Background

The Newfoundland Distillery Company was founded in 2016 by William Carter and Peter Wilkins with the aim to celebrate the terroir of Newfoundland and create distinctive spirits using local ingredients.

William Carter, a Cordon Bleu trained chef cooked for a wide range of guests in Ottawa for over 20 years, including 3 former US Presidents. He specialized in localised Canadian cuisine and began distilling to preserve fresh local botanicals for use all year long. Peter Wilkins travelled the world investigating different cultural approaches to alcohol for British TV and is an internationally exhibited artist. 

The Newfoundland Distillery is the first craft distillery in Newfoundland which uses locally grown barley as the base spirit for many products. All of our spirits celebrate and focus on the purity of ingredients from the shores of Newfoundland. Juniper and other ingredients are all picked locally, on land or from the sea

In the summer of 2020 we expanded the distillery to meet increased demand. We produce a range of gins, rums, aquavit and vodkas, and in the fall of 2020 we laid down Newfoundland's first barrels of whisky.

Our spirits are available across Newfoundland & Labrador, as well as in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta. Our Gunpowder & Rose Rum will also be available in New York in Spring 2021. 

Awards

All of our spirits have won awards; here are some highlights:

• Double Gold and Silver medals from The San Francisco World Spirit Competition
• Gold and Silver medals at the New York International Spirit Competition
• Best Spiced Rum in Canada for Chaga Rum from the World Rum Awards in 2019 
• Best Spiced Rum in Canada for Gunpowder & Rose Rum from the World Rum Awards in 2020
• Best Canadian Contemporary Gin for our Seaweed Gin at the 2021 World Gin Awards
• Our Vodka and Rhubarb Flavoured Vodka have both won silver medals at the 2021 World Vodka Awards
• Gunpowder & Rose Rum won a silver medal at the 2021 Rum Masters Competition
• Our Cloudberry Gin won a silver medal with distinction at the 2021 Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition
• Also at the 2021 Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition our Chaga & Chanterelle Bitters won a gold medal, our Seaweed & Nettle Bitters and Sweet Gale & Wild Rose Bitters both won silver medals