Toronto Distillery

I stumbled into the Toronto Distillery following an afternoon of sampling at Junction Craft, and, let me tell you, it was a very Narnia-​like experience (see: magical and mysterious). I was hesitant at first since I didn’t know what to expect, but the staff were welcoming and offered up samples of the strongest, most flavourful alcohol alive. I fell for the gin, and we’ve been together ever since.
FYI, this is a distillery and retail store where you can buy (and sample) the Toronto Distillery booze. It’s not a bar or restaurant (in case my Narnia metaphor misled you).

Great craft-​distillery. They are very knowledgeable about their craft and committed to offering a very good and responsibility sourced product. Gin and Beet spirits are great! Hoping they come out with more aged whiskey. Also, I hope they continue to sell product and have success. Very enjoyable!

BOTTOM LINE: As the first Toronto distillery since 1933 (as per their website), here’s to hoping the little guy will make it big one day!
Obscurely located next to Junction Craft Brewing, which in itself is obscurely located down some abandoned industrial side street, the Toronto Distillery Co. is an exciting new upstart hoping to break into the craft gin and whiskey scene (see also, 66 Gilead Distillery in Prince Edward County).
Their actual distilling site is essentially a warehouse space of plastic barrels and a makeshift tasting area towards the back. This is about as raw as it’s ever gonna get! The owners were friendly and welcoming, and eager to allow us to sample a selection of their wares. I can’t say I’m a fan of un-​aged whiskeys in general, but their beet infused gin (or was it whiskey?!) did leave quite the impression.
At the end of the day, I’m just happy to support the local small guy. They have some of their products in the LCBO, and I can’t imagine how many hoops they had to jump through to make that happen. Even then, and I was shocked to hear this, these guys are paid only $ 12 per bottle from the LCBO, before it gets marked up to $ 40 – 50 (that’s almost a 250% profit for the LCBO (minus taxes))! Even for bottles sold directly from their warehouse, they need to pay the LCBO back the difference! How do you spell G-​R-​I-​F-​T-​I-​N-​G?! No wonder the Ontario government is so reluctant to cut off the nearly-​2-​billion-​dollar teet that fills its coiffures.