Sheringham Distillery - Seaside Gin

A smash hit can be a double-edged sword. Look at ‘80s rock bands and their drippy power ballads. The euphoria of financial success from mass commercial appeal slowly turns to torture. Day in, day out, they play that song ad nauseum for the rest of their professional career. Do you honestly think Foreigner still wants to know what love is? Then, by contrast, there are those hits written without support from a major label, and voila, they connect on an entirely different level.

History repeats itself in distilling. Commercial success could arrive in the form of a syrupy flavoured vodka, dooming distillers to crank out their hit, day in and day out, for the masses. Fortunately for Alayne and Jason MacIssac at Sheringham Distillery, this was not the case.  Their first big hit arrived in a sensational gin called Seaside. That’s because from the start, they developed their gin on a foundation of integrity, artistry and flavour, then coupled this aesthetic with each of their beautiful spirits.

Long Walks on the Beach

The MacIsaac’s dial into the flavours that surround their south Vancouver Island distillery. For example, nature called as they walked along the rocky shores of nearby French Beach. “I was always trying to find really good ingredients when I was a chef – whatever  was seasonal and abundant,” says Jason. “Alayne and I were walking along the beach discussing gin, and the sea breeze was blowing in the sweet sea air, and the roses were blossoming on the side of the path. The forest was a backdrop. When that sea air hits you, it’s so refreshing. We wondered how we could get this feeling into a gin as an expression – like a source of terroir. This is where the inspiration came from.”

Formulating gin is complicated. There are many variables, from building a flavour catalogue to experimenting with distillations and recipes to capture those flavours. Jason entered distilling with 23-years experience as a chef, where he developed an encyclopedic knowledge in aromas and flavours. That walk on the beach took the MacIsaac’s down a path to explore and apply every variable possible before coming up with the final recipe for Seaside Gin.

Distilling French Beach

They begin by cooking a mash of 80% wheat and 20% barley, then lautering it before an off-grain rigorous three to five-day fermentation. Double distillation to around 93% alcohol follows, leaving some sweet grain character to boost the slightly slippery mouthfeel. Then they distil the spirit a third time, this time in their aromatic still, along with a bundle of botanicals, something like a giant tea bag. This extracts robust flavours from juniper, rose, lavender, citrus, coriander, cardamom and French Beach seaweed, sourced from a licensed sustainable harvester.

Seaside Gin is about an intricate group of flavour accents that come together in a unified profile. It’s floral, fresh and bright, with a delicate interplay between these top notes and the juniper foundation. Creamy on the palate, from the botanical essential oils, the flavours from the nose shine colourfully with rose petals providing floral aromas, and juniper giving the gin the feel of the pine forest. A seasoned brininess drifts into the finish balanced by a slight green resin note and crisp citrus.

“In the culinary world, when you’re creating a dish, you want to create balance,” explains Jason. “Trying to capture a sensation of the region as my cooking may have done. It was exciting to capture that idea in a gin.” This gin is not only a hit for Sheringham but a Canadian classic. That walk along French Beach has led to one brilliantly balanced gin that will put a smile on your face – ten miles wide. It also puts to rest Foreigner’s indirect question, we now know what love is.