Distillerie de Montréal Places Quebec on the Map in the Rum Industry
The Distillerie de Montréal is in the middle of Rosemont, a business district in the Montreal area of Quebec, Canada. The distillery combines expertise and passion, offering exceptional products to consumers. It prepares rum with ingredients sourced 100% from Quebec.
The Distillerie de Montréal has been distilling molasses since 2016. To produce their rums, they select three types of molasses, ferment them at the distillery at low temperatures, and distill them in a Charentais still. They look for very floral and typical agricultural notes with the brine and the taste of a little black olive.
Since sugarcane only grows in tropical climates, Quebec is not a natural place to make eau-de-vie from it. But the cool temperature of their cellars is ideal for aging. The use of different types of barrels (French and American oak, cherry, Bourbon, and Armagnac) brings out a greater diversity of aromas. As a fun fact, rum distillation is not new to Quebec. Indeed, it has a long history with molasses that dates back to 1769, when settlers in New France imported molasses from the West Indies to make rum.
Distillerie de Montréal is one of the few distilleries in Quebec that lets each of its alcohols fully ferment and be distilled. In fact, they were the first distillery in Canada to work with Charentais double distillation alembic stills. By heating the alcohol twice in a row, double distillation lets them concentrate it and pick out the most delicate aromas. Likewise, by refining the distillate until only its heart is left, the slow process makes sure that the final product is the purest and most fragrant it can be.
In particular, their Rosemont Spiced Rum is the only dark rum to be entirely made in Quebec. Crafted from green molasses and sugarcane and double distilled in a Charentais alembic still. Then, the rum is spiced and aged in white oak barrels. Moreover, they add a homemade caramel sauce made from brown sugar and an infusion of natural spices. The shiny pink color of this expression comes from the infusion of Quebec cranberries.
Their dark rum has just the right amount of tartness from the cranberries, sweetness from the caramel, and a delicate licorice finish that is spiced up with a hint of bird’s eye chili. These characteristics make it an excellent base for cocktails.
The distillery also offers pineapple rum, which has nothing to do with simply flavored rum. They use gold pineapples from Costa Rica. It takes 220 pineapples to make a batch of around 200 cases, which they leave to ripen at the distillery.
In general, their spirits, liqueurs, and ready-to-drink cocktails are made in Montreal’s Rosemont neighborhood and distilled from natural aromatics found in Quebec or internationally.
Distillerie de Montréal opened its doors in 2013. Since then, its founders, Lilian Wolfelsberger and Stéphane Dion, have been working with inventive human and artisanal approaches to pave the way for Quebec-made spirits and to earn well-deserved international recognition.
Featured image source: Distillerie de Montréal
