Vancouver Island gin: Taste a walk in the forest

Ampersand, Empiric, Oaken, Stump, Unruly.

Not clans from The Game of Thrones or smart phone models. These are among the best and brightest brands of micro-distillery gins originating on Vancouver Island.

Craft distilling, like craft brewing before it, is booming in Canada. Producing whiskey, gin, vodka, rum – there is even an Okanagan distillery producing absinthe – the fledgling distillers are tapping into the best local ingredients.

The beauty of gin is the use of floral, aromatic and botanical concoctions to infuse and create interesting signature products. The variations and combinations are without limit – blackberry, vanilla, elderberry, cardamom, juniper, coriander, lemongrass, orange peel, cinnamon stick, liquorice – with subtle and not-so-subtle differences.

Tofino cocktailsAnd it is the enormous range of flavourings that make the gin distilling process so intricate and complex. It is through meticulous sourcing of materials, measures and sampling that a flavour profile and recipe is created which then must to be protected with one’s own life.

At Long Beach Lodge Resort, we appreciate hard work, unique products and quality and we are excited to feature a selection of Vancouver Island-distilled gins. These gins range in complexity, intensity of flavour and unique – some might say strange - botanical combinations.

For example, Duncan’s Ampersand Distilling Co.’s pride and joy is its Ampersand gin. This handcrafted spirit is made from scratch with organic botanicals and organic BC wheat extracts and flavoured with classic botanicals such as juniper, coriander, lemon, angelica, and orris. The result is an earthy, sweet, creamy, complex liquor.

Meanwhile, Nanaimo’s Arbutus Distilleries offering is described as being punchy and bright. The Empiric is called a “west-coast style gin” offering a unique deviation from the more common place ‘London dry’ style with robust citrus notes imparted from lemon verbena rather then traditional lemon and orange rinds. Also adding the bouquet is anise-hyssop fennel, rosemary, lavender and hops.

Adopting a nautical theme, Sheringham Distillery in Shirley produce Seaside Gin. Made from B.C. organic white wheat, B.C. malted barley, natural botanicals and sustainable hand-harvested local winged kelp, this gin offers citrus, floral flavours and notes of the sea.

Phillip's Stump Coastal Forest Gin from Victoria is infused with fir trees. Some have described it as tasting like a walk through an old-growth forest.

Unruly gin turns inland, crafted from honey with six organic botanicals. Made by the Comox Valley’s Wayward Distillation House, it is offers gentle, rich forest and floral flavors

Each gin is worth trying. The Great Room offers these gins and several other island-distilled products in a variety of cocktail concoctions, including the standard gin and tonic and martini.

The next time you find your self in the Great Room and would really like to experience a unique, island born and distilled cocktail, as about our collection of island gins which pay respect to the land, sea and produce Vancouver Islanders know and love.





More Tofino 360 Stories