The facade of the building where O'Dwyer Distillery produces and distributes its products speaks volumes about what drives and inspires its leaders: perpetuating the history and traditions of this corner of the country. This was pointed out to Michael Briand, the sales and marketing director of the company founded in 2016 by two university graduates, one in civil engineering and the other in organic chemistry, and he seemed pleased to hear it.
It all started one fine evening over a drink in a bar, as so many stories do. “Why don’t we produce something ourselves that reminds us of the history of the Irish settlers who arrived here in the wake of the Great Potato Famine of 1845–1849 in Ireland, caused by a fungus that decimated many of them?”
That was all it took for the “great darkness” to inspire the two entrepreneurs and some of their friends. Why O’Dwyer? “O” means descendant, and “dwyer” means darkness in Gaelic. Moreover, the abundance of chanterelles around Gaspé meant that the mushroom became the key ingredient in most of O’Dwyer’s products.
This is how Radoune (gin made from four wild mushrooms from the region), Radoune Vieilli (aged in specially chosen American oak barrels over 15 years old, previously used to make rye whisky, Canadian rye and bourbon), St-Pierre No20 (a nod to the prohibition whisky from St-Pierre-et-Miquelon, well known to Gaspésiens), and Gaspésienne No20 (an acérum, or maple brandy, made from the fermentation of concentrated Québec maple sap, according to strict standards) were created, and are now the pride of the two partners.
We can also mention Puddingstone, named after a high mountain near Gaspé (the ultimate Gaspé cream liqueur with complex aromas of chocolate, coffee and maple), and Dartmouth amaretto (a unique product, somewhere between sweet and earthy, featuring lichen and raspberry moss, dried and steeped for a long time in 96% alcohol).
O’Dwyer produces 80,000 bottles annually of these various products, available at the SAQ. One of the top sellers is Dartmouth, prized for its distinctive character and incomparable taste.
Finally, they decided to recycle even the mushroom and spice blends used for distillation, dehydrating and packaging them for lovers of fine cuisine. For now, this product is available only at the Gaspé distillery. An idea that’s sure to catch on.
Distillerie O’Dwyer
odwyerdistillery.com
6, rue des Cerisiers
Gaspé (Québec) G4X 2M2
418.360.0160