Ambrosia

• Recipe: Odd Society Gin & Tonic Sour

• Recipe: Vancouver #2

• The romance of amaro

• Recipe: The Paper Plane, Updated

• Recipe: Local Negroni

• Recipe: Main Street “Wide Eye”

• Recipe: Gentleman’s Sour

• Come together: At Odd Society Spirits, innovation is all about collaboration

• Recipe: Tell Me What You Will

• Recipe: Vancouver Cocktail

• Recipe: Chili Chocolate Manhattan

• Recipe: The Milky Whey

• Recipe: Forgotten Temple

• Recipe: Mork from Ork

 

PRODUCTS:

• East Van Vodka
• Wallflower Gin
• Mongrel Unaged Spirit
• Oaken Wallflower Gin
• Elderflower Liqueur
• Crème de Cassis
• Bittersweet Vermouth
• Mia Amato Amaro
• Salal Gin
• Maple Canadian Whisky
• Commodore Canadian Single Malt Whisky
• Prospector Canadian Rye Whisky
• Canadian Single Malt Casks

TASTING NOTES:

Bittersweet Vermouth

FRAGRANCE: Gingerbread spice, bitter orange, vanilla.
FLAVOUR: Upfront viscous sweetness, making its way to the back of your palate with a lovely bitterness.
FEEL: Full and coating mouthfeel.
FINISH: Sweet orange and chocolate lift for an enjoyable bitter finish that goes on and on.
BEST ENJOYED: Serve at room temperature as a digestif; could shine in many different cocktails.
THE BOTTOM LINE: A must have! —Wendy McGuinness, April 2016

Wallflower Gin

FRAGRANCE: Lavender.
FLAVOUR: Surprisingly balanced.
FEEL: Lovely and fragrant.
FINISH: Sweet, long boozy finish.
BEST ENJOYED: As a boozy cocktail. Martinez or Pink Gin. Maybe even an Old Fashioned.
THE BOTTOM LINE: A really fun spirit. If you like floral notes then jump in — you won’t be disappointed. —Josh Pape, July 2016

Crème de Cassis

FRAGRANCE: Prunes, dried red fruit, berries.
FLAVOUR: Dried figs, raisins and currants.
FEEL: Rich. A bit cloying, but not overwhelmingly so.
FINISH: More balanced than expected.
BEST ENJOYED: In an El Diablo with Dickie’s ginger beer. Kir Royale (go easy, it’s quite concentrated).
THE BOTTOM LINE: The best cassis you’ll likely ever try. —Josh Pape, October 2016

Mia Amato Amaro

FRAGRANCE: Sweet, chocolate, with a musky background.
FLAVOUR: Semi-sweet bitterness, herbal. 
FEEL: Viscous.
FINISH: Long with a great balance of bitter and sweet. 
BEST ENJOYED: Cold neat, or try in a Paper Plane. 
THE BOTTOM LINE: Packaging knocks it out of the park. Fun and engaging, with a fantastic auburn colour. —Trevor Kallies, February 2017

Mongrel Unaged Spirit

FRAGRANCE: Buttered bread and light malty notes.
FLAVOUR: Complex and refined, very nice for an unaged rye-based spirit. Very well balanced. 
FEEL: Pleasant sweetness.
FINISH: Slightly hot, loads of spice, in a good way.
BEST ENJOYED: Makes a great White Whisky Sour. Begging to be shaken with citrus. 
THE BOTTOM LINE: Makes a great White Whisky Sour. Begging to be shaken with citrus. —Shaun Layton, October 2017