The Woods Spirit Co. is North Vancouver’s local Italian Spirit speciality distillery. I recently attended their distillery celebration, acknowledging its new ownership, and speaking to the direction in which they intend to grow their new acquisition.
And today we would see the results of that speech and promise in their new spirit launch, the first in over 4 years.
The Woods is already well known for their award-winning Amaro, followed closely by their popular Limoncello. And now have a blood orange Arancello to enjoy this summer season. For those unfamiliar, Arancello is similar to Limoncello, except instead of lemons being distilled it is oranges and its peels. The result is a lovely citrus sipper, ideal straight or mixed into a cocktail.
This was a ticketed event held at downtown‘s H Tasting Lounge, within the Weston Bayshore Hotel. A lovely setting on their patio, to take a vantage of the warm summer day, with the ability to bring attention to the line of spirits for those outside of North Vancouver.
Each reasonably price ticket included two custom cocktails, as well as a help yourself assortment of appetizers. All 3 of which courtesy of each H Tasting Lounge’s kitchen. Whereas all the cocktails are crafted by their bar manager, made featuring the spirit of the hour: The Woods Spirit Co. Arancello.
Summer Tomato Toast with honey and balsamic macerated heirloom gem tomatoes, stracciatella cheese, shiso chimichurri, toasted sesame brioche, and basil. Sadly we didn’t get to try this, although noted how lovely they looked from afar.
The Corn & Potato Croquettes were my favourite bites of the night with cotija cheese, pickled radish, soy roasted corn lime aioli, and micro greens. Sweet and crispy patties that made for a great starchy side to the below.
The Kung Pao Shrimp was crispy battered shrimp, kung pao sauce, cashew sesame crunch, and micro cilantro. Chewy bits of meat coated in a sticky syrup-like sauce. A little lean alone, but a more fulsome bite partnered with the croquette. Both tasty morsels, but not complimentary to the cocktails, which really needed to be their own course.
I came with a friend and we were able to try all four, as well as the Arancello as is. And to be honest with you, I prefer it over rocks, and I can see it being easily enjoyed in a mix with sparkling soda. The flavour was so light and refreshing. It would make a great accompaniment to sparkling wine for a mimosa, or as a splash in a light beer for a Radler. A product to sip and share with friends and as a centre to a bespoke cocktail, as its sweetness modifier.
As guests got settled we heard from The Wood’s head distiller, the husband and wife owners, and their sales and marketing manager. A small, but agile 4 person team.
We were reminded that their journey started November 2023 of last year and their single minded vision has led them to seeing their new product being boxed up and ready to ship June of 2024. A journey that was hard earned starting with the peeling of thousands of oranges. Then applying their unique vacuum distillation process to macerate the fruit and bring out the most of its flavour. A process not applied by many distillers, or at the scale they do it at.
This is a process that is done without boiling, where individual ingredients are distilled in their own vacuum, before being brought and mixed together. The result a more fragrant bouquet. Orange peels soaked in alcohol alongside raspberry for its creamy fruit flavour, and lime leaf for its aromatic citrus.
The following are the four available cocktails and their tasting notes, all of which is and will be and are available on H Tasting’s menu.
The Tropical Affair was the Woods Arancello, Woods Chiaro pisco, acidified guava, tonic bitters, and egg white. A stunning coupe, we wished the rest of the cocktails were this photogenic. It was creamy and slightly sweet, the guava was refreshing, and the bitters easy and pronounced. My favourite of all the drinks.
The Gardner is the Woods Arancello, gin, lacto fermented beets, fino sherry peychauds, and mint distillate. This was a unique one with the beets. As its name suggested this was a botanical brew with grassy vegetal notes. Described as being inspired by a blood orange salad. I just would have liked a salted goat cheese rim or some salted plum for needed acidity, and to take away from its single tone.
Into the Woods was the Woods Arancello, black raspberry, shiso, orancio, wormwood, and Prosecco. This is a more concentrated cocktail with earthy vanilla notes, and sips that reminded me of cough syrup. Not to my tastes.
The Isle of Skye is Woods Arancello,
scotch, bayshore honey, lemon, and green strawberry. I liked the way it reads, but found it more sour and tart than the refreshing sweetness I had hoped with honey and fresh fruit.
And seeing as my guest had never tried any of their spirits, we took the opportunity to sample their Nocino, a unique green walnut liquor that I discovered during my last visit to their distillery. My friends described this as something witches would drink barefoot during the summer solstice. A statement we would later find surprisingly correct as we learned that its origins are from earthy herbal brews. We all agreed that this would make a great winter season beverage, and would be nice warmed up as well.
Overall, this was a great showing and good reason to keep an eye out for what The Woods Spirit Co. will be releasing next.
The Woods Spirit Co.
1450 Rupert St, North Vancouver, BC V7J 1E9
thewoodsspiritco.com
