What Compass Distillers is known for
Compass distills gin, rum and bitters from local grain and Peggy's Cove juniper on Agricola Street. Its Gin Royal won Best Contemporary Gin in Canada at the 2021 World Gin Awards, and the cocktail bar pours flights on site.
On Agricola Street in Halifax's North End, Compass Distillers builds its spirits from what it can source close to home -- local grain for the base, foraged botanicals and wild plants gathered through the year, and juniper picked along the coast at Peggy's Cove for its Gin Wild. That last detail shows in the glass: the distillery notes a faint salinity in Gin Wild traceable to where the juniper grows.
The house's more classical release, Gin Royal, has done the harder work of proving the approach: it was named Best Contemporary Gin in Canada at the 2021 World Gin Awards, part of a run that has brought the distillery more than 85 awards. The lineup has widened since -- a coffee liqueur built on Compass's own rum base and cold brew, and Hell Isle Cask Reserve Rum among the newer bottlings.
A cocktail bar operates alongside the stills, pouring the house spirits into drinks on site, and the distillery runs tours, cocktail classes and short-stay accommodations for visitors who want to see the grain-to-bottle process rather than just taste the result.
Best for — Gin Royal, Gin Wild and rum-based coffee liqueur
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Where next
- Adams Distillery — Australia
- Fanagoria — Russia
- Aromaticus — Rome
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