This place is AMAZING. If you're not entranced with the incredible equipment, you'll be taken with Scot and his wonderful hospitality and humour. This is a great place to come if you think you don't like hard liquor. I guarantee he has something for you that will change your mind.
Scot is extremely knowledgable about liquor and made this experience wonderful and painless, even for a super-ignorant liquor neophyte like myself. Keep in mind my lack of experience as you consider my review.
Now I'll be totally honest, I am not usually a fan of hard alcohol. Not a little bit, not at all. I think it tastes terrible, drinking it makes me shudder and sputter and make really unlovely faces. I'm a beer girl.
With that prejudice already secureley in my mind, I was really reluctant to try several of the liquors in the store for this reason. Scot was patient, passionate, and really took the time to explain parts of his process and how that would impact the flavour and experience of the liquor. I still wasn't totally convinced so I was pretty careful with my selections. Because I could only try 3 samples, I settled on:
- Djinneh (gin)
- Muscat
- Plum brandy
I tried the gin first. I have never liked gin, never thought I would like gin, and after my sip I waited for that familiar feeling of "oh no this was a mistake" to come over me. Nothing. Nada. Zip. It just went down and warmed up on it's way. There was no burn and no bitterness. I was really shocked. This is gin I would drink on the rocks with soda and lime. I have NEVER imagined myself with a gin-based drink.
The Muscat was by far my favourite. It's a rich, smooth, almost port like alcohol. It was everything I expected and then a little bit richer. We bought a bottle of that immediately.
The plum brandy was equally surprising, not as sweet as I expected but smooth, flavourful, and totally organic tasting. If brandy has a terroir, I think I tasted it here.
Not only are the products wonderful, but the artistry of the labels was something that fascinated me. I hope they come out with merch (hint hint) because I would wear some of these designs happily. Kudos to the local artist who created them, I can't wait to see what other designs you folks have hiding on your hard drive!
Seriously, if you're passing through, take a moment to stop in. It's on the main drag, it's a beautiful store, and Scot will make you feel like you know what you're doing. I can't wait to go back and try the Hecate spiced rum! read more