The world is experiencing a Gin renaissance, and the charge is being led by the small artisanal distilleries.
Gin has a long and sordid history, starting with its invention in the 1650’s by a Dutch chemist who was looking for a medicine that would help clean the blood of people suffering from kidney disorders. He named his new creation “genever”, from the French word for juniper, since the original formula used neutral grain spirits flavored with juniper berries. Remember him fondly the next time you’re enjoying a martini!
British soldiers brought Gin back to Old Blighty during the ongoing wars in Europe, and Gin became the salve of the downtrodden classes, leading to much debauchery and hooliganism.
The popularity of Gin has waxed and waned over the centuries, but has never regained the nearly complete market penetration that it accomplished in 1730’s London, where there was a Gin joint on every street corner.
Luckily, Gin has been an active social climber in the world of spirits, and is no longer solely the tipple of the downtrodden peasant classes, desperate for a brief reprieve from the filth and poverty of the Industrial Revolution in England.
Today, we tend to think of gin as an upper-class spirit, most commonly used in fancy martinis and cocktails like the ever-popular Gin & Tonic or Tom Collins, and the many artisanal distilleries producing small-batch Gin are certainly helping that perception.
One of the first so-called craft Gin in Canada came from Victoria Spirits in 2008. Nestled among vineyards and cornfields on Vancouver Island, this family-owned distillery makes their Gin with corn, and flavours it with their own secret blend of botanicals, which includes the rarely-used Sasparilla root for a unique finish.
The bottles of Victoria Gin are labeled with an old-timey picture of a very young Queen Victoria, so sipping from it may cause you to travel back in time, just like that new Outlander TV show the ladies are all atwitter about.
British Columbia often leads our fair country in all matters booze-related, and Gin is no exception. On Hornby Island, just a short ferry ride from the big island, Island Spirits Distiller started up in 2007, and their Phrog Gin bottles have a cute picture of a little frog that is native to the island.
Phrog Gin was founded by a retired Professor of Organic Chemistry, so you must think he knows a thing or two about the chemistry involved in distillation.
Phrog Gin is made in a modern reflux still, which produces an extremely clean and pure distillate, with very little flavours or congeners from the base grain. While this may be proper for a dark rum, a clean and neutral base alcohol is exactly what you want for white spirits like vodka or gin.
With his chemistry background, the master distiller circulates the distillate hundreds of times in the still, with only the most pure ethyl alcohol vapour being captured for later infusion with botanicals.
Closer to home, the Eau Claire Distillery opened earlier this year in Turner Valley, and the master distiller is none other than local booze legend Larry Kerwin, who you may recall did stints as Brewmaster in Calgary for Carling, Molson, Big Rock, and Village Brewery.
The Eau Claire Parlour Gin is made in the style of a London Dry Gin, and has only been on the market for a few months. Made from locally grown barley and other grains, the distillate is then infused with the traditional Juniper berries, as well as more local botanicals including Saskatoons and Rosehips.
I first enjoyed the Eau Claire Parlour Gin in a dry martini, and each sip made me feel like I was in a Prohibition-era Gin joint with a flapper girl on my arm and a Roaring 20s band playing in the background.
Moving further east, the 66 Gilead Loyalist Gin is a newcomer from Ontario, located in the heart of wine country on the shores of Lake Ontario.
Started by a pair of Toronto doctors, their Gin is made with locally produced whole wheat grains, the distillery is located in an 1874 farmhouse that was originally a hop farm. This is a particularly floral Gin, with aromas of lavender, vanilla, and citrus.
All of these Canadian artisanal Gins will set you back $40-$50, which is a bit higher than the mass produced Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray, but the more delicate and refined flavours are more than worth it! Look for them in well-stocked booze merchants across Alberta!
