The Juniper at Dillon’s is foodie event that pays homage to the delicious spirit. This event had a small number of vendors showcasing Dillon’s gin in their own creative ways, ranging from creative cocktails to gin-infused ice cream. The Juniper at Dillon’s event was held at the Dillon’s distillery.

We started with a gin and tonic from Jack’s Tonic, a locally- and artisan-made tonic water concentrate, and paired it with a beef brisket bao from Momofoku, a sandwich on a steamed bun.

Next up on the menu at the Juniper at Dillon’s was Brux House’s Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler, a unique cocktail made with Dillon’s highly anticipated and small-batch strawberry gin. Unfortunately the batch was so small they entirely sold out of the strawberry gin and were unable to sell me a bottle. The cocktail contained rhubarb syrup, a basil and black pepper syrup, and was garnished with a couple of sprigs of Thai basil.

After sipping one of these under an umbrella while sheltering ourselves from the rain, we went to La Carnita’s stand and ordered a unique and romantic-sounding cocktail Kiss from a Rose, which contained Dillon’s rose gin, yellow chartreuse, agave syrup, lime juice, and orange bitters.

The strawberry and rose cocktails were my favourite cocktails out of all of the vendor offerings at the Juniper at Dillon’s.

After doing a round of food and drink tasting, we headed inside to do some shopping (and more sampling!).

The shelves were stocked with Dillon’s beautifully-packaged gins, with so many to choose from—Unfiltered 22, Rose gin, Cherry gin, Dry Gin 7, to name a few.

To finish up the experience, I got a waffle cone with Tahitian vanilla ice cream topped with Dillon’s pear bitters. It melted almost instantly, which, according to the vendor at Foundry Ice Cream, was due to the alcoholic content of the bitters. I had to inhale it as quickly as I could before it melted, which, in all honesty, wasn’t very difficult!

All in all, the Juniper at Dillon’s was a great, intimate event that pays homage to gin through food and creative cocktails. This event reminded me that gin is, indeed, one of my favourite spirits.