Grimsby’s Forty Creek inviting whisky lovers to join the guild

This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

A well-crafted cocktail should lift spirits, both figuratively and literally.

With the help of mixologists from the Campari Academy, visitors to Forty Creek distillery can soon learn how to make a perfect drink, while having fun and learning about whisky in the process. It's all part of a reimagined experience at the Grimsby location.

"Everyone has done a great job bringing it to life," said Bill Ashburn, longtime master distiller at Forty Creek.

At the forefront of the new experience, which has been part of a process that dates back over a year but wasn't completed until late May, is the Niagara Whisky Guild, a three-part master class that covers the history of whisky, the industry, Forty Creek's origins, and a lesson on cocktail making from the aforementioned experts with the Campari Academy.

Leading the cocktail-making lesson at a media event launching the new Forty Creek vision, Aldo Pescatore and Nick Kennedy took visitors through the process of making two classics: the old fashioned and the whisky sour. They stressed that a good cocktail isn't supposed to hide the alcohol, but instead make it ring out like a bell.

Overall, Ashburn said the goal of the new Forty Creek is to combine the tradition of distilling and of Grimsby's and Niagara's agricultural history with a new and exciting feel. The remodelled visitor's area includes several nods to that history and the distillery's geography. Visitors can see maps on the wall that show Grimsby's place within the Niagara Escarpment and next to Lake Ontario.

Displays on the wall show the building and documents from the days when John Hall took over, and even previously, when Otto Rieder conceived of a distillery in Grimsby that would carry on the tradition of his grandfather's Swiss distillery.

"We don't want to lose that history," said Ashburn. It's not just the history of distilling, but Grimsby's past as a fruit basket, he added.

Participants who complete the course receive a certificate. To book your course, visit fortycreekwhisky.com.

FORTY CREEK WHISKY

297 South Service Rd., Grimsby

Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

[email protected]

fortycreekwhisky.com

905-945-9225, opt. 3

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com