Victoria Distillers (Empress 1908 Gin)

Milestone Brands LLC announced on 23 June 2022 that it had acquired Victoria Distillers Inc, including the Sidney distillery and the new Vancouver packaging facility, together with Azzurre Spirits Corporation, its US importer, with founder Peter Hunt staying on as president; The Spirits Business reported the same deal and that BDT Capital Partners took a significant minority stake in Milestone at the same time. Milestone's December 2025 and May 2026 releases still say Empress 1908 Gin is part of the family of Milestone Brands LLC, and the Empress privacy policy names Victoria Distillers Inc of Sidney, BC as the operating entity. OrgBook BC shows VICTORIA DISTILLERS INC. as an active BC company (BC1368005) registered 17 June 2022, consistent with the acquisition, but the BC registry does not publish shareholders; Corporations Canada returned no federal record, EDGAR has no filing for the private parent, and no later sale of the company to Pernod Ricard or anyone else was found, so the US allocation rests on the parent's own statements.

• Milestone Brands Strengthens Strategic Position with Acquisition of Victoria Distillers and Azzurre Spirits press “Milestone Brands LLC, the premium spirits company based in Austin, Texas, today announced that it has acquired Victoria Distillers Inc ("VDI"), one of the oldest artisan distilleries in Canada and the producer of Empress 1908 Gin, and Azzurre Spirits Corporation, the U.S. importer of Empress 1908 Gin.”
• Milestone Brands buys Empress 1908 Gin - The Spirits Business press “Texas-based spirits company Milestone Brands has acquired Victoria Distillers, producer of Empress 1908, the number one super-premium gin in Canada.”
• EMPRESS 1908's ORIGINAL GIN MAKES ITS DEBUT IN THE UNITED STATES press “Empress 1908 Gin is a part of the family of Milestone Brands LLC, a premium spirits company based in Austin, Texas”
• Privacy Policy - Empress 1908 Gin vendor_statement “Empress 1908 Gin / Victoria Distillers Inc Victoria Distillers, Inc 111-2506 Beacon Avenue Sidney, British Columbia V8L 1Y2 Canada”
• OrgBook BC search: Victoria Distillers registry “BC1368005 VICTORIA DISTILLERS INC. ... registration_date 2022-06-17 ... entity_status ACT ... home_jurisdiction BC”
• Search for a Federal Corporation - Online Filing Centre - Corporations Canada - Corporations - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada registry “Victoria Distillers 0 results were found, 0 returned.”

The vendor says every Empress 1908 gin is handcrafted in small-batch copper pot stills at the waterfront distillery in Sidney, BC, whose stills run on a closed loop with the neighbouring Sidney Pier Hotel's geothermal system, and the 2022 acquisition release adds a packaging facility opened in Vancouver in February 2022. The 0.0 Indigo alcohol-free spirit is also credited to the Sidney master distiller, and no US or contract production site was found, so all production is placed in Canada.

• Victoria Distillers - Crafting Canada’s Finest Spirits vendor_statement “Our unique waterfront location in Sidney, British Columbia, houses the copper pot stills that produce our range of spirits – most notably, our award-winning gins.”
• Sustainability – Victoria Distillers vendor_statement “we have created a closed-loop system between our stills and the geothermal system. This process saves energy through the recapturing of heat from hot water, which is used to warm the hotel”
• Milestone Brands Strengthens Strategic Position with Acquisition of Victoria Distillers and Azzurre Spirits press “Milestone Brands has acquired the distillery for Empress 1908 Gin in Victoria, Canada as well as the new packaging facility recently opened in February 2022 in Vancouver, Canada.”
• EMPRESS 1908 GIN RELEASES NON-ALCOHOLIC 0.0 INDIGO SPIRIT press “The recipe is carefully crafted by the Empress 1908 Gin Master Distiller at Victoria Distillers, one of Canada's oldest artisan distilleries.”

The distillery, tasting room and retail store are at 9891 Seaport Place in Sidney, BC, the registered office is on Beacon Avenue in Sidney, and Milestone said it would retain the entire Victoria Distillers team under president Peter Hunt with master distiller Phil Lecours still quoted from Sidney in 2026. The brand's US sales and marketing sit with the Austin parent and the former Azzurre Spirits team in the US, so a fifth of the headcount is placed there as an estimate; no employee counts were published.

• The Distillery & Team – Victoria Distillers vendor_statement “Meet Phil Lecours, our Master Distiller. Phil, originally from Montreal, Quebec, has been with the distillery since 2010. He began working alongside Peter as the only two full-time employees”
• Contact - Empress 1908 Gin vendor_statement “RETAIL STORE: 250.544.8217 9891 Seaport Place, Sidney, BC V8L 4X3”
• Milestone Brands buys Empress 1908 Gin - The Spirits Business press “The entire Victoria Distillers workforce will remain in place, as well as the US-based Azzurre Spirits team.”

The gin is distilled from a purchased corn-based neutral spirit whose origin is not disclosed, cut with west-coast water, and flavoured with botanicals the vendor says come from around the world: the Empress black tea blend is Assam, Kenyan, South Indian, Ceylon and Chinese teas blended by the Metropolitan Tea Company, the rosebuds are from India, and butterfly pea blossom, juniper, grapefruit peel, coriander, ginger and cinnamon are imported crops. Bottle and closure sourcing was not published, so the split is an estimate that gives Canada the water, base spirit handling and packaging work and the rest of the world most of the botanicals. Sales run through provincial liquor boards and the distillery store rather than a single platform.

• Frequently Asked Questions - Empress 1908 Gin vendor_statement “Yes, Empress 1908 Gin is all-natural and gluten-free. Our gin is distilled from a premium corn-based spirit.”
• Empress 1908 Indigo Gin - Truly Unique Award-Winning Spirit vendor_statement “this blend is a selection of seasonal, quality teas from Assam, Kenya, South India, Ceylon, and China, created exclusively by the Metropolitan Tea Company”
• The Distillery & Team – Victoria Distillers vendor_statement “using the world’s best-tasting water (found right here on the Canadian west coast), and the highest quality ingredients from around the world.”