How long have you been around?
This project has been in the works for several years but we officially opened our doors to the public at the end of October 2013.
What is the story behind how the distillery started? Why craft distilling?
I started distilling in high school. Right after high school I spent a year in Germany working at a winery that also made fruit Schnapps. I remember coming across the distiller sleeping in front of his still and thought that was a pretty great. He also made awesome Kirshwasser. Over the years, I kept following the huge rise of micro-distiling in the US. In 2009, I quit my job and went to Heriot Watt to study brewing and distilling in Edinburgh. That’s also where I met my fellow distiller and business partner Joshua Beach.
Where did you get your fermenters and stills from?
Right now we have three 1000 litre fermenters. Two were made by Ripley Stainless in Summerland and one came from China. We have a full brewhouse with an extra 2000 litre fermenter arriving next week. Our stills came from Germany. We found them used on the Internet but had several important customisations done like getting a new whisky top, a gin basket and a vodka column.
What spirits are you currently producing?
We are currently producing three spirits: vodka, creme de cassis, and whisky. The whisky is going into barrels only. We will have a gin out in March.
What do you use to create your distillate? Where do you source your raw materials from?
Currently all our alcohol is made from 100% malted barley. Since we are a designated craft distillery, all our base products must be grown in BC, so we are using BC pale malt from Gambrinus. Once our brewhouse is installed we will start using other grains like corn and rye.
I hear that you are selling entire casks of single malt – can you tell me how this process works?
The casks have been super popular. It’s something that’s done in Scotland all the time. Generally a group of friends will get together and purchase a cask. The numbered 30-liter cask is filled and labelled and stays at the distillery for a minimum three years. Owners get to follow the development of their whisky with a yearly tasting of their cask. At the end of three years the cask is bottled and yields about 45 bottles.
Do you do tastings or tours?
We are open Thursday to Sunday 1:00 to 7:00. Tastings are complimentary. We also offer complimentary public tours on the weekend at 4:00 pm. Private tours and tastings are also available for groups.
Are you applying for a lounge licence?
Absolutely! We hope to have some good news very soon! We have a whole list of special cocktails just waiting to be served!
Anything else you’ve got in the works that you’d like to mention?
We have a big lineup of products we want to make. First, of course, is gin. Then, we’ll work on the others. We have a first cask of maple whisky aging. We took a bourbon barrel that was used to age maple syrup and filled it with our whisky. It could be really delicious. That’s the great thing about being a small distillery, we get to experiment!!
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Odd Society Spirits can be found online here, or you can check out their Facebook or twitter for the latest news and releases.
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