Day 4: Calling Birds & Seaweed Gin
Canada’s immense landscape has fostered a diverse selection of gins that explore its hundreds of coast-to-coast flavours. Distilleries near the sea, often capture the flavours and aromas of the temperamental salt waters, then tame them. These four sipping seaweed gins, with a built-in delicate briny note, sing as jubilantly as four calling birds and make fine gifts.
The Newfoundland Distilling Company: Seaweed Gin 40%
Gin was already in distiller William Carter’s flavour wheelhouse when he decided to open a distillery with Peter Wilkins. As an acclaimed chef, Carter honed his approach to the culinary arts by searching out local, unpretentious seasonal ingredients that pop on the palate with simplicity.
His Seaweed gin captures this aesthetic flawlessly using a minimalist approach. Newfoundland dulce harvested from the province’s Grand Banks, along with Newfoundland juniper and savoury are infused into the distillery’s spirit distilled from local grain. The growing season is short on The Rock producing a smaller juniper berry concentrated with local flare. But, seaweed is the star of this gin with the other ingredients playing supporting roles. A peppery sweetness balances the gin’s brininess, fine-tuned by an earthiness that underlies the juniper’s piney characters. Very complex and delicious in a Martini served with a slice of citrus zest instead of a traditional olive.
www.thenewfoundlanddistillery.com 750 ml $36.96
Sheringham Distillery: Seaside Gin (43%)
Alayne and Jason MacIsaac’s senses are dialled into the flavours that surround their Vancouver Island distillery. Once, while walking along the beach, the swirling air pooled aromas of the ocean with nearby rose bushes and forest. Looking at each other, they knew that nature had just written the recipe for what would become their Seaside Gin.
This balanced gin is a Canadian classic. Bright and floral with peppery spices, citrus peel and beautiful pine notes. Sheringham sustainably harvests local winged kelp to give the gin a hint of the sea. That marine note comes alive late on the palate when all the succulent flavours yield to a slightly salty breeze, and the gin’s fresh citrus notes balance it in an intricate splendour.
www.sheringhamdistillery.com 750 ml $40 – BC only.
Still Fired Distilleries: Fundy Gin (40%)
Andrew Cameron and Owen Ritchie’s of Nova Scotia distillery make their Fundy Gin with a triple distilled spirit that has passed over Bay of Fundy beach stones. The spirit is then flavoured with eight botanicals including sun-dried dulce hand-picked from the bay.
The seaweed flavours integrate into the gin with a delicate touch that resembles Japanese dashi. A whirlpool of fresh citrus flavour forms on the palate with soft and distant evergreen notes seasoned with a pinch of sea salt. This gin captures the artful side of the rugged Bay of Fundy, with a refined grandeur. Lemon peel twists with coriander spice complete Fundy’s exploration of seaside subtleties.
www.stillfireddistilleries.com 375 ml $24.95; 750 ml $39.95
Distillerie du St. Laurent: St. Laurent Gin (43%)
Each fall, distillery workers harvest 500kg of fresh laminaria seaweed off the shores of the distillery’s Rimouski home. They wash the seaweed, dry it, then crush it down to about 50kg of small chips to make this splendid year-round gin. The final step in making this multi-step gin involves soaking the laminaria in the gin for 10 days to extract the minerals and salts.
The texturally rich gin layers the flavours of Rimouski’s shores with floral and herbal tones that splash elegantly across the palate. Evergreen forest, citrus and pepper complement the beautiful green umami tones that season the gin from start to finish. Take your palate on an underwater adventure surfacing only long enough to capture the flavour of the land.
www.distilleriedustlaurent.com 750ml $49
Join us tomorrow for Day 5: Cocktail Kit suggestions. Or, if you’d rather figure it out on your own, there are many more spirits to be found in our book The Definitive Guide to Canadian Distilleries – a gift suggestion in itself and one that’s worth its weight in five gold rings.