LCBO Food & Drink Autumn 2023

Lock, Stock and Barrel Up to 80 per cent of whisky’s flavour comes from oak barrels, so when the Sleeman family planned Spring Mill Distillery, mak ing bespoke barrels was a priority. “It’s important for us to be able to say we have a hand in every part of making our product,” says Quinn Sleeman, who apprenticed in Scotland and the U.S. to learn the barrel-making trade. Historically, Ontario had several cooperages, but “it’s considered a dead art in Canada,” says Sleeman. Working from a Kitchener workshop not too far from the Guelph distillery, he repairs and refurbishes the used American oak barrels in use at Spring Mill, and takes 2 to 3 days to craft each of his own, using Canadian white oak. “I’m excited about being part of an old trade, one that hasn’t changed that much,” says Sleeman, who’s keen to experiment with Canadian woods like black cherry or hickory.

Spring Mill John Sleeman & Sons

Rye Whisky LCBO 34384, $44.95

DRINK AROUND THE WORLD The Rouge 140 cocktail, offered at both Louix Louis and the Astor Lounge in the St. Regis Toronto, elevates the Caesar to a drink that celebrates some of the 140 languages spoken in Toronto. Global flavours fea tured in the drink are Chinese, Jamaican, Southeast Asian, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and more.

Field & Flask is the new online portal for Craft Spirits Ontario (craftspiritsontario.ca): map your next distillery visit, search for events and more. FROM GRAIN TO GLASS

PORTRAIT COURTESY OF SPRING MILL DISTILLERY; COCKTAIL: MAYA VISNYEI

118 FOOD & DRINK AUTUMN 2023