by Andrew Morrison | I recently had the chance to walk through what will soon become Vancouver’s newest distillery. It’s called Odd Society Spirits, and it’s located near the foot of Commercial Drive at 1725 Powell Street. Owners Gordon Glanz and Miriam Karp – who are already members of the BC Artisan Distillers Guild – expect to receive their manufacturers license any day now (so they can start distilling), and hope to have the public side of it up and running at some point before the end of the summer. Miriam is handling the marketing side of things, while Gordon – a graduate of the Masters in Brewing & Distilling program at Scotland’s Heriot-Watt University – will be the distiller (he’s been making spirits since high school).

Odd Society will be a small batch craft distillery with strong “estate” thinking, meaning they’ll be doing everything themselves and sourcing all of their ingredients close to hand. They have a great set up with three 100L fermenters with three stills that can produce up to 100 bottles a day. We can’t wait to try some!

It’s a neat building, too. Previously a motorcycle shop for some 18 years, the long and then space is now split with the 550 sqft. frontage given over to a tasting room/bar, where sippers can try their East Van Vodka, Mongrel Moonshine Whisky, and Wallflower Gin (down the road they also hope to make a Canadian Rye and several liqueurs). The rest of the space is reserved for all the magical booze-making machinery that you can see in the shots above and below. In addition to tastings, we can also expect tours, classes, and maybe even a supper or three.

ALL ANTICIPATED OPENINGS

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Andrew Morrison is the editor-in-chief of Scout and BC’s Senior Judge at the Canadian Culinary Championships. He contributes regularly to a wide range of publications, radio programs, and TV shows on local food, culture and travel. He live and works in the vibrant Strathcona neighbourhood, where he also collects inexpensive things and enjoys birds, skateboards, whisky, shoes, many songs, and the smell of wood fires.