63 - Tomas Romero

Distilling is an exercise in patience, barrelling a spirit and then waiting for fermentation to work its magic. For this week’s guest, Tomas Romero of Romero Distilling, this wait is about to pay off, with more than 170 barrels of rum nearly ready to be bottled in this distillery that is the first of its kind in western Canada.

Romero Distilling is the only rum focused distillery in western Canada, and in addition to a history of the business Tomas treats us to a history of rum in western Canada during prohibition, a story that goes back more than a century. In 1916 Alberta enacted prohibition, making it illegal to sell alcoholic beverages within the province, which would last for nearly a decade until prohibition was repealed in 1924. At first this led to Albertans looking to BC to quench their thirst, but only a year later BC would enact prohibition as well, turning thirsty Albertan’s sights to the US. At this time the majority of spirits smuggled into Alberta was primarily vodka and whisky, but this would change when the US also enacted prohibition in 1920. Earning their name, rum runners would then begin to import rum by ship through ports in BC, causing an influx of this sweeter spirit.

95 years after prohibition in Alberta ended Tomas and his father Diego founded Romero Distilling together right here in Calgary, barrelled their first batch of rum on July 12th 2019, and opened their tasting room to the public last October. This distillery takes being a family business seriously, with Tomas’ wife working in their tasting room, and a second father-son duo works at the distillery with the Romeros. During the year they’ve been waiting for their rum to be ready to bottle they’ve collaborated with Village Brewing on a beer, aptly named Rum Runner, and during the COVID-19 pandemic they’ve helped serve the community by manufacturing hand sanitizer during a period of panic buying.

What’s next once their delicious rum gets bottled? Eventually they hope to ship their spirits across Alberta, into BC, and potentially the pacific northwest in the US, but they’ll be looking at Calgary first: “People want to support their local brand."

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