Enter Kinsip,
House of
Fine Spirits
This farm-based, grain-to-glass distillery
is located in the heart of Ontario’s Prince
Edward County
By Pat Rediger
Jeremiah Soucie had a sky-high career as an air ambulance paramedic, and
while he’s now retired from that career, his latest venture still has him soar-ing
to new heights.
Soucie, along with his wife Sarah Waterston, her brother Michael
Waterston, and his partner Maria Hristova, are the owners of Kinsip, House of
Fine Spirits. They purchased the distillery in 2016, marking the first craft distill-ery
in Ontario to change hands.
“One day it was running as 66 Gilead Distillery, and the next day it was still
running as 66 Gilead distilleries, but we owned it and it took us two months to
be able to start selling spirits again,” said Soucie. “In those two months we made
and sold a lot of maple-aged whisky syrup which was the only thing we could
sell. We still had the doors open and that allowed us to get our feet under us a
little bit. It was kind of nice to have a few weeks where we didn’t have to distill.
Everything was new to us.”
What prompted a former paramedic to enter the distillery industry? Turns
out Soucie had a long-time interest in food and beverages. He had attended a
culinary boot camp and cheese technology course and learned to create his
own cocktails using herbs and botanicals to develop his own bitters.
Soucie had attended business school and was anxious to try his hand at
a new venture. The families were originally interested in a bed-and-breakfast
operation in Prince Edward County due to its proximity to Toronto and Ottawa.
Soucie and Waterston lived in Toronto and the other couple lived in Ottawa, the
county was a mid-point. They were hoping to find a property where they could
stay part-time, but still live in their respective cities.
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