Quebec, a land of many tastes | Episode 3: Forests of flavour

In this third and final episode, entrepreneur and forager Ariane Paré-Le Gal heads over to her favourite “flavour lab” to meet up with Émilie Patry, head of marketing and communications at Domaine Lafrance, and David Soucy, consummate woodsman and co-founder of Distillerie Mitis.

The forests of Quebec abound with plants and aromatics. But with so much to choose from, where do you start, and how do you find the perfect mix? Émilie admits that it’s no straightforward task. “We begin with the classics, then we experiment, taste, and test. Some ingredients are delicious together and others definitely aren’t. What we do is like the work of a perfumer!” For the task, they imported a still from Bordeaux that was specially designed for distilling fruit—at Domaine Lafrance, staying as true as possible to the flavours of fresh fruit is paramount.

The still is central to the process that Distillerie Mitis uses to produce their exceptional forest gin Mugo. “I consider myself a flavour creator,” said master blender David Soucy. “You’ll find a lot of products on the shelves that use and mix essences. We’re an essence-free distillery, so we make a conscious effort to bring out the taste of our ingredients. The still is our secret weapon.” Trained as a forest engineer, David has always been deeply fond of our forests and its aromas. “This is the root of what I want to bring to our product offering. I work with the forest to provide the Distillerie Mitis experience through every single bottle. My background in forest engineering means I know the precise moment to gather my pine so that it comes out exactly as I want it to when I distill it.”

When the distillery set up shop in 2016, gin production was already in the cards. “We told ourselves that when the time came to create our gin, we’d use local aromatics!” recounted David, who wanted to craft a boreal gin that would both respect tradition and surprise tasters.

But to return to our original query, what does a forest taste like? Émilie’s response was disarmingly simple: “If I had a glass of Rouge Gorge in hand, I’d say ‘this!’ When walking through the forest, you may stop and think, ‘Wow, I don’t know what that is, but it smells amazing!’ Then, 500 metres on, it’s a completely different fragrance that dominates. What we have here is a blend of all that—an entire forest in a glass!”  

Sourcing and capturing the flavours of the forest is exactly what guides these three artisans of the wilderness. “There’s a complexity in this creative process,” confided Ariane. “You’re basically dancing with flavour, getting up close and personal with the plant and really trying to understand it. Developing the essence of sweet clover took us four years. When we thought we had captured it, we would make another batch and discover something new. That’s what’s so complex about working with nature in general, and even more so with the wilderness. We have to stay humble when it comes to raw materials and the transformative process that lies ahead—then be ready for surprises. Sometimes small miracles happen, but there are failures too, and they’re all part of the learning process.” So, you’re never truly “out of the woods”—but in a good way!

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