Okanagan Spirits

I really must visit downtown Kelowna more often.  After I retrieved my hubby from the airport this afternoon, we decided to swing by Blonde and pick our daughter up from work.  She still had a good 25 minutes to go so we wandered down the street and came upon this amazing new place that opened just before Christmas.   

Okanagan Spirits is a beautifully appointed distillery located in the 200 Block of Bernard Avenue just east of the Paramount Theatre, in the space that used to be Welkmark.

They have a tasting bar where you can sample an amazing array of spirits and liqueur.  If our bar wasn't already well stocked with Gin and Vodka I would have purchased a bottle of their Raspberry Eau de Vie which is like a very fresh raspberry flavoured vodka.  I also detected the scent of dulse, which surprised our hostess, but have to wonder now that I think about it.  I bought a really interesting book last fall called "Tastebuds and Molecules" and it suggested one of the flavours to pair with raspberry is nori, which is pretty much what dulse is, but from the east coast.  Could it be a secret ingredient?  I also enjoyed their their Gin, which had a really wonderful spruce scent with what I can only describe as a subtle note of thyme.  

By coincidence my husband had been discussing their Canados with one of his golfing partners just yesterday.  It's a Scotch-like spirit and my husband purchased a bottle of it. All of the products are produced with local ingredients, many on site, in the distiller you see pictured above.  Ashley invited us to come back another time when the distiller was in use.  I can't wait to visit again.  Okanagan Spirits is definitely going on the list of places to visit when we have company.