Support small distilleries that stepped up during the sanitizer shortage!

They helped us. Now let’s help them!

 

Back in March, panic shopping depleted our stock of hand sanitizers. Then, disinfecting alcohol disappeared from the shelves so we couldn’t even make our own products. That’s when family-owned distilleries stepped up, re-tooled their production lines and started making sanitizer. Companies like Top Shelf Distillers in Perth, Dairy Distillery in Almonte, Dillon’s Small-Batch Distillers in Beamsville, Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery in Vernon and Kelowna, True North Distillers in Grand Forks and many others across Canada gave away their creations for free to essential services.

As reported by CBC News, many distilleries “assumed that expedited changes to tax requirements and regulations to allow sanitizer production held promise that the government would continue to encourage at-home manufacturing. They requested compensation for supplies and in some cases consideration for longer-term contracts. But none of that materialized for the smaller players.”

Government contracts could have been a great way for the distilleries to recoup lost revenue, and it could have helped keep tax dollars in our own country as well as stimulate our economy. I am hopeful, however, that the natural product route could be a suitable alternative. The government is used to dealing with large suppliers. Independent health food stores, on the other hand, are used to dealing with lots of different family-owned businesses. I’ve looked at the websites for the companies above, and they’re all closely following the WHO recipe which calls for three simple ingredients: alcohol, glycerine and hydrogen peroxide. These are very nice, clean products which I’m sure many health-conscious shoppers would like.

Okanagan Craft Distillery has packaged up their sanitizer called “Spirit Away Germs” with a holiday theme. This would make a nice last-minute stocking stuffer. Canada Post may not ship them to you on time but if you live in the Kelowna or Vernon area, you can purchase the products online and pick them up at one of the locations.

None of the distilleries I mentioned use any kind of fragrance. Dairy Distillery in Almonte is the only one I’ve looked at so far that uses a couple of chemical ingredients:  denatonium benzoate and C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer. While these ingredients don’t sound very good, I checked them out on the Environmental Working Group’s “Skin Deep” list and the score was actually not bad at all – still in the dark green zone. You can check them out yourself at the above links.

All of the distilleries mentioned in this post make products that are on Health Canada’s approved list of hand sanitizers and hard surface disinfectants (at the time of publishing). To find out if a distillery near you is on the list simply type their name into the search field. To browse all distillers, you can filter the list with key words such as “distiller”, “brewer” or “spirit”. For best results use only one of those key words per search.

Some of these distillery sanitizers do smell a bit like booze, but the smell doesn’t linger (unlike some artificially-scented products I have used). Dillon’s has been available through Well.ca for several months, so here’s hoping that these products can become planted into more natural product outlets. Well.ca carries the sanitizer as well as a variety of Dillon’s Bitters.

Given what the distilleries did for all of us back in the spring, I am calling on everyone in our community to support them where possible:

1. If you haven’t already tried one of their products, consider trying it.
2. If the product is in your budget and you like the feel of it, consider making it your every-day sanitizer.
3. See if your local health food store carries one of the products. If not, consider asking them to bring one in so that more people can try it.

I have been using Dillon’s hand sanitizer which feels great on my hands and doesn’t dry them out too much. The glycerine acts as a moisturizer and you can feel it doing its job as you rub the product into your skin. I really hope they continue making it because there’s not a lot of natural sanitizers that I like. Because it’s a liquid, it doesn’t make my hands feel sticky and goopy like gel sanitizers do. Other liquid sprays I’ve tried include fragrances that are too strong for me, even if they are naturally sourced. Dillon’s hand sanitizer comes in a very attractive glass bottle and has a lovely wood-capped cork – which might also make a nice last-minute holiday gift . . . if you hurry! This packaging is only available at Well.ca. On Dillon’s own website it currently comes in plastic bottles with a trigger sprayer.

I have saved my empty glass bottles and plan to use them for something else. I hope the distilleries will consider making just the alcohol for people that want to add their own moisturizing ingredients. A plain alcohol product could also be used as a hard surface disinfectant. Although isopropyl alcohol can be used for making your own sanitizer (and supplies are more on track now), I personally find the smell quite unpleasant. I’d much rather use one that has a slight whiskey scent – especially if it supported a Canadian family-owned business.

There could be some great opportunities for these companies. Let’s help them!

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Updated – December 20th, 2020:

1. Dillon’s Distillers is in Beamsville, not Brampton. Apologies for any confusion.
2. I also changed the source for finding a distiller from Eat North magazine to Health Canada because it’s easier to find specific products and ensures the products are Health Canada approved.

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Above photo of Dillon’s Sanitizer found on Nicolas Leriot’s Pintrest page who found it at Insite Design.