ARISAIG: A local distillery needs to make a little more room in its trophy case.
Arisaig’s Steinhart Distillery took home a silver medal and was named Canadian Gin Distiller of the Year at the Berlin International Spirits Competition. Thomas Steinhart, owner of the distillery, said the competition was tough with no gold medals handed out and only two or three silver medals.
“I was one of them,” he said, noting his gin was graded as the highest scoring silver medal.
“We’ve been making it since about six months after we opened. The only reason I didn’t start the gin from the get go was I didn’t have all my botanicals sourced.”
This isn’t the first time the Steinhart gin received recognition. The Arisaig-based distillery received a bronze at the San Francisco World Sprits Competition and silver at the New York Wine and Spirits Competition last year. The distillery’s Habanero Vodka and Maple Vodka also received awards last year, with each winning gold in New York.
“It’s awesome,” said Steinhart of the recent award. “It’s bragging rights. I hope it will translate into more sales. More sales means more product sold, more money, more people employed.”
At the moment, the facility employs five full-time employees and several part-timers.
Originally from Germany, Steinhart said winning the award in Berlin was special.
“Germans are hard,” he said. “It’s not like a Canadian soccer game where everyone is a winner. It’s all blind tasting. Nobody knows what they are tasting. It’s very strict. If there is no 100 per cent winner, there is no gold.”
In around two-and-a-half years, Steinhart managed to make spirits held in high regards in North America and Europe. His was also the first Canadian distillery invited to join the British Gin Guild.
“We have some Canada 150 editions coming,” he said. “We are working on a coffee maple [vodka].”