Montreal Gin Festival (Ginapalooza, Apr 27 - May 11)

Regional Dining Discussions Quebec, Maritimes, Prairies
1

Hello Guys,

Apparently there is a gin festival happening… hmmm… right now.

Also, I live on the moon and never hear about stuff on time.

So, just in case you live on the moon with me, here is the information I gathered:

  1. There are 10 bars partnered with the event in Montreal:

*132 Bar Vintage
*Le 4e Mur
*Bishop & Bragg
*Chez Dallaire
*Johndoe
*Bar Kabinett
*Le Lab
*L’assommoir
*Le pourvoyeur gin pub
*Bar Wunder

  1. Each bar makes 3 custom drink

  2. You vote on your favorites

  3. You get entered in a sweepstakes to win a prize

Honestly, I wouldn’t count on the sweepstake but its a cool idea to discover new bars and try new cocktails on a given theme. I don’t know if I have the budget to do the full run (at 10$ a cocktail that’s 300$… an expensive proposition when unplanned)… besides, some bar are at the other side of the galaxy (132 bar vintage might as well be on mars) but I might look into it…!

See: http://www.ginapalooza.com/

2

You do not live on the moon! I was at Le Lab twice in the last week (and as recently as 3 days ago), and there was no indication whatsoever of an upcoming (and imminent) Gin Festival. It I had known, I would have tried a Negroni with their locally made house vermouth instead of a Manhattan.

One gripe I have about cocktail bars in both Montreal and Toronto is the paucity of good Canadian whisky on offer vs. American whiskeys. I am almost always offered American rye in Canada - and we make some of the best rye on the planet!

To return to the topic of gin, we also make some pretty good gins in Canada (Dhillon’s in Ontario and Victoria gin in BC). I saw a bottle of St Laurent Gin made in Rimouski at the SAQ, and other than being flavoured with seaweed, I could’t find any reviews.

Cheers!