It’s obviously rooted in prohibition when people would make whiskey at night. Moonshine is any un-aged grain spirit. So our 100-proof is the traditional White Lightning moonshine. Whiskey right off the still, as opposed to the barrel- aging process you get from say Canadian whiskey. So what you get with moonshine is naked grain flavour.” The Maple moonshine is particularly interesting, as the Perth area is considered the “Maple Capital of Ontario.” Local suppliers, of which there are actually “too many to choose from,” according to Thornley, tap the trees for this 100-proof spirit. Thornley also gives the nod to the regulatory agency. “The LCBO is and has been great supporters of Top Shelf Distill- ers and micro-distilleries across the province. They do an excellent job of supporting local and locally-sourced spirits and have been instrumental to our distillery’s growth in Ontario. Top Shelf Vodka and Gin are currently in 110 LCBO stores and we don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.” “We are proud to be a part of such a dynamic and rapidly growing industry.” A large hub for the business is about an hour’s drive away in Ottawa, Canada’s Capital. Quite a few employees at the distillery come from the city of Ottawa and, in fact, Top Shelf has an Ottawa office where they house their sales reps, marketing team and customer experience and partnership staff. All of the production comes out of their Perth distillery, creating two separate pods of activity. Thornley explained that, because of the scarcity of stills and distilling equipment, companies will engage in “contract distilling.” This means that other distilleries will produce and package products for a client company. This is definitely not the case at Top Shelf. They proudly produce all their products in their Perth location, ensuring that their success has lead to growth in all aspects of the company. This time last year, Top Shelf Distillers had a staff of 7. Growth has brought them to 30+ employees today, including staffing areas that many businesses may traditionally contract out. Along with more distillers, they have added a graphic designer, trade marketing manager and customer experience reps. “Part of our growth is because we are preparing for our general listing and distribution all across Ontario.” Like many of the industries in the “craft” movement, small distilleries and breweries typically (with some well-known exceptions) started out on the west coast of North America and began moving east. As the number of distilleries grows in Ontario and points east, Top Shelf has laid the framework to be a major player in the future. “We are proud to be a part of such a dynamic and rapidly growing industry.” Com- bining their ethical mandate with a firm product base and forward-looking ownership, you’d best get the step ladder out! Top Shelf is definitely worth the reach.
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OCTOBER 2017 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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