On a chilly, blustery day, we decided it was finally time to follow through on our long-standing plan to visit the local distillery, Ironworks, and embark on a tour. A few days prior, we had casually dropped by, initially searching for a metal workshop, but to our pleasant surprise, we stumbled upon an exceptional distillery boasting an extensive range of spirits. On that occasion, we had purchased a bottle of Bluenose rum and discovered that they offered tours of the distillery. In all honesty, while we had explored our fair share of wineries, distilleries had yet to make their way onto our radar. Well, let’s see how it works!
Ironworks Distillery is located on a historical Lunenburg waterfront in the old Blacksmith shop. Awards of Ironworks’ spirits and liquorsInside it preserves the spirit of the old iron workshop with a taste of old rum productionWooden floor remains traces of melted ironThe Walters Blacksmith Shop ca.1920Launch of the famous schooner Bluenose in 1921, all ironworks for which were done hereIronworks products on displayAround the World Rum – aged during the circumnavigation of the tall ship “Picton Castle” One of the signature products is Pear-eau-de-vie with a pear in the bottle! Guess, how they put a pear into a bottle?The distillation machine is made in Germany and heated by woodstove.Our guide Meg explains the distillation processHer name is Bertruda, is she beautiful?Boiling of fermented wortMajic of distillationSpirit condensation on cooled copper plate with drainage holesToday it was a whiskey runFermentation tanksThe fermentation in progress Aging barrels cellarMajority of barrels come after bourbon production in USAMeg demonstrates the burned surface inside of the barrel’s wood-plankIronworks Rum to test Cheers!Inspecting fermentation of wheat for production of vodkaMatt – operator of the vodka distillery machineHer name is Ruby – because of her copper-reddish skin18 levels of distillation – that is what makes vodka smooth!Iryna for the first time in her life admitted that vodka is tasty!Ocean aged Rum!!! Barrels with aging rum stored in a boat, moored in the Lunenburg Harbour – taking all elements of nature!Rum Boat moored in the Lunenburg harbourArea for cleaning of bottles and filling them upFilling of whiskeyClosing bottles with capsLabeling of whiskey bottlesEach bottle is signed with a batch#Production storage area – ready to ship!Thanks, Meg for the fantastic tour and Greg for the presents!
