It is unlikely that any spirits drinker in Niagara, or even southern Ontario, is unfamiliar with Dillon’s Small Batch Distillers.
Founded in 2012, long before craft distilling became a thing, Dillon’s has been serving up fine spirits for almost a decade, beginning with a grape-based gin they produce to this day, the gentle, ‘New World’ style Unfiltered Gin 22. That gin was soon joined by another spirit distilled from grape rather than grain, Method 95 Vodka.
Geoff Dillon is a master distiller with degrees in biochemistry and economics and planned all along to use the bounty of natural botanicals, herbs and fruit sourced from Niagara. The distiller has always focused squarely on small-batch spirits, hand-crafted at the production facility in Beamsville on the north side of QEW.
The location in Beamsville, in the heart of Niagara wine country, was chosen in part for its proximity to the local ingredients. They take advantage of the rick niagara soil to grow many of the botanicals needed for their products on their site.
The first products from Dillon’s were made from a base of Niagara grapes that would otherwise have been thrown to the ground during the annual thinning process. Instead, they are dropped into baskets, fermented and distilled at Dillon’s.
But the backbone of Dillon’s product line is its Canadian rye whisky.
“Most people don’t know that Canadian rye whisky can be (and often is) made with as little as zero per cent rye then coloured and flavoured,” says Dillon. “Our whisky is made with 100% Ontario grown rye (eventually 100% Niagara-grown), and I know people will be blown away when they taste it,” he said in 2012.
A big part of the program at Dillon’s is the use of seasonal spirits made from fresh Niagara fruit including peaches, pears and cherries, purchased and processed at Dillon’s with the pure juices added straight into the still for blending. The distillery also makes its own bitters, tonics, sodas and pre-mixed, high end cocktails.
On Sunday we travelled to Niagara for our first real outing in months. Dillons had a pre-order special - you reserved a spot at a covered table on the property and received a cocktail and charcuterie box. To us this sounded like the perfect way to celebrate an easing of the COVID and a return to 'sort of normal'.
I ordered the Cucumber G and T and Paul the strawberry Lemonade.
Both were perfect.
Not long after our charcuterie box was delivered. It was a great combination of nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, bread, meats, cheeses and a grape spread.
All in all, a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Niagara.
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