A few hours after Liberty Distillery opened its doors on Granville Island last Friday, the long brass rail at the foot of its majestic mahogany bar was already well scuffed.
Dozens of curious passersby had walked in, sidled up to the bar built in 1890 for a saloon in Texas, it looks straight out of a Western movie , put a foot on the rail and asked the bartender for a shot of the distillerys first run: Truth Vodka.
Although Liberty Distillery is not the first artisanal distillery to open in Vancouver, its owners were the first to put in an application.
Five years ago, Robert Simpson, the founder of Liberty Wines, and his wife Lisa, a former international trade consultant with a background in culinary arts, never would have thought their quest to make hand-crafted spirits would have taken this long. Part of the challenge was turning a heritage building on federal lands into a distillery; the other was discovering that in fulfilling one city regulation, one more regulation seemed come into play.
But none of this frustration was in evidence as Lisa gave the WE a tour on opening day. Instead, the shelves and tables were stocked with bartending gifts and paraphernalia, many of which cleverly branded Liberty Distillery, the Carl stills from Germany were burbling away under the watchful eye of master distiller Laurent Lafuente and bartenders Jason Laidlaw and Taylor Bartell were pouring vodka shots and answering questions. (Under the licence, they cant sell you a sampling of their creations, but they can sell you a shotglass with a tasting sample in it.)
The lounge licence, which has been approved, was not yet on display so on opening day the bartenders were not yet serving up Liberty Distillerys signature cocktails (Shackers Sour and Whistler Punk, which pay homage to our logging past) but Simpsom had already planned for some of the wooden merchandising tables to be easily transformed into places where people can relax after a day of shopping or before they go to a play.
On Dec. 15 the distillery will launch its Railspur #1 White (unaged) Whiskey, with some barrels to be put aside for a début in 2016. Endeavour Gin will hit the shelves in January 2014. All the thrice-distilled spirits are made with 100 per cent organic BC products starting with the mash.
Distillery tours are available.
1494 Old Bridge St.
