Through the nurture of nature, and the method of man comes the Holocene Distilling Project.
It has been a busy year for co-owners Dorian Redden and Aisling Goodman, who both hail from Victoria, after opening up the doors to their new Cobble Hill business Holocene Distilling Project. They celebrated their one-year milestone this month as they sold their first bottle last Nov. 1.
"It feels amazing to be coming up on one year," said Redden. "We want to have an open house next month to commemorate our one year in business and to introduce our new new spiced brandy product that we will be releasing for the winter season."
"It's actually a very cool product because what we've done is taken pieces of other local products from other cideries and wineries that have gone bad and we have redistilled them into a new product," said Goodman. "It is kind of a lost and found concept, that waste which would normally be discarded can now have a new purpose."
Redden attended Camosun College in 2011 where he studied mechanical engineering. Also at this time, like most men in their 20s, he wanted to drink with his pals in his down time. So to save money for more important things he decided to Google how to make your own alcohol.
"When I first began learning how to make my own alcohol using white table sugar, coincidentally at the same time we were learning about the distillation process in my chemistry class at Camosun," said Redden. "We actually had a competition with our classmates to see who could distill the highest proof alcohol. It was a lab experiment, where everyone was in pairs. We took store bought vodka and were assigned to redistill it to see how high of an alcohol content we could get to. Me and my best friend were teammates and we were also both the ones getting into this as a hobby outside of school so for sure we thought we'd win but we came in second."
"In mechanical engineering you learn a lot about thermodynamics and how heat transfers," said Redden. "I had this wonderful teacher who really got me intrigued and interested in that topic. Just how he taught it was so engaging and exciting to me. So from there I really just got into the idea of heat transfer and visualizing how effective insulation works, how heat transfers in different ways with different mediums. I really honed those skills designing gas fireplaces, and then that in turn transfers to the distillation process."
Fate stepped in when Redden met Goodman who was bartending in Victoria at the time, with a background in herbal medicine from her studies at Pacific Rim College where she learned how to make tincture and create recipes. She also learned the history of all the plants the two use in their innovative recipes. She knew early on that with her knowledge and Redden's skills and their combined passion they could really build something viable together, and it slowly began to grow legs.
"We actually incorporated really early on back in 2016, and that was when this idea really began to come to fruition," said Goodman. "Since, we have really been working on it and bootstrapping it from the ground up."
From the ground up certainly describes how they created the space where they make their magic. The pair looked at several industrial spaces in Victoria, and even some farm spaces near the peninsula where Redden designed gas fireplaces for many years but none were quite the right fit. As they were first getting to know the industry they went to all the distilleries on the island as well as some on the mainland and noticed that the common thread was that many operated as a home-based business, and with the housing market being pretty good at that time the thought was to get some property and do exactly that. After looking at a few different properties they ultimately found the one in Cobble Hill that came with a house, a suite, as well as the building where the partners work their magic. They took over the property in 2019.
"I always dreamed of living in Cobble Hill," said Redden. "Once you get off the highway there's this large swath of green landscape, it's still close enough to the city but we get that rural atmosphere which is so nice."
"Dorian put so much work into the property that it looks like this little pocket of paradise now," said Goodman. "It's so lovely to see all the progress that has been made on it and to have something to be proud of in this lovely little community that has been so supportive of us."
Many renovations and much elbow grease was needed to get the space to its present state, as it came as just a shell with no water, doors, or structure. It took two years during COVID to rezone the property to allow them to get their licensing in place from the Liquor Board in order to get down to business. With how the partners set up shop — everything from how the pipes are plumbed to using simple equipment — they were able to achieve quite a bit of energy conservation without breaking the bank, keeping in line with their goal to be a carbon neutral distillery by the year 2030, which they are well on their way to achieving. Redden has even found a way to capture heat that would normally be wasted, store it, and use it to heat the water for their next batch.
"We knew from the beginning that we wanted to focus on sustainability," said Goodman. "Even from the beginning we planned to donate a portion to the Ancient Rainforest Alliance, and we are both so very passionate about Vancouver Island and all the adventures that you can have on the island and all the nature that surrounds us."
"Most industries now are putting a big focus on sustainability and are being a little more eco-conscious," said Redden. "So we wanted to set an example for other people in the alcohol manufacturing industry, or even just the manufacturing industry in general to let them know that you don't need to have a large up front investment to start moving towards more sustainable options. The goal was only set so far ahead because this is all new to us. There is a huge learning curve in making product not to mention learning the flow of the distillery and the manufacturing process. So right now we are still generating more ideas and learning how can we further improve on the systems we've already come up with."
"Because of my botanical medicine background we are able to use a lot of plants that are local and can be sourced sustainably, but also have historical health benefits," said Goodman. "Like nettle, which we put in our gin is great for seasonal allergies, or the lavender in our Crème De Violette is very relaxing."
This budding business, which currently has six products, has been teaming up with other local businesses making a difference for the environment, as they give a little more life to products that would otherwise got to waste. The partners were approached by a coffee roaster in Langford to see if they had any use for the cascaras from the coffee beans that they source from a family run farm in Costa Rica. According to Redden, in Costa Rica there are piles of cascaras on the side of the road just going to waste. They also live up to waste not, want not by sourcing out the leftover lemon rinds from a Nanaimo juicery, giving these peels a purpose.
"Working with other local businesses has been quite exhilarating," said Redden. "Our Sweet Tease Liqueur we make that uses both cascara and the lemon rinds. It's so much fun because they are ingredients that people don't normally think about, and it's fun giving new life to something that would normally be discarded."
"It creates a challenge for us too," said Goodman. "I think my favourite part of everything is that we learn so much every single day and not just about being a new small business, but also about the distilling process, so it is all these new learning experiences and collaborations that we get to have."
If you have not stumbled upon Redden and Goodman's new business in Cobble Hill you may have seen them at one of several farmers markets, which they say account for 80 per cent of their income currently, and have also created the opportunity for many cool collaborations. A woman encountered at the Duncan Farmers market uses Holocene's Sweet Tease and Lady Grey Liqueur in the mustards, jams, and marmalades she makes herself, while another connection designed the label for their MIXBEHAVE line which their mixers, liqueurs, and in the future their zero proof alcohol products will fall under.
Their favourite part of being a vendor at these markets has been the chance to interact with so many different people and talk about their products which they say are generating a lot of interest especially with Goodman's herbal background and their creative flavouring concepts.
"It is so inspiring to be at these markets where everyone is so creative and innovative and really ambitious," said Goodman.
"One of my favourite parts through all of this after so much planning has just been watching the business come to life, and the excitement that it is generating from the public," said Redden.
What's in a name? Goodman and Redden found inspiration for theirs from the name given to the last 11,700 years of the world's history.
"The Holocene is characterized as humans and nature working together and really living in harmony," said Goodman. "Right now it's under debate in the scientific community whether or not we have already transitioned into the Anthropocene which is the next epoch, which is characterized by humans dominating nature. But because of our carbon-neutrality, we want to stay in the Holocene where humans and nature can work together, so we decided to create our brand around the epoch we want to stay in."
Their logo features a gear and a tree, showcasing the balance between machine and nature, but creative names extend beyond their brand into their products. The name for their Fliiver Vodka, which was their first creation, was inspired by the slang name for the old jalopies that used to carry bootleg alcohol back in the day, while their Honey I'm Home gin celebrates ingredients islanders can find close to home.
"In our gin we use plants that you can typically find in backyards around the island so that's where the home part comes in," said Goodman. "We've added just a one per cent honey addition as a flavour to counteract the grassy notes. So it's inspired by a Vancouver Island home in the springtime and really tasting the essence of one's backyard."
The two had the opportunity to be back in their old backyard of Victoria as they partner up with Vintage Spirits for the elegant Art of the Cocktail event held at the Victoria Event Centre on Oct. 19.
"We are so excited," said Goodman said in an interview prior to the event. "We've attended as patrons in the past and it's such a fun event. You get to dress up and sample amazing cocktails from some of the best businesses on the island. We are really excited about the cocktails that we will be featuring. One of them is a wasabi pear martini. It sounds crazy but it really is one of those innovative things that taste delicious."
The two are also excited to host more events of all kinds and even possibly weddings in the future after partnering up with Midnight Tea Party out of Victoria for their first ever long table dinner back in August, which Goodman said was a huge success with 16 in attendance for five courses and six cocktail pairings.
"It was our first event, we had lights up, it was just stunning," said Goodman.
"We really want to highlight the experience of working alongside nature," said Goodman. "Having Dorian's background in mechanical engineering and mine in herbs. We feel it perfectly highlights the coexistence of man made machinery and nature, how they work together and how we can incorporate that into all manufacturing systems in every industry so that people can feel good about the local products they are consuming."
For more about Holocene visit their website at holocenedistillingproject.com, or email sales@holocenedistilling.com to book a tasting.
