By Jordan Parker J ill Linquist fell into the distilling business by chance, and found a love she didn’t know existed. She now runs Raging Crow Distillery in North River, N.S., but she would have never expected to end up in the industry. “My husband and I have a small hobby vineyard. We grow grapes and sell to Benjamin Bridge for their Nova7. We took wine tours each year, and in June 2016 we went on an Okanagan wine tour,” she said. “We stopped at Legends Distilling, and a young lady from Lunenburg gave our tour. We were pretty amazed at every- thing,” she said. “He taught small fruits, and he jumped at the chance. We looked at equipment and the costs, formulated a business plan, and incorporated in September 2017.” “I always had a great love and interest in fine food, and I’m a dietitian by trade. I had worked for food companies and had that business background. I knew that all distilleries were different, and we felt that there was room in the industry.” The Canada Revenue Agency granted them with a license in February, and Linquist and Pruski then went to a master distilling course in Kelowna, B.C. before opening. “I always had a great love and interest in fine food, and I’m a dietitian by trade. I had worked for food companies and had that business background. I knew that all distill- eries were different, and we felt that there was room in the industry,” she said. “We kept it small, had a building on the property that my husband and I own, and we went into it with manageable startup costs.” By July 2017, Linquist wanted to make a go of it, and called retiring Dal professor Kris Pruski to be a business partner.
In the hub of Nova Scotia just outside of Truro on Hwy 311 is a place called North River where you will find some of best small-batch, hand-crafted, artisanal distilled spirits in the province and after having the opportunity to sample some of their products, I would go as far to say in Canada. We had the opportunity to sit down with Jill Linquist, owner and operator of Raging Crow Distillery and learn about their focus on creating amazing products and their commitment to sourcing local Nova Scotia grown products, wherever possible. So that you know when tasting one of their hand- crafted spirits that you are getting honey from the local beekeeper, the rye from the local farmer, the coffee from the local coffee roaster, the maple syrup from the local maple shack and bacon smoked by the local butcher because at Raging Crow Distillery, Jill and her team is focused on quality versus quantity and it shows in the product that they produce.
She said the biggest trouble was her unfamiliarity with the regulatory aspects of selling a controlled substance.
“The NSLC and CRA were such a fabulous help. It was definitely a learning curve, but we got the hang of it pretty quickly. Other distilleries in Nova Scotia were also very helpful. They’ve been so supportive even though we are competitors in some ways,” she said.
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JANUARY 2019 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE 20
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