Canada's only magazine dedicated to distillers, spirits and cocktail culture.
Well, you get the picture. Wondering what to get the cocktail aficionado on your holiday list? Start right here.
It takes about three seconds for a shot of ice-cold aquavit to pass your lips and slide down your throat, leaving its distinctive hit of caraway and liquorice tingling on your tongue and introducing a pleasing warmth into your belly. The Swedish Shot, as it is known — raise your glass, lock eyes with your fellow toasters and drink up — is swift and satisfying.
INGREDIENTS:
• 1.5 oz (45 mL) Taylor Fladgate White Port
• 1 oz (30 mL) Beefeater gin
• 0.25 oz (7 mL) Okanagan Spirits Haskap Liqueur
• 0.75 oz (22 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 dashes Bittered Sling Autumnbog Cranberry Bitters
• Tonic water
Lead Bartender, L’Abattoir Restaurant
I’d pick Okanagan Spirits Laird of Fintry Single Malt Whisky. It is a Scotch-style single malt made with 100 per cent B.C. malted barley using French and American oak, and finished in Okanagan wine barrels. The nose is unbelievable with plum, vanilla, raisins, berries, poached pears, nuts, and classic oak characteristics that continue on the palate. It has a dry finish with a hint of sweet vanilla and baking spices. I would make a twist on a Rob Roy — a Rodney’s Roy — with 2 oz. Laird of Fintry,
0.3 oz. Noilly Prat Rouge,
0.3 oz. Noilly Prat Ambre and two dashes Bittered Sling Cascade Celery Bitters.
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 oz. Okanagan Spirits Gin
• 0.5 oz. Okanagan Spirits Rhubarb Liqueur
• 2 oz. freshly squeezed ruby red grapefruit juice
• 3 dashes Bittered Sling Grapefruit & Hops Bitters
• 3 oz. Parkside Graffiti IPA
METHOD:
Add all ingredients except beer to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake hard for 15 seconds. Fine strain into a pilsner glass, top with Parkside Beer. Garnish with a fresh grapefruit wedge.
With its extended growing seasons and miles of fruitful orchards and rolling vineyards, B.C.’s Okanagan Valley is known best as Canada’s wine country. The site of many a weekend winery tour and the occasional fruit stand pit stop, one can hardly say “Okanagan” without also uttering “wine.” A lesser thought of connection? Distilled spirits.
After just five years in business, British Columbia’s distillers have already confronted some mighty challenges. For one, it takes years of practice to make a quality product. Plus, craft liquor is expensive—not only for consumers at the till but for makers at the still.
At the grand old age of 11, Okanagan Spirits is the oldest craft distillery in the province. That may make it a relative newbie on the international scene, but it hasn’t stopped the world from paying it serious attention.
Since its inception in 2004, the family-owned and operated Okanagan business has twice been named Distillery of the Year at the annual World Spirits Awards, and two years ago became the first and only one of its kind in North America to be given a “world class” rating.
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 oz Gillespie’s Sin Gin
0.5 oz Green Chartreuse
0.5 oz wildflower honey water (1:1 ratio)
0.75 oz fresh lime juice
3 dashes Bittered Sling Lem-Marrakech Bitters
1 pinch Vancouver Island Sea Salt
Mist of Okanagan Spirits Taboo Absinthe
METHOD:
Combine all ingredients (minus Taboo Absinthe) in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake vigorously for 15 seconds and fine strain to a half-rimmed Vancouver Island Sea Salt cocktail glass. Using an atomizer or mister, spray a fine amount of absinthe over the glass for aromatics. Garnish with a lime twist.
A family-owned award-winning distillery with a wide range of products to its name, including an absinthe, and both rye and single malt whiskies. Tours and tastings are available in both its locations.
5204 24th St., Vernon
267 Bernard Ave., Kelowna
250-549-3120 | 778-484-5174
OkanaganSpirits.com
• Spirited Away: B.C.’s oldest craft distillery has made an international impact
• Fruitful endeavour: Family-owned distillery crafts world-class spirits from homegrown harvests
• Star anise: How a Scandinavian classic is warming hearts in B.C.
• Recipe: Parkside “Sip ‘n’ Slide” Raddler
• The spirit whisperer: B.C. craft spirits pioneer Frank Deiter is taking on the world
• Say hi to rye: The Alchemist tasting panel samples Canadian and American rye spirits
• Essential Vodka
• Family Reserve Vodka
• Essential Gin
• Evolve Gin
• Family Reserve Gin
• BC Rye Whisky
• BRBN Bourbon-Style Corn Whisky
• BLK BRBN Cask-Strength Bourbon-Style Corn Whisky
• BC Hopped Whisky
• Laird of Fintry Single Malt Whisky
• Laird of Fintry Rum Barrel Whisky
• Applejack IPA Whisky
• Okanagan Shine Unaged BRBN Whisky
• Taboo Genuine Absinthe
• Aquavitus
• Fruit Liqueurs
• Bartlett Pear (Poire Williams)
• Bradshaw Plum (Old Italian Prune)
• Canados (Aged Apple)
• Kirsch Danube
• Raspberry Framboise
• Gewurztraminer Marc
Poire WilliamsFRAGRANCE: Sweet, ripe Bartlett pears.
FLAVOUR: Fruity, with a great boozy backbone.
FEEL: Clean, loads of mid-palate.
FINISH: Austere, dry, lean.
BEST ENJOYED: Neat, after a big meal.
THE BOTTOM LINE: A delicious introductory digestif. —Josh Pape, April 2016
Cherry LiqueurFRAGRANCE: Cherry pit, fruit rollups, rose petals.
FLAVOUR: Tart cherry pie.
FEEL: Beautifully thin and bright.
FINISH: Cherry skins, rose water.
BEST ENJOYED: Remember The Main cocktail.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Great product showcasing Okanagan fruit. —Shaun Layton, July 2016
Maraschino LiqueurFRAGRANCE: Sour cherry.
FLAVOUR: Sweet cherry with underlying almond.
FEEL: Mouth-coating.
FINISH: Relatively short.
BEST ENJOYED: In a Last Word cocktail.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Very excited to see this product. A popular ingredient in classic cocktail recipes, it is great to have a local iteration. —Robyn Gray, October 2016
Taboo Genuine AbsintheFRAGRANCE: Refreshing hints of citrus from the lemon balm, pleasant fennel presence.
FLAVOUR: All the herbaceous notes you’d expect from absinthe.
FEEL: Great body, initial sensation of alcohol heat.
FINISH: Long, hot, delicious.
BEST ENJOYED: Neat.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Try it neat without the sugar cube or any water dilution. —Scott Barner, February 2017
BRBNFRAGRANCE: Certainly smells like a corn whisky. Has a sugary note as well.
FLAVOUR: Corn and oak, some mild vanilla on the front.
FEEL: Warm, slightly mouth coating.
FINISH: Corn sticks around, shadowed by the alcohol heat.
BEST ENJOYED: Good with some ginger ale and held up in an Old Fashioned.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Interesting taste for a Canadian take on “BRBN.” —Trevor Kallies, October 2017