SUMMER SPIRITS with Davin De Kergommeaux
THE SHOW
My spirits education began and ended with the same bottle of Lemon Gin.
My brother Denis and I were the youngest members of the Kamloops Rube Band.
All the other band members were college-age or dads.
Denis and I tried to keep up with “the boys” when we did parades or road trips.
As much as we liked the first taste of lemon gin, we HATED ourselves the morning after.
For me, it only took one bottle and I never went back to spirits. That is until I met Davin de Kergommeaux at the Canadian Whisky Championships in Victoria.
Davin has been an author and whisky reviewer/judge for over two decades.
Davin De Kergommeaux
His books Canadian Whisky The Portable Expert, The New Portable Expert, and The Definitive Guide to Canadian Distilleries are invaluable to those of you seeking support and deep information on whisky and spirits.
So. When I decided to do a Summer Spirits special – Davin was a natural co-host.
I asked two things of him:
Please recommend spirit makers who are also storytellers
and… stop me when I get stupid.
He was great on the first ask and on the second request, Davin almost gave up on me.
Davin’s recommendations were
Caitlin Quinn – Head Distiller at Eau Claire Distillery, Turner Valley, Alberta.
Negroni. Old Fashion. Rupert’s Whisky Sassafras.
Caitlin Quinn – Eau Claire
Jake Clark – Consumer Engagement Manager Strait and Narrow – Custom Handcrafted Gins/Pacific Coast Cocktails
Grapefruit Rosemary/Pear Rhubarb/Peach Elderflower/Lemon Lavender (Makers of 1908 Gin)
Bob Baxter – President & Co-founder Yukon Brewing Company
Spiked Seltzers – Cherry and Lime/Pineapple Ginger/Raspberry/Basil/Mango Hibiscus and a great Lemon Lavender Radler (German Shandy)
Bryce Parsons – Master Distiller Last Best Brewing. Calgary.
The man who created 52 different gins in one year.
Last Best Afterglow Gin & Soda – Savage Love Tom Collins – Fortunella Citrus Iced Tea
Colin McDougall – Corby’s Spirits Portfolio Consultant.
JP Wiser’s 18-year-old Whisky and Lot 40 Dark Oak 100% Rye Whisky
The man is a storyteller. Enjoy the tales.
Thank you Davin De Kergommeaux, Letittia King, Rob Roycroft and Heather Gillespie at Yukon Brewing.
STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON:
The Okanagan Re-Connect
A food and wine tour of The Okanagan. At Least 20 winery interviews over 3-4 weeks
Next week
Chef Mark Filatow – Waterfront Wines
David Patterson – Tantalus
Jason Parkes – The Hatch
Sperling Vineyards
Ellen Walker Mathews – TOTA
Christine Coletta/Matt Dumayne – Haywire/OCP
Mixology at Duncan Firehall
