Master distiller Davy Gallant
Master distiller Davy Gallant was born in Montreal… ‘But lived in Drummondville all of my life, except for four months in Brampton, Ontario. I bought my house when I was 22 years-old because I was against the idea of paying for a flat and having nothing in return…made no sense to me. My friend had this house and was renting it out. I offered to buy it, got it for cheap. After hiring a plumber to fix a leak, he talked for six hours, worked for two and charged me eight! I was so insulted. I learned to fix things like electricity, plumbing, carpentry. I’ve always thought that if someone else could do something, so could I. And being a very poor musician, this was win-win!’
Details are important. What may seem like a strange place to back-track to in order to begin recounting the birth of a new distillery is very intentional. You see, Davy Gallant is a details man. Knowing that he had his first home before he was a quarter of a century old, and how determination would vault him into the world of his own home repairs (while being a gifted musician) is important to the story.
While his homesteading abilities revealed a capable, handy fellow, his main source of employment has been the arts, both stage and studio.
He was technical director of the Drummondville CÉGEP when I was 19 years-of-age. He opened his first recording studio at 21. By 25, he quit the CÉGEP, sold the studio, and began turning away work as a technician in order to focus on his own musical career.
‘I was tired of being ‘just an engineer behind a board’. I nearly lost my house. I was so broke, I sold most of my possessions to pay the mortgage. I slowly started getting gigs as a musician again. I built up my reputation as a reliable, on-time, drug-free musician! The difference was I only did projects I was producing. This way, my creativity was called upon. Twenty-five years later, I can say I worked with many top-tier artists from around the world.’
In 2002 Davy and family bought a little piece of land across the street from his house.
‘100,000 square feet…..we planted hundreds of trees, then eventually an orchard and bees….finally, 700 vines. The wine-making….i don’t like so much. But I discovered distillation this way, using the pressed grape pomace to make my own grappa.’
Grappa is a grape-based pomace brandy tracing back to Italy, containing 35 – 60 % alcohol by volume. The flavour depends on the type and quality of grapes incorporated and the manner by which it is distilled. (More details at www.thirstymag.com)
Then in 2017, Martin Ruel, a sommelier friend of Davy’s, was at the studio.
‘I invited him into my little distilling lab, had him taste my bourbon, grappa, calvados (apple brandy). He flipped! He offered to be my financial backer… and away we went!’
Acquiring the necessary permissions to venture into the world of producing and selling alcohol is serious business. Approaching a friend, who was working on his own distillery start-up in St. Hyacinthe, Davy and Martin found a place to get started officially, where permits were in place.
What to name this new baby of theirs? Well, as fate would have it, Davy and Martin share a birthday, and so the 29 Octobre distillery was born.
‘Easy to remember, significant, and everyone born on that day will want a bottle! Our logo is a tree with a 29 as the base-roots. The tree has 29 leaves on it. Looks like autumn!’
Concerned with the stills on site (details man…remember?), they acquired higher calibre stills from Northern Italy. Davy uses them to distill their friend’s products as well (Noroi distillery). With quality equipment in place, things began to look like their own products would soon be on the way…. but as is the case with developing and launching any product, they were not without challenges.
‘We experienced so many set-backs along the way. Delays from just about every supplier we dealt with – from equipment supplies, to bottles, to corks…plumbers, electricians…train blockages and now…a pandemic! It’s like the universe is throwing hurdles at us daily to see how tough we are! We’ll show you Universe!’
If Davy is anything aside from highly intelligent, driven, determined and just a smidge of a Renaissance man, he’s also playful. That crucial element to his character and brings balance to his abilities.
When asked about surprises along the way, both pleasant and unpleasant, Davy’s headshake is present in his responses.
‘They were countless!!! Here’s an example. In 2018, we collected 30 tons of pomace from vineyards across Quebec, in order to make grappa. The fermenters we were promised were not adequate for grape stems. So, we had to freeze the pomace until we found the right fermenters. Along the way, we took a major right turn into the kosher business. There’s a huge opening for kosher products of this type. So, the pomace we had in freezers wasn’t kosher. We ended up giving it away to farmers as animal feed…lost tons of money. But we are now one of the only kosher distilleries making kosher brandies in North America. We have interest from across the globe! I can’t wait for this pandemic to be done with, so I can go meet potential markets here and abroad!’
Davy’s goals are simple – make a decent living, producing quality products.
‘It’s fun, creative…and I will eventually get to travel again, as I did for music. I hope my kids will be interested too. I’d love nothing more than to travel and see the world with them.’
29 Octobre’s ‘Sliv’ fruit brandy is now available in select SAQS, and they are garnering interest from New York City, Florida, California, Australia and Spain, as well as several hotel chains.
Their products are also available at the Noroi Distillery located at 6596 Boulevard Choquette, Saint-hyacinthe, QC J2S 8L1, 1 (450) 418-1600.