Summer’s embarrassment of riches is spilling over my kitchen counter — punnets of raspberries, bundles of fresh herbs, and enough garden produce to stock a farmers’ market. But I’m not frantically sterilizing Mason jars for winter preserves. I’ve discovered a far more civilized way to capture this fleeting abundance: turning it all into custom craft gin.

Earlier this summer, I found myself at Banff’s Park Distillery, learning that creating your own signature spirit is less chemistry lab and more creative playground. And let me tell you, the results are infinitely more interesting than another dusty jar of pickled beets lurking in your pantry.

Famed for using Alberta grains and Canadian botanicals in their glacier-to-glass spirits, Park is Canada’s first distillery within a national park.

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