As it applies to wine and food, the notion of terroir is an expression of place. And it’s the same when it comes to gin. Pulling off a grain-to-glass spirit using only Nova Scotian ingredients is harder. But that’s precisely what gets musician-turned-head distiller Alex Wrathell at Compass Distillers on Agricola Street in Halifax excited.
It’s a Friday afternoon at Compass Distillery and things are busy. A tour of the distillery is about to begin. A few people have already gathered at the bar (well, it is Friday). Bags of juniper berries arrive, workers unload a massive sack of unmilled wheat and stack boxes of elderflower liqueur, ready for dispatch. And I show up for a chat. But I get the feeling that not much rattles distiller Alex Wrathell as he talks with me about his favourite subject: gin.
The defining characteristic of gin is juniper, so that’s where we start. I ask Wrathell if he thinks there’s a difference between the wild juniper that grows in Nova Scotia compared to juniper from elsewhere. “Absolutely,” says Wrathell.
He tells me to wait for a second, disappears, and returns with two handfuls of berries, one from Nova Scotia and the other imported, which he holds out for me to taste. “I like gin with bold flavours,” he says, munching on the blue-black berries. “I’m a big fan of juniper, and wild juniper from Nova Scotia has this lovely sweet fruity character that is particularly noticeable in our Gin Wild. The berries are also slightly salty. It’s subtle, but it’s there.” This makes sense, given that juniper grows on rocky shores near the ocean and get dusted in sea spray — a little of the Atlantic Ocean in each bottle.
“We have a connection with a charming and slightly elusive character, Barry, who we’ve nicknamed ‘Juniper Barry,’ who forages wild juniper berries,” Wrathell says. “Generally, he’ll call us at some point in the summer with the quantity of juniper he can bring in for us to buy. With the harvest season being short and willing foragers few, we typically take as much as we can and store it.”
Wrathell developed the initial recipe for Gin Wild in Compass’s early days, when it faced a shortage of juniper. Before meeting Barry, Wrathell had gone out to forage as much as he could find for an upcoming batch of gin.
“We learned during that distillation run that wild Nova Scotian juniper has a very different flavour profile to imported juniper and essentially led to a different, but quite delicious, new gin recipe, which seemed to instantly appeal to lovers of juniper-forward gins,” says Wrathell. “Over time, we’ve slightly tweaked the recipe and processes in pursuit of a versatile, well-rounded, and complex flavour profile with the forest-forward juniper characteristic always present, but smoother. It sits on the line between traditional London dry gin and more bold craft gins.”
This expression of unique geographical profiles through botanicals has been a worldwide gin trend. And while it’s not entirely about climate and soil, it is a celebration of natural ingredients that paints a powerful picture of a place — myrtle from Australia, yuzu from Japan, and olives from Spain.
“It’s a tricky balance to produce a 100 per cent local gin because of the very nature of some defining spices that play a crucial role in harmonizing flavours,” Wrathell says. “Spices like coriander, cardamom, angelica, and citrus can’t be locally grown, so when we make a local gin, we must find alternatives.” They include sumac, rosehip, and sea buckthorn for citrusy-sour notes, elderflower and wild rose for floral, and sweet fern and bark for bitter.
While juniper is a distinctive characteristic in all gin, the quality of the fermented base spirit counts the most, explains Wrathell as we head to the corner to smell the red winter wheat and snack on grits.
“It all starts here,” he says, scooping up a handful. “Grown in the (Annapolis) Valley, we use this wheat to distill our base spirit entirely from scratch. It’s such an important and distinguishing characteristic of our gin.”
And the philosophy of doing things entirely from scratch aligns with what Compass school friends and owners Joshua Judah, David LaGrand, and Graham Collins had in mind in 2017 when they built their cylindrical, north-south aligned distillery tower with the shape mimicking that of a compass.
“The overall concept of Compass is to be an authentic local distillery. Fermenting and distilling from scratch using local grains was essential to the business model,” says Wrathell. “If we were going to produce a genuine grain-to-glass product, then we had to make our own base spirit. It’s a much more expensive and slower process than simply buying in a vodka base but the result is a smooth and well-rounded spirit without that harsh alcohol back note. I could easily pick out our vodka versus commercial neutral grain spirit in a blind tasting.”
As an offshoot of Gin Wild, Wrathell has developed the GiNS (Grown in Nova Scotia) series. Reflecting the seasons, each unique spirit aims to capture Nova Scotia’s wildness and unique spirit.
Spruce tips in spring. Peaches, plums, Queen Anne’s lace, wild rose petals, goldenrod, ginger (locally grown), chanterelle mushrooms, red clover, elderberries, and sweet fern for a summer gin. There’s rosehip, teaberry, juniper, cranberry, crab apple, rosemary, and thyme for autumn. My favourite is the winter edition, which highlights the light and dark of our coldest season, with dark earthy flavours of smoked juniper, chaga mushroom, kelp, and toasted birch bark juxtaposed with the lightness of rosehip, sea buckthorn, cranberry, and white pine.
“The thinking was that if we could source our grain, water, and yeast locally to make our spirit, and wild Nova Scotia juniper could be obtained, then we were most of the way toward creating a 100 per cent local gin,” says Wrathell.
The trick is finding wild or cultivated ingredients locally that can reasonably substitute the flavours of typical gin botanicals. “There needs to be more traditional gin botanicals that can be grown here successfully,” says Wrathell. “I’m hoping someone local will produce coriander seed because that’s a significant contributor (to me) in a traditional-leaning gin profile. And there is a local farmer we’ve connected with who is experimenting with and growing exotic botanicals for us, so we’ll see where that goes.”
There’s a similarity between music and distilling. Both are creative expressions that require energy and imagination. Ordered and mathematical, they involve a myriad of moving pieces. Part art, part science. “They both require creativity, and there are similarities in finding inspiration in different places and implementing them into my own style,” says Wrathell.
And with nine core spirits, four bitters, seven limited edition spirits, and an upcoming ready-to-drink cocktail, Wrathell has developed a symphony of flavours with a vast score sheet for his creative expression. “I really do have a great job,” he says. “I’m given the freedom to create. So, I’m always thinking about new recipes and constantly experimenting.”
And while I am happy to geek out talking about the complexities of gin all day, it’s time to go and do a little shaking and sipping. And on that note, we need a song in the background. “I’m going to go with ‘Spindrift,’ by Colin Stetson,” says Wrathell. “It reminds me of the movement of trees and brush in the wind, the ocean as the backdrop. And it ties in with the origins of the spirit.”
Holiday gin cocktails
Step into a world of holiday magic with the tantalizing flavours of festive gin cocktails that’ll make your taste buds tingle with joy. The fusion of juniper berries, spices, and botanicals will transport you to a whimsical wonderland of sparkling lights and the blissful warmth of holiday cheer. Whether you’re sipping by a crackling fire or mingling at a glamorous gathering, these beguiling concoctions will be the life of any party.
See recipes for Cranberry Gin Festive Cocktail, Festive French 75, and Gin Hot Toddy.