One of the values of our distillery is to shine the history of our region. A big piece of the history of the Gaspésie is the history of the Irish settlers.
The potato famine in Ireland between 1845-1849 which killed millions of people has been given the name 'The big blackness'. This forced thousands of Irish to find a new home and some found their home to be the Gaspésie.
As a hommage to this part of history we called the distillery O'Dwyer. 'O' meaning 'descendent of' and 'Dwyer' meaning blackness in gaelic. This is also the reason we put mushrooms in all of our products (with the exception of Acerum and St. Pierre), because the thing that caused the famine was a mushroom that infected the potato, receiving the name Blithe.
We distill gin, whisky and other spirits from a fine selection of grains and rare botanicals found locally. Through our techniques of elaboration and aging, we wish to highlight the richness of the history and culture of the Gaspésie, while sharing with you our passion for innovation and technology.
From the form of ‘’Au-Ras-des-Dunes’’ which translates to ‘’Between two dunes’’ which is located on the Morris River sitting in the bottom of a valley between Fox River and Gaspé.
This gin is made from four different kinds of wild mushrooms, picked by hand in the gaspésie, by the company gaspésie sauvage.
Aging is a science that we are always perfecting. The barrels chosen to make this product come from a rare line of distilleries which produce Canadian whisky. The barrels are soaked for 1 week in water before filling them with gin, as to not completely lose the taste of Radoune.
The barrels are 15 years old made of amercian oak. They are handpicked to ensure the quality is to the standard of the product we put in them.
In 1920, the prohibition turned on the island of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland into a bottleggers havan. Alcohol was transported in the Gaspé Peninsula, through the international waters, to small fishing boats to be hidden on the banks and rivers and then to be sold on the black market.
This spirit was know to all Gaspesians as being white whisky, little white, or simply St. Pierre
Pudding Stone is the name of the highest mountain located near Gaspé. Translated into French by the name Poudingue, the term also describes the nature of the sedimentary rock constituting the mountain. At the height 460 meters, the mountain offers a unique view of Gaspé Bay, Forillon National Park, Percé and Bonaventure Island. That is why it was common to moose poachers with binoculars at night.
PUDDING STONE IS THE ULTIMATE GASPESIAN CREAM LIQUOR, BLENDING THE BEST INGREDIENTS WITH FRESH DAIRY CREAM AND A TOUCH OF COCOA AND COFFEE. PUDDING STONE HAS A COMPLEX CHOCOLATE AROMA WITH EXOTIC MAPLE NOTES AND THE SWEET AROMA OF COFFEE.
The Gaspésiennes, emblematic fishing boats of the region, were built in numbers of 50 in the middle of the 20th century. There is only one restored today, the Gaspésienne # 20. Inspired by the name of these ropemakers, our Acerum is akin to this jewel of regional maritime heritage. Known for being robust, these fishing vessels set sail like our Acerum will grab your taste buds.
ACERUM IS A MAPLE EAU-DE-VIE OBTAINED EXCLUSIVELY BY DISTILLATION OF ALCOHOL FROM THE FERMENTATION OF CONCENTRATED QUEBEC MAPLE SAP. THE NAME IS RESERVED FOR SPIRITS WHOSE MANUFACTURING COMPLIES WITH THE SPECIFICATIONS ESTABLISHED BY THE UNION OF MAPLE SPIRITS DISTILLERS.
In 1862, the cod trade led Italy to establish its consulate in Gaspé, in what is now the Lebouthillier House, located in the cradle of Canada in the middle of Gaspe. Nowadays, thanks to its three crystalline rivers (Dartmouth, York and St-Jean), Gaspé has become a salmon fishing paradise. All along the Dartmouth River, we find the ingredients that flavour our amaretto (lichen and raspberries) combining Italian heritage and gaspesian terroir.
Dartmouth is like no other Amaretto that you've tasted. It is very different in many ways but the most notable way is its distinct balance between what is sweet and what is earthy. We hand pick lichen, moss and raspberry leaves, dry them, then we soak in the alcohol for 4 weeks. After this is complete we drain the alcohol, add vanilla and other nut flavours then dilute it with spring water.
Michael Briand
Michael is the head of sales, communications and marketing. An all around entrepreneur, he has developed his interest in the distillation world during his civil engineering studies. Passionate about innovation, O’Dwyer Distillery is the perfect playground to test out the latest invention. Everywhere he goes and someone approaches him, he finds it a pleasure to talk about the distillery and the coming projects.
Frédéric Jacques
Frédéric is the master distiller and manager of O'Dwyer distillery. After his business management studies, Frédéric had the sting for entrepreneurship. Holder of a doctorate in organic chemistry, he also uses his expertise to develop new all-grain whiskey recipes. In addition to his many administrative tasks, Frédéric also manages the production process, ensuring that the quality and taste of the products are the same, from the first to the last bottle.
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