Everything I seek in a tasting experience at a distillery, winery, brewery, meadery, etc. Individual interaction with the bartender, a good variety of things to try, adequate portions (very adequate in this case but I had a designated driver!), a fair price, attractive setting with good views, and of course a good product.
When we arrived the parking lot was empty and it wasn't even obvious it was open. It was. We went in and were welcomed by Victoria, "first mate, apprentice distiller." She led us through a detailed tasting, enriched by stories about her husband, a sea captain in the Canadian military, and his travels researching how to make the best rums. That's the entire team; this is truly "small batch".
Since there were no other visitors we had her full attention and spent about 20 minutes sampling 5 products, two rums, a gin, a vodka, and something else that I can't recall. In my opinion none were spectacular, but all decent, and I did buy a bottle of one of the rums to add to my collection. In fact, the two rums and the vodka all tasted rather similar. The vodka had more flavor than is typical. The gin was interesting but so low on juniper flavor I might not have identified it as gin if I wasn't told.
All the products are made from raw sugar imported from the Caribbean.
The building, off to the side of the road with partial views of the Cape Breton and the ocean, was unique. The tasting room was a modified prefabricated steel structure made of corrugated steel and had an enclosed patio in front. The adjacent distillery appeared to be a modified intermodal shipping container. Both were adorned with large posters of their bottle labels. I don't remember who designed them - she did tell us - but they are very attractive.
One of Victoria's stories mentioned a rum distillery in Brunswick, Georgia where her husband visited in his research. By coincidence I'll be traveling there in a few days and will definitely check it out. read more