They were two, now they are 70: For ten years, producers of gin and spirits have been mushrooming in Quebec. However, most of them do not distill profits or products here. How is it possible?
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Gin St Laurent. Romeo’s Gin. The KM12. Crazy herbs. The Ungava. The Radune. about. Le Menaud.
All Quebec bottles, right? Actually not so much, even if they are all marked with a lily and come from the foot of Monts-Valin or from the riverbank.
It’s Marcel Mailhot telling you. The organic farmer from Saint-Jacques in Lanaudière has been converting his grain into neutral alcohol (GNS) since 2019.
“Hardly anyone does that, from grain to bottle,” says the proud father of Le Grand Dérangement distillery, who prides himself on making a “true” local product.
Photo by Marcel Mailhot taken from the Grand Dérangement Facebook page
Menaud in Charlevoix or La Société Secrète near Percé are two of the seven other distilleries of 70 that also do this.
This Quebec-made GNS is worth four times what its Ontario competitors are buying, estimates the 62-year-old farmer, who has been “losing for three years.”
Sometimes when he goes to the SAQ he gets hives. “This is great nonsense. It’s Ontario alcohol, it has nothing to do with Quebec,” he shouts over the many fleur-de-lis bottles.
bad debate
Nicolas Duvernois disagrees. “So there’s no such thing as Quebec microbrewery beer because the hops don’t come from here?” asks the creator of the first Quebec-made vodka, Pur Vodka, whose tagline is “From ambition to bottle.”
The entrepreneur behind Duvernois Esprits Créatifs is best known to the public for his role as a kite investor and is “the biggest of the little ones” in the industry. Its business model is unique and its sales volume is significant.
Photo of Nicolas Duvernois taken from Duvernois’ Facebook page
His Romeo’s vodka and gins are blended at his partner Michel Jodoin in Rougemont. Its “world’s best” GNS comes from Greenfield Global in Chatham, Ontario.
“I’m an alcohol producer from Quebec. “My job is to develop products that I believe the customer wants at the best possible price and taste,” the entrepreneur chants.
He’s fed up with this “micro-details of production” debate and would rather talk about the fate of Quebec’s alcohol industry, which is “so troubled”.
Just last week, he says, three local microdistilleries approached him about the purchase. Perhaps 200 different gins is too much for Quebec, he argues, and a little innovation would be in order.
Everyone is confused
In fact, there are rarely microdistilleries that profit from gold. The Distillerie du St. Laurent in Rimouski was placed under the protections of the Bankruptcy and Bankruptcy Act in mid-March with over $13 million in debt.
Profits are rare in the industry, all the more reason to differentiate yourself by focusing on 100% local production, says Denis Guindon of the Côte des Saints distillery in Mirabel.
Like Marcel Mailhot, he produces bottled cereals. “That’s important because the bottle is 95% alcohol,” he emphasizes, comparing the GNS to a steak and the herbs to salt.
He has been campaigning for years to ensure that the manufacturing process of local GNS is certified.
“Right now a cat wouldn’t recognize her kittens there, they’re all in the same pack. But we see a window of opportunity with Bill 17,” says the man who, after four years of preparation, is about to launch his whiskey on the market.
Whiskey from the Côte des Saints distillery has been brought to life in cherry and bourbon casks for four years. Photo provided by Denis Guindon
Bill 17, tabled by the CAQ government in May, “is not perfect” but has the advantage of favoring growers who use local grain.
“It’s a welcome boost for those like us who contribute to the Quebec economy through the purchase of fertilizers and crops and through the farmers tending our fields,” said Denis Guindon.
He hopes that the lily “Origine Québec” that “mixes everyone up” will soon give rise to a new, more relevant and rewarding term on SAQ’s shelves.