During its early years, Spirit of York’s growth was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ho says it was one of the first distilleries to switch to creating hand sanitizer. “By the end of it, though, it was tough to bounce back from,” Ho said. “Our tasting room was a large part of our endeavour. We had staff bottling hand sanitizer just to maintain our team. I don’t think it was easy for anyone.”

Matt Driscoll is the master distiller and received his master’s in brewing and distilling from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. A creative force, often toeing the line between out-of-the-box and out-of-this-world ideas, Driscoll has inspired some wacky and wild creations like a Christmas spirit made from distilled fruitcake and a Cinnamon Toast Crunch vodka.

“It tasted like a really boozy Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It sold out, and I don’t know if we will do it again. It was a lot of Cinnamon Toast Crunch that [Driscoll] needed. At one point, there were dozens of boxes in the back …. It was a shocking amount of cereal.” Each box of cereal would pair up with roughly 10 litres of product. In the distillery’s laboratory process, there were between 15 and 20 boxes of cereal and approximately 200 bottles of the final product.

Inside the distillery

Spirit of York uses CARL Stills from Germany. “We have one large column still, one pot still and one smaller 150-litre column still in our laboratory,” Ho said. “We also have a 40-foot rectification tower that sits in a space out of our back door; it’s connected through pipes and makes for a cool showpiece. Being in a historic area, we had to find a way to fit it, so part of it ended up outside the building.”

We like what we do, but we are never only doing it for ourselves.

Simon Ho, Spirit of York Distillery

In addition to the stills, they bottle on site, using a manual bottling line and an automatic labeller. The whole process can be witnessed while browsing for the perfect product in their bottle shop. Additionally, their entire distillery’s process is also viewable from their tasting room, as it is furnished with floor-to-ceiling glass walls. “You can see everything that we do, that was one of our brand pillars,” said Ho. “That transparency in local craft is important.”

Spirit of York’s core spirits are vodka, gin, whisky and aquavit, and it offers several expressions of each spirit. It also produces seasonal products such as coffee liqueur, pink gin, harvest gin and a limoncello-like beverage.

The aquavit was developed in response to demand from Toronto’s bartender scene, leading Spirit of York to create its own, which has now become a key part of its lineup. Additionally, it produces ready-to-drink cocktails, including seltzers, only available at Spirit of York. Its whisky requires a minimum of three years of distillation.

Precision in the process

Spirit of York produces spirits a bit differently from other distilleries. Instead of a typical run, it produces a high-proof spirit that acts as the foundation for its other products. It might conduct four to six consecutive runs of gin or add water to produce vodka. The gin distillation process takes about 48 hours from charging the still to obtaining the final product.

“We try to let things rest a bit to let out the volatiles because of the way we produce, it’s a minimum of 40 days before we bottle it and get to it. Typically, it’s about a three-month timeline for mashing, stripping and distilling into grain neutral spirits, which we hold, then production carries on from there depending on the product.”

The distillery’s shortest timeline is between 11 and 12 days from grain to vodka, and gin would be roughly a day and a half on top of that timeline.

“We do have much narrower cuts than most people,” said Ho. “We cut about 15 per cent deeper, and we know numerically what we are aiming for, then taste from there to confirm it. So, it could be 14, 16, or 14 and change, but it’s always within that area from a purity and flavour standpoint. We really want to eliminate that acetate that comes off at the beginning, so [the process] of cutting deeper really enhances the drinking experience.

“The entire process is pretty enjoyable … I think it’s the collaborative nature that I enjoy most.” That collaborative nature goes beyond the distillery’s core team.

Collaboration and community

Once a year, Spirit of York offers a program called Bartender Gin. As the name suggests, bartenders from across Toronto gather at the distillery and can create their own gin. “Being able to share that experience and have them go through [the process] is pretty cool,” Ho said. “That feeling, I enjoy that – a bunch of people working together in a creative process to come up with a product for other people’s enjoyment. We like what we do, but we are never only doing it for ourselves.”

Spirit of York’s products can be purchased primarily from the distillery and online. Customers in Ontario can find its vodka, gin, aquavit and Canadian Blended Whisky at Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores. All of its products have won awards, primarily from the San Francisco Spirit Awards and the International Spirits Challenge.

“It’s not my ultimate goal to win awards. It’s nice to be recognized, but win or lose, I’m just hoping to make the best booze possible,” said Ho. “I’d much rather be recognized by people in my community right now, especially in Ontario. We want people to be proud of what we make. Farmer Joe, who we get our rye grain from, [we want him] to be proud of it and share it with his friends. That means so much more to me than a gold medal.”

Looking ahead

Spirit of York is about to start another batch of its Bartender Gin. Additionally, it intends to release more aged versions of its whisky. The distillery has also recently added a farm-to-table food program in its tasting room to complement its locality, with a focus on true seasonal food to accompany its seasonal cocktails.

Finally, Spirit of York plans to introduce a premium bartenders’ lineup while also focusing on a high-quality, less expensive spirits line.

One of the oldest distilleries in Canada, Alberta Distillers started in 1946 in Calgary, Alta., where three entrepreneurs came together to create history. Max Bell, a rancher, Frank McMahon, a Canadian oilman and George Reifel, a distiller, built the Alberta Distillers brand to be grounded in western Canadian values. They wanted to give back to the community by making affordable and high-quality products.

Starting out on 23 acres, the distillery is now in the heart of Calgary on 42 acres of land. The site has two rail spurs on-site that can ship and receive by rail, ISO tankers and tanker trailers, keeping the history of its story close to its heart. The site itself sits over 3,000 feet above sea level, with exceptionally dry air that has lasting impacts on Alberta Distillers’ sought-after taste profile. With its unique location, the distillery can create exceptional whiskies, such as its Canadian Club, and other products, including Alberta Premium, Alberta Pure Vodka, Reifel Rye and Northern Keep Vodka.

None of the products that make it to the shelf or into customers’ glasses would be possible without Craig Dryburgh, the plant general manager, Deepti Gurkar, the national marketing director, Bernard Sous, the senior distillery manager and Maria Palafox, who is in charge of quality control. Together, the Alberta Distillers team creates products that have received attention not only in Canada, but around the world.

Using a hammer mill and their three enzyme reactors to create their own enzymes over six to 10 days, their products go through three mash cookers, with each cycle taking about four hours. Alberta Distillers has 20 different fermenters. The whisky spirits are aged in three different types of wood barrels, including new white oak and once-used bourbon barrels. Alberta Distillers is one of the few sites in Canada that can age barrels in both rack-style and pallet-style warehouses.

The turnaround for the vodka is quite quick, while the process for whisky is always blended with at least the minimum requirements for aging (with some of their whisky having been aged over 20 years to be integrated into their blends). The first stage of the process is grain receiving, cleaning and milling. The second stage sees mashing liquefaction and saccharification, which takes eight hours and leads into stage three: fermentation after addition of the yeast, which takes about four days. During the fourth stage, the first distillation occurs using their beer still column, which produces a high wine that is a continuous process.

Lastly, the fifth stage is the redistillation of the spirit for either a vodka specification or whisky specification, depending on the product. The whisky is aged for at least three years in barrels, depending on the age requirement for that product.

Many of Alberta Distillers’ products can be found on shelves across Canada. Currently, they are not distributed in Quebec, but some of their Alberta Premium can be found throughout the U.S., while Canadian Club can be found globally. Alberta Premium also has limited distribution in Japan.

“We do a few things very uniquely. All of our grains come from local farmers in Alberta with a little bit from Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Sourcing grains from local farmers is important,” said Gurkar. “We love everyone that works within our facility. Their attention to detail is important – the quality is met year after year. We enjoy using the best ingredients, having the best people working with our products, putting it through the rigour of the facility in its unique location, then coming up with a liquid to make all of Canada proud, especially when we win international awards.”

Alberta Distillers won Distillery of the Decade in 2020 at the Canadian Whisky Awards, and many of their products are endowed with a variety of awards. Northern Keep Vodka won Double Gold at the SIP Awards in 2023. Alberta Pure Vodka won Double Gold at the International Spirits Challenge in 2023 and Double Gold at the SIP Awards in 2024. The Alberta Premium Cask Strength received Gold at both the Canadian Whisky Awards and the SIP Awards in 2023, and received Silver at the International Spirits Challenge in 2024.

Alberta Distillers won not only a Gold medal, but was also titled the Category Winner for their Canadian Club 100% Rye. Additionally, Reifel Rye, named after one of the founders, was well recognized last year, receiving Gold at the International Spirits Challenge, Best New Whisky of the Year at the Canadian Whisky Awards in 2023 and a Silver medal at the 2024 International Spirits Challenge.

Focusing on the future, Alberta Distillers is looking forward to incorporating more sustainability into their day-to-day practices. “We’re committed to aligning with Suntory Global Spirits’ goals by 2030,” said Gurkar. “Upgrading the boilers, installing water management systems, water seals and pumps to up our efficiency. Vapour compressors are being installed [as well].”

We love everyone that works within our facility. Their attention to detail is important – the quality is met year after year. We enjoy using the best ingredients, having the best people working with our products, putting it through the rigour of the facility in its unique location, then coming up with a liquid to make all of Canada proud, especially when we win international awards.

Deepti Gurkar, Alberta Distillers Limited

Additionally, Gurkar says Alberta Distillers has an ongoing partnership with the University of Alberta, working with the recovery of rainwater and treating liquid waste streams. They are participating in ongoing studies to ensure that environmental consciousness is in the forefront of their production decisions, working toward more sustainability in their actions, not just their words.

“Canadian whisky can be so broad and is often referred to as rye even without any rye, so we’ve been on a mission [to educate people on] what a 100 per cent rye whisky is,” said Gurkar. “You can visit ryewhiskyacademy.com and you can learn about the difference of high rye whiskies. Rye is very well loved in Canada. I don’t think we always understand what skill it takes to make a great rye whisky.”

Keep an eye out because there’s more coming from Alberta Premium this year, and Alberta Distillers is continuing to grow some of their craft brands like Reifel Rye and Northern Keep Vodka. As a long-standing distillery, Gurkar says it’s when people try a product, or they get the opportunity to visit the distillery to see what’s next, that people realize how much effort, knowledge, heritage and innovation goes into Alberta Distillers’ products.

Looking to the future, Alberta Distillers is focused on continuing to create quality products that bring people together.