Day 9: Nine Ladies Dancing – Holiday Themed Spirits
Each year it seems, Canadian distilleries make more holiday-themed spirits than the year before. These aren’t cheap gimmicks either. Rather, they are carefully crafted limited edition spirits that focus on the flavours of the season. Here are nine that will set your true love’s palate to dancing.
The Fort Distillery: Cranberry Spiced Gin (40%)
If you can make mulled wine, why not mulled gin? Distiller Julia Le can’t think of a reason, so she carefully selects twelve botanicals that include mulling spices and traditional gin herbs and spices. She then uses local Alberta berry farm cranberry juice to proof down the resulting gin. The juice imbues the gin with a festive red hue with sweet and tart cranberry notes balanced by heaps of warmth from the juniper, coriander and mulled cinnamon and cloves. Best served over ice, but in a gin and tonic, this gin is a Christmas miracle.
375ml $25
Eau Claire Distillery: Christmas Gin (40%)
Every year, Alberta’s Eau Claire Distillery releases a new Christmas Gin. This time, their distiller, Caitlin Quinn has captured the spirit of Christmas with flavours of Frankincense and Myrrh, and a pinch of 23k gold flakes that float past a diorama picture window cut out of the label. To complement the ancient spices in this cocktail friendly gin, Caitlin includes lemon peel and a touch of juniper. An exotic, woody fig-like note in this exceptional dry gin balances a stunning array of spices, licorice, pine and citrus.
750ml $53.95
Black Diamond Distillery: Spiced Cranberry Liqueur (18%)
The earthy cranberry shade of this spirit instantly gets you in the mood for the holidays. Christmas baking spices flood from the bottle with cinnamon spice complemented by clove. The aromas are quite spectacular. A juicy palate softens the spice allowing a flavourful standoff between cranberry’s sweeter side vs the berry’s Scrooge tartness. Tart wins in the finish, but there is plenty of time to reach for another drink before the three ghosts arrive to drain the rest of your bottle.
www.blackdiamonddistillery.com
375ml $24.00, 750ml $38.00
Wayward Distilling: Krupnik (40%)
The team at Wayward Distillery, in Courtenay, BC, craft their Krupnik Polish Spiced Liqueur from 100% pure BC Honey. Some might compare it with cinnamon whisky, but Krupnik is complex, balanced and creamy in the mouth – everything that Fireball is not. Nor is it akin to Captain Morgan. No, the soft cinnamon, spice cake and brown sugar on the nose give way to sweet floral notes on the palate, with mild cinnamon, hints of nutmeg and some spicy heat. A luscious syrupy mouthfeel seals the deal. This is the cinnamon spice liqueur they were thinking of when they said sugar and spice and all things nice. And, now, just in time for The 12 Days of Christmas, Wayward has released a special wheat-based Krupnik for bargain hunters with taste.
375 ml honey-based Krupnik $34.80
750 ml wheat-based Krupnik just $43.47
Compass Distillery: Boston Tree Gin (45%)
Each year, Halifax tells a Christmas story that’s now a century old. After the devastating Halifax explosion in 1917, the city of Boston quickly responded by sending relief. Since then, each Christmas Nova Scotia has reciprocated by sending a Christmas tree to Beantown to thank them. Compass Distillers incorporates boughs from that tree into a holiday gin that celebrates the tradition. The distillery also donates a dollar from every bottle sold to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. As you might expect, Boston Tree Gin is loaded with spruce, juniper, citrus and very bold evergreen notes.
750ml
Willibald Distilling: Gingerbread Gin (41%)
Willibald Distillery in Ayr, Ontario has a new winter spirit every year. This year, it’s a gin that marries traditional botanicals with gingerbread-themed ingredients such as cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, and fresh ginger. The gin springs to life when the two batches are blended and sweetened with a drop of cane sugar. The result is a balanced aromatic fusion of freshly baked gingerbread brightened by citrus and cranberry undertones. Woody forest notes add to the vibrant mix.
375ml $24.95
Moonshine Creek Distillery Chicken Bones Liqueur (25%)
This New Brunswick Distillery caused a sensation in 2019 when they released their Chicken Bones liqueur, named for the locally famous Atlantic Canada candy it resembles. Chicken Bones is back for the holiday season and once again captures in a glass, the chocolate-cinnamon flavours of the iconic pink candy.
500ml $34.77
Beattie's Distillers: Peppermint and Vanilla Vodka (30%)
Beattie’s is surrounded by fields of potatoes. The lucky ones are peeled down to the vegetable’s heart, fermented then distilled into a classic potato vodka. For this holiday release, they infused the vodka with peppermint and vanilla. Icy peppermint dressed in creamy vanilla wakes up the nose. The palate is pure enjoyment with a detonation of wintery unsweetened peppermint while the vanilla note returns late on the velvety finish. The vodka’s texture is accentuated when chilled without losing a molecule of flavour. This vodka warms the soul if you happen to find yourself hunkered down by a manger waiting for a virgin to give birth. Yes, the finish is that long.
750ml $37.95
Lucky Bastard Distillers: Christmas Orange Vodka (40%)
Lucky Bastard strikes a nostalgic note in this Christmas vodka. Its story takes us back to childhood when Santa would leave oranges in stockings. There are several theories on why an orange made Santa’s cut. Some say it represents gold, or his elves didn’t like oranges, and they were clearing the pantry while others say it means giving joy. No matter, getting a bottle of this orange vodka in your stocking does a whole lot more. A dollar from every bottle is donated to the Saskatoon Interval House. This seasonal vodka is made from 100% Saskatchewan wheat distilled a lucky seven times. The real orange flavour adds citrus-backed brightness to this giving spirit.
375ml $35
Join us tomorrow for Day 10: Vodka 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.