March 18th. 2023- Guests – Davin De Kergommeaux, and distillery co-founder James Lester

March 18, 2023 00:40:57

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Guests – Davin De Kergommeaux (author/whisky specialist) and distillery co-founder James Lester

Davin De Kergommeaux – Author & Whisky Specialist

DAVIN DE KERGOMMEAUX is an independent expert who has been writing, talking and teaching about whisky in all its forms and flavours for two decades.

DAVIN DE KERGOMMEAUX

He is the world’s leading authority on Canadian whisky and has been called “Canada’s unofficial whisky ambassador” as well as being named one of the most influential Canadians in Food and Drink by The Globe and Mail in 2016. Davin is the founder and chairperson of the prestigious Canadian Whisky Awards!

James Lester – co-founder Sons of Vancouver Distillery

Jenna Diubaldo Richard Klaus James Lester

Sons of Vancouver is a small distillery on Vancouver’s North Shore. It was born out of a young, foolhardy desire to follow passions and contribute to a growing community of independent distillers. Best known for the ever-popular No. 82 amaretto, the distillery is now running a growing whisky program and is very excited to bring super flavourful rye whiskies to the Canadian market.

Sons of Vancouver has shifted into whisky-making in a big way, with the goal of changing the standard for rye whisky in Canada. After becoming the first craft distillery to win ‘Canadian Whisky of the Year’ at the 2023 Canadian Whisky Awards, achieving this goal never seemed so possible.

They lead with big flavours, and high-rye expressions, and prefer to bottle their whiskies at barrel-proof. By allowing the whisky itself to guide the blend, each bottling is unique and provides an outlet to highlight the many facets of rye grain achieved through fermentation, distillation, and maturation.

Currently, they release whisky in limited quantities, 2 to 3 times per year. In the very near future, Sons of Vancouver will have whisky on shelves much more often. Until then, sign up for their whisky mailing list to keep current on new whisky releases, tasting events, and more!

Watch out for these releases:

Summer Road Trip Across the Mid West

Marshmallows over a Campfire

Cigarettes on a Leather Jacket

PALM TREES AND A TROPICAL BREEZE

‘2023 Canadian Whisky of the Year – Canadian Whisky Awards

The 3rd limited-release whisky from Sons of Vancouver Distillery, this 100% rye whisky was aged in used American oak, blended and transferred into bourbon barrels, and finally, rested in Virgin Islands rum casks. The rum undertones provide breezy tropical vibes that complement the natural rye spice perfectly.

The nose hits with pit-roasted pineapple and vanilla cigarillo, continuing with pine humidor and under-ripe banana on the palate. It finishes with allspice and demerara sugar, leaving you dreaming of daiquiris on the beach.

One of the founding owners of SOV, James Lester started the distillery alongside best friend Richard Klaus and partner Jenna Diubaldo

Best of all they also run a 5-day Whisky making school.

Details at https://sonsofvancouver.ca/

and…

https://canadianwhisky.org/

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:

Van Wine Festival

Lt. Governors Awards

New releases from

Hillside

Mt Boucherie

Moon Curser

Unsworth

JULY 30 2022-SUMMER SPIRITS with Davin De Kergommeaux

July 28, 2022 01:03:53

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SUMMER SPIRITS with Davin De Kergommeaux

Proudly Sponsored by Harbour Air

THE SHOW

My spirits education began and ended with the same bottle of Lemon Gin.

My brother and I were the youngest members of the Kamloops Rube Band.

All the other band members were college-age or dads.

Denis and I tried to keep up with “the boys” when we did parades or road trips.

As much as we liked the first taste of lemon gin, we HATED ourselves the morning after.

For me, it only took one bottle and I never went back to spirits. That is until I met Davin de Kergommeaux at the Canadian Whisky Championships in Victoria.

Davin has been an author and whisky reviewer/judge for over two decades.

Davin De Kergommeaux

His books Canadian Whisky The Portable Expert, The New Portable Expert, and The Definitive Guide to Canadian Distilleries are invaluable to those of you seeking support and deep information on whisky and spirits.

www.canadianwhisky.org

So. When I decided to do a Summer Spirits special – Davin was a natural co-host.

I asked two things of him:

Please recommend spirit makers who are also storytellers

and… stop me when I get stupid.

He was great on the first ask and on the second request, Davin almost gave up on me.

Davin’s recommendations were:

Caitlin Quinn – Head Distiller at Eau Claire Distillery, Turner Valley, Alberta.

Negroni. Old Fashion. Rupert’s Whisky Sassafras.

www.eauclairedistillery.ca

Caitlin Quinn – Eau Claire

Jake Clark – Consumer Engagement Manager Strait and Narrow – Custom Handcrafted Gins/Pacific Coast Cocktails

Grapefruit Rosemary/Pear Rhubarb/Peach Elderflower/Lemon Lavender (Makers of 1908 Gin)

www.straitandnarrow.com

Bob Baxter – President & Co-founder Yukon Brewing Company

Spiked Seltzers – Cherry and Lime/Pineapple Ginger/Raspberry/Basil/Mango Hibiscus and a great Lemon Lavender Radler (German Shandy)

www.yukonbeer.com

Bryce Parsons – Master Distiller Last Best Brewing. Calgary.

The man who created 52 different gins in one year.

Last Best Afterglow Gin & Soda – Savage Love Tom Collins – Fortunella Citrus Iced Tea

www.lastbestbrewing.com

Colin McDougall – Corby’s Spirits Portfolio Consultant.

JP Wiser’s 18-year-old Whisky and Lot 40 Dark Oak 100% Rye Whisky

The man is a storyteller. Enjoy the tales.

www.corby.ca

Thank you Davin De Kergommeaux, Letittia King, Rob Roycroft and Heather Gillespie at Yukon Brewing.

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:

Fort Berens – Releases and Awards

Aug 4 Cowichan pour at Brentwood School

Wine Align – National Wine Awards

Township 7 New Wines

HaltWhistle Cowichan Cheese and Unsworth Pairing Session

Hester Creek – Foating down The Creek

August 14th, 2021-SUMMER SPIRITS with Davin De Kergommeaux

August 13, 2021 01:06:16

hello

SUMMER SPIRITS with Davin De Kergommeaux

THE SHOW

My spirits education began and ended with the same bottle of Lemon Gin.

My brother Denis and I were the youngest members of the Kamloops Rube Band.

All the other band members were college-age or dads.

Denis and I tried to keep up with “the boys” when we did parades or road trips.

As much as we liked the first taste of lemon gin, we HATED ourselves the morning after.

For me, it only took one bottle and I never went back to spirits. That is until I met Davin de Kergommeaux at the Canadian Whisky Championships in Victoria.

Davin has been an author and whisky reviewer/judge for over two decades.

Davin De Kergommeaux

www.canadianwhisky.org

So. When I decided to do a Summer Spirits special – Davin was a natural co-host.

I asked two things of him:

Please recommend spirit makers who are also storytellers

and… stop me when I get stupid.

He was great on the first ask and on the second request, Davin almost gave up on me.

Davin’s recommendations were

Caitlin Quinn – Head Distiller at Eau Claire Distillery, Turner Valley, Alberta.

Negroni. Old Fashion. Rupert’s Whisky Sassafras.

www.eauclairedistillery.ca

Caitlin Quinn – Eau Claire

Jake Clark – Consumer Engagement Manager Strait and Narrow – Custom Handcrafted Gins/Pacific Coast Cocktails

Grapefruit Rosemary/Pear Rhubarb/Peach Elderflower/Lemon Lavender (Makers of 1908 Gin)

www.straitandnarrow.com

Bob Baxter – President & Co-founder Yukon Brewing Company

Spiked Seltzers – Cherry and Lime/Pineapple Ginger/Raspberry/Basil/Mango Hibiscus and a great Lemon Lavender Radler (German Shandy)

www.yukonbeer.com

Bryce Parsons – Master Distiller Last Best Brewing. Calgary.

The man who created 52 different gins in one year.

Last Best Afterglow Gin & Soda – Savage Love Tom Collins – Fortunella Citrus Iced Tea

www.lastbestbrewing.com

Colin McDougall – Corby’s Spirits Portfolio Consultant.

JP Wiser’s 18-year-old Whisky and Lot 40 Dark Oak 100% Rye Whisky

The man is a storyteller. Enjoy the tales.

www.corby.ca

Thank you Davin De Kergommeaux, Letittia King, Rob Roycroft and Heather Gillespie at Yukon Brewing.

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:

The Okanagan Re-Connect

A food and wine tour of The Okanagan. At Least 20 winery interviews over 3-4 weeks

Next week

Chef Mark Filatow – Waterfront Wines

David Patterson – Tantalus

Jason Parkes – The Hatch

Sperling Vineyards

Ellen Walker Mathews – TOTA

Christine Coletta/Matt Dumayne – Haywire/OCP

Mixology at Duncan Firehall

May 15th, 2020 – The WHISKY SPECIAL, featuring Davin de Kergommeaux, Eau Claire & Shelter Point

May 15, 2020 00:55:44

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The WHISKY SPECIAL, featuring Davin de Kergommeaux, Eau Claire & Shelter Point

THE SHOW

Davin De Kergommeaux – The Definitive Guide to Canadian Distilleries

“There is a movement stirring in Canada’s spirits world”

“There was a time, in the decades after Prohibition, when Canadian whisky was all the rage in America, when a bottle of Crown Royal sat on the bar cart of any serious imbiber. But by the time the renaissance in whiskey making and drinking began in the early 2000s, the Canadian product had long ago been dismissed as bland and bottom-shelf.” (NY Times 2018)

Davin has been featured on Tasting Room Radio a number of times.

He is the voice, face and author who best represents Canadian Whisky.

Check out his bio….

DAVIN DE KERGOMMEAUX is an independent expert who has been writing, talking, and teaching about whisky in all its forms and flavours for two decades. He is the world’s leading authority on Canadian whisky, and has been called “Canada’s unofficial whisky ambassador” as well as being named one of the most influential Canadians in Food and Drink by The Globe and Mail in 2016.

Davin de Kergommeaux

He is a former contributing editor to Whisky Magazine, and has contributed to or co-authored eight other books about whisky, spirits, and cocktails. He now writes full-time, and is regularly featured in many websites and publications, including Whisky Advocate.

De Kergommeaux is the founder and chairperson of the prestigious Canadian Whisky Awards and publishes comprehensive tasting notes on his website, www.canadianwhisky.org.

Penguin Random House has released his landmark book The Definitive Guide to Canadian Distilleries with co-author Blair Phillips.

It begins:

“There is a movement stirring in Canada’s spirits world”

Davin de Kergommeaux is acknowledged as the man leading the movement.

When I first met him I admitted right away that I had no history with his spirits world. (Lemon gin does not count)

So he became my teacher and I hope through Tasting Room Radio he became yours as well.

This book is a huge read. There are over 200 distilleries mentioned… it may take you many months and many sips to read the whole book but what a journey.

Davin talks about tasting and discovering these fine craft Distilleries

Eau Claire – Turner Valley, Ab

Forty Creek – Grimsby. On

Two Brewers – Whitehorse, Yukon

Shelter Point – Campbell River, BC

Rheault – Hearst, On

IronWorks – Lunenburg, NS

Black Velvet – Lethbridge, Ab

Dairy – Almonte, On

Crown Royal

And others…

Two distilleries are featured in the last half of this week’s “Room”

Eau Claire Distillery – Turner Valley , Alberta – just south of Calgary.

Caitlin Quinn Eau Claire

They were the first hand crafted whisky in Alberta. Noted for old school horse farming, a wonderful single malt now in its third batch and their very popular Parlour Gin . Our guest is Glaswegian Caitlin Quinn, Master Distiller.

Eau Claire Single Malt

Shelter Point – Campbell River, BC

When we first started Tasting Room Radio years ago we heard about “this guy on Vancouver Island making whisky”

Shelter Point

That guy turned out to be owner/farmer Patrick Evans. He has 155 hectares to work with and a great team that includes Head Distiller Leon Webb and our guest Distillery Manager Jacob Weibe

Shelter Point

FYI – when asked by officials, they quickly turned their spirits into hand sanitizer for all of us to use. It’s a safeguard against the virus. That commitment alone should solidify OUR commitment to tasting their whiskeys, Gin and Vodka.

www.canadianwhisky.org.

https://eauclairedistillery.ca/

https://shelterpoint.ca/

STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON

Fort Berens

Nude Beverages. On a big time roll

David Farran – Founder of Eau Claire Distillery

Unsworth/Orfofino/Row 14/The Hatch/Road 13 – The virtual Road Trip