Victorians love their beer, and well they should. The city is the birthplace of the Canadian brewpub, and today there are countless breweries that call the city home. But while beer has long dominated the local scene, there’s a growing trend towards craft spirits, bringing attention to dedicated distilleries in the area but also leading several well-known craft breweries to embark on distilling programs of their own.
One thing common to both industries is a commitment to local flavour. While exploring local Victoria spirits you can expect to taste whisky and other spirits distilled from local Vancouver Island grain, “rum” from local BC honey, and a seemingly endless line-up of gins made with locally foraged botanicals that taste like nothing else anywhere in the world.
As always, this list of the distilleries in and around Victoria is not ranked. If you think I’ve missed something, feel free to leave a comment below!
Macaloney’s Island Distillery
Since its opening by Scot Graeme Macaloney in 2016, Macaloney’s has garnered numerous accolades, including the prestigious title of ‘Best Single Malt’ in Canada for their An Loy whisky, and in 2023, their Kildara whisky was declared the World’s Best Pot Still Whisky at the World Whiskies Awards. Master Distiller Mike Nicolson brings a wealth of experience in Scottish distilleries to Canada, producing local single malts that arguably are just as good as some found across the pond. If you’re in the mood for something less strong, they also use the same Canadian barley to brew beer!
Phillips Fermentorium Distilling Co.
Phillips Fermentorium Distilling Co is an extension of the wildly successful Phillips Brewing Company, one of the most popular breweries in Victoria. Initially dipping their toes in the water with the release of Stump Gin back in 2014 as well as four unique handcrafted tonics, Fermentorium now produces several different gins and whiskys made with local barley and distilled in a 1920s solid copper Scottish still. In addition to malting their own barley, they also supply malt to other distilleries in the region. One of the highlight is the fast-selling Small Talk Whisky, which features a blend from eight different barrels, each contributing its own character to the spirit. Try it at the Phillips taproom alongside the extensive beer selection.
Driftwood Spirits
Driftwood is one of the most iconic Victoria breweries, or at least one of their beers is; Fat Tug is the quintessential Victoria beer, always popular in bars, liquor stores, and now even available on BC Ferries. Driftwood’s distilling program is newer though. Headed by Brendan Cook, a distiller with extensive experience in Scotch whisky production, Driftwood has so far released two unique gins: Contact, which is a citrus-forward gin which includes beeswax as a botanical, and Parabola, a more floral gin which includes rose, lavender, and violet. Both go delicious in cocktails. Whether you’re sipping on an IPA or a G&T, the funky and fun atmosphere at Driftwood makes it a highlight.
Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub
Spinnakers isn’t yet well-known for their distilling program, as it’s easily overshadowed by their legacy as Canada’s first brewpub. Fair enough. Locally sourced ingredients and water drawn from their on-site artesian well are key ingredients in both their beer and spirits, which are best enjoyed while taking in beautiful harbour views from their popular oceanfront location. I tried their cranberry gin, chocolate gin, and lavender gin (which is no longer available I believe). They also offer a strawberry gin, pink grapefruit gin, dry gin, and vodka. I really enjoyed Chocoholic Crème de Cacao, which uses chocolate husks from a fantastic local craft chocolate company, Sirene Chocolate.
Moon Distilling Company
Moon Underwater Brewing is another example of a Victoria brewery turned distillery. Visit the brewery for a pint, and then head right next door to their tasting room to sample some spirits. Co-Owner, Brewmaster, and Master Distiller Clay Potter is committed to local partnerships and ingredients, from Saanich Peninsula barley to spruce tips harvested near Tofino and locally roasted coffee. There’s a lot of experimentation going on, evidenced by the wide range of spirits available from the Sumatra Cold Brew Single Malt Whisky to the Spruce Tip Gin. A lot of energy is being put towards the whisky program in particular – the Antifogmatic Bliss is a Speyside-style single malt aged a in a Russian Imperial Stout aged barrel, then transferred into a Caribbean Rum barrel.
Sherringham Distillery
Sherringham Distillery, which started in Jason and Alayne MacIsaac’s Shirley garage, is now one of the most successful distilleries on Vancouver Island. Their flagship Seaside Gin won Best Contemporary Gin at the 2019 World Gin Awards, and they’ve succeeded in following it up with a series of gins inspired by and celebrating the region. Sherringham partners with a local seaweed harvester and a lavender farm for their Seaside Gin, locally grown tea for their Kazuki Gin, and local chocolate and coffee companies for their liqueurs.
Devine Distillery
Devine Distillery is one of the best distilleries on Vancouver Island to find high-quality small-batch spirits that no one else is making. One of the highlights here is the award-winning “Ancient Grains” whisky, made from locally grown grains including barley, spelt, emmer, khorasan and einkorn, and tasting distinctly unlike any other variety of whisky you might have tried. They also make a genever, a ‘rum’ made from honey, and the Glen Saanich Single Malt, which consistently sells out very quickly, and like nearly all of their spirits, is highly decorated in awards. Sadly Devine doesn’t offer tastings, so if you visit the distillery your only option is to take a bottle home with you, but chances are good that you were going to do that anyway.
Sweetwater Distilling Co.
David and Fiona Walls’s Salt Spring Island distillery has been a long time in the works, with both COVID and bureaucratic red tape providing setbacks on their five year journey to opening. Sweetwater joins BC’s first craft distillery, Merridale, in using apples as their base. (They consulted Laurent Lafuente, a veteran distiller who also helped establish Merridale’s distilling program.) Despite being the newest distillery in the region, they’re off to a head start with a lineup that includes a vodka, chrysanthemum gin, brandy, and a nocino. The distillery/tasting room is in a gorgeous converted barn located on the family’s idyllic 40-acre property. It’s a little out of the way from other more established Salt Spring attractions, but is nonetheless well worth the drive.
Must Try: The nocino definitely seems to be the fan favourite, a sweeter take on the liqueur that is just begging to be poured over ice cream or sipped neat. I was also a fan of the gin, which was floral without being perfumey.
Tastings: Complimentary at the distillery
Salt Spring Shine Craft Distillery
Getting to Salt Spring Island from Victoria takes a short ferry ride, but this small distillery is well worth the trip. Salt Spring Shine fits in well with all the other local producers on the island, which is known for being a great place to try local wine, cheese, beer, and cider. Opened in 2016 by Michael Papp and Rie Otsubo-Papp, two Cordon Bleu chefs and former restauranteurs, the distillery stands out for its use of honey to distill its base spirit. In addition to a vodka and gin, they also produce a line of moonshines, including apple pie, mango, and barrel-aged versions.
Must Try: As delicious as the gin and vodka are, it’s the moonshines that really are the most unique offerings at this small distillery. The mango in particular just jumps out of the bottle with bright fresh juicy mango flavour.
Tastings: Complimentary at the distillery
Best Coast Distillers
There’s a standard procedure when you open up a distillery on Vancouver Island, and that’s to start by producing a vodka and a gin, maybe a few liqueurs, and then after three years release your first whisky. Cory Hastings and Corey Wood’s Best Coast Distillers skips all of that, and instead is set on defying convention. The two have begun production on an agricole sorghum rum and a “tequila”, along with a couple of of coffee-infused whiskys, a cinnamon whisky, and a few other surprises. If the thought of growing sorghum and agave on a 100 year-old North Saanich farm sounds strange to you, that’s because it is. The two crops are much more comfortable in sunny Texas and Jalisco respectively, so growing them here is pretty innovative stuff. Currently the newest distillery on Vancouver Island, Best Coast doesn’t have a tasting room yet, but they can be found at local farmers markets.
Must Try: You might expect the WildFire Whisky to taste a lot like Fireball, but it’s actually a way smoother drink that’s really nice to sip as opposed to shoot. Plus a portion of sales goes to organizations such as the Victoria Firefighters Charitable Foundation. The sorghum rum and “tequila” are yet to be released but will surely be worth trying out of curiosity if nothing else.
Tastings: Complimentary at the local farmers market
Victoria Distillers
You may not have heard of Victoria Distillers, but if you’re into gin you’ve almost certainly heard of their award-winning Empress 1908 gin. This vibrant indigo gin gets its distinct pigment from butterfly pea flowers found in the Blue Suede Shoes tea blend from the iconic Empress Hotel in downtown Victoria, as well as its distinct flavour. Despite only launching the gin in 2017, its quickly become more popular and recognizable than the rest of the brand, and is one of the most well-known Canadian gins on the market. Recently Victoria Distillers has rebranded the rest of their gins to match Empress 1908, and though they might be somewhat overshadowed by the popularity of the flagship gin here, all the spirits here are worth a try. Check out the lounge and tasting room at the spectacular waterfront location in downtown Sidney.
