Spirits - Gin

At Entre Pierre et Terre in Franklin, in Montérégie, not only do owners Michelle Boyer and Loïc Chanut turn their orchard fruit into cider, wine and spirits, they also find ingenious ways to make sure nothing goes to waste.

At the corner of Chapleau and Masson in Montreal’s Rosemont neighbourhood, Lilian Wolfelsberger is constantly experimenting. The co-founder of Distillerie de Montréal took us behind the scenes in his lab and revealed the creative process behind his chocolate and pineapple spirits.

What does a meadow, a river or forest taste like? That’s a prickly question. One we boldly try to answer by exploring the province in the hopes of discovering Quebec’s taste profile, a bit like a large herbarium of flavours and aromas.

The main ingredient in Quebec spirits is our precious blue gold. Each bottle of locally made gin and vodka contains a bit of our terroir. Here’s how our waters add to their unique flavour.

Whether we enjoy them in cocktails, with tonic water or even straight up to better taste them and discover their nuances, gins are popular and continue to surprise us with more and more extravagant fragrances.

How to store alcohol once the bottle’s been opened.

All it took was one and a quarter miles of corn fields in every direction, boreal water sourced from almost 300 feet underground, and a splash of crazy, and Pierre Mantha had everything he needed to start a new career by launching an artisanal distillery—the first in Outaouais—built just a few steps from the Gatineau airport. The secret to his success? A range of top-shelf spirits made with the choicest of raw ingredients.

Quebec micro-distillery made gin is on the rise! Here are a few gins worth sampling – whether on the rocks or in a cocktail.