Few Canadian distilleries celebrate Prairie terroir with more festive fervour than Black Fox Farm and Distillery. This year’s holiday release is a bright and beautiful Winter Berry Gin that features a flavourful blend of haskaps, raspberries, chokecherries, and rhubarb.

Burwood Distillery always brings its best regardless of the season, but winter is without a doubt one of its most popular times of year, and for good reason. This year’s holiday lineup features a few stunners, but the spirit we’ll be stuffing in our loved ones’ stockings is the colour-changing Spiced Apple Gin. 

Distillerie Mariana’s sweet almond-nut liqueur is a versatile amaretto blend that features iconic Canadian flavours of maple syrup and sweet gale. Perfect as an aperitif, digestif, on ice, or in cocktails, the Quebec-distilled spirit is an ode to both its local terroir and the tradition of Italian amaretto.

Sipping on Eau Claire Distillery’s Christmas Gin has become something of a holiday tradition here at Eat North, but the spirit we have our eyes on this year from Eau Claire is the Batch 006 single malt whisky. Aged for six years in New European, ex-sherry and ex-bourbon casks, the new Batch 006 offers a subtly complex and smooth sip.

While obviously not a Canadian company, when the world’s most-awarded single malt Scotch whisky releases a unique experimental spirit that is only available in Canada, well, let’s just say they've got our full attention. 

The Orchard Experimental Whisky was matured in American Oak and finished in a Somerset Pomona Spirit Cask, which is a first for Scotch whisky. In addition to elevating the natural notes of apple and pear, the process resulted in a balanced blend of ripe fruits, sweet creamy toffee, caramelized apple, and woody spice.

Speaking of Scotland, another cool non-Canadian spirit that we’d be remiss not to share is the Neptunia Gin from Hendrick’s. The limited release is infused with a blend of locally-sourced coastal botanicals and offers a smooth sensory drinking experience. What’s even cooler is that the famed distiller regularly supports and contributes to the Project Seagrass initiatives which help to conserve and restore seagrass ecosystems.

Whether served as an aperitivo to set the stage for dinner or as a nightcap to close things out in style, the Amaro Arrmernoir’s smooth blend of coffee, cocoa, mint, and orange will more than suffice. 

Another close call between two incredibly cool spirits, but in terms of taste alone, Newfoundland Distillery’s Seaweed Gin just edges out the Cloudberry Gin. Made using seaweed harvested from the Grand Banks, the Seaweed Gin is slightly salty, bursting with juniper, and as refreshing as an ocean mist.

Another non-Canadian spirit we couldn’t resist including in our list is the Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey. The unique spirit features several uncommon components, but manages to come together in beautiful harmony for a sip that is salty, sweet, savoury, and seriously smooth.

If decadence is what you’re looking for in a holiday liqueur, Sheringham Distillery’s Sirene Chocolate Liqueur has it in spades. Created in collaboration with Sirene Chocolate, the luscious Sirene Chocolate Liqueur offers a layered dark chocolate drinking experience with notes of fruit, citrus, fudge, and leather.

Steinhart Distillery has several solid spirit options, but we needed at least one quintessential Canadian offering on our list, and the award-winning Maple Vodka is as Canadian as it comes. While maple is the obvious star here, the sweetness of the spirit is nicely balanced with a bitter blend of cocoa and burnt caramel.

Strathcona Spirits has a killer collection of cool barrel-aged spirits, not the least of which is our personal favourite, the White Oak Pinot Gin. Aged in meticulously selected French and American white oak Pinot Noir casks, the Alberta distillery’s White Oak Pinot Gin is truly one of a kind.