Spirits from An Immaterial World
Stories, celebration, and mainstreet soul ring truest at Golden’s new distillery. Trench writer Jacquie Moore bellies up.
Distinguished distillin' — Stolen Bell’s still, the largest of its kind in Interior B.C., was handcrafted on Vancouver Island. Midsized stills can run from $150,000 and up. — Elora Braden Photo
An old storage barn north of Golden’s downtown that once served as a woodshed for Home Hardware is a dazzling new star in the expanding universe of Western Canadian micro-distilleries.
Named for a local fable around the mysterious disappearance and reappearance of the bell at Golden’s St. Paul’s Anglican Church, the Stolen Bell Distillery opened last fall by Aussie-Kootenaian owner Rupert Michell. Since then, it has produced between 400 and 500 litres of craft spirits every other week.
Overseen by head distiller Evan Cronshaw—the former brewmaster at Whitetooth Brewing across the street—the operation is home to a copper hybrid still that was custom made by Vancouver Island’s Revival Stillworks. At 1,000 litres, it’s the largest such apparatus in this part of the province and was designed to produce a variety of spirits including gin, vodka, and whiskey.
Aside from its unique still and the distilling expertise operating it, the Stolen Bell is set apart by its central location in a charming mountain town where the staff can walk down the road to find out how people are enjoying their spirits.
“Whenever I make a delivery, I talk to bartenders about what locals and tourists are ordering and if they love the current batch or want it tweaked,” says Stolen Bell sales manager Wes Routley. “If I hear ‘oh, it’s a bit grassy,’ Evan can pivot on a dime to adjust the flavour profile.”
Provincial rules governing craft distilleries in B.C. easily align with owner Michell’s personal vision to use entirely local agricultural products. He and his staff foster relationships with local producers of haskap berries, fruit trees, and a variety of botanicals to enhance flavours of the gin and vodka.
“We want to tell the stories and celebrate the flavours of the area we love.” And, he says, “Evan’s got this massive hit list of things he wants to try, including florals and pea flowers, to change the taste and colour of the gin.”
The distillery also supports farmers in the area while diverting stress on the municipal wastewater system by giving away its stillage as a feed supplement for pigs and chickens.
So far, the Stolen Bell’s spirits are available exclusively at bars and restaurants in the area, and in private liquor stores only in the East Kootenay. However, if imbibing even closer to the mothership is what you crave, then the best is yet to come. Later this year, the distillery will add a vibrant, elegant cocktail lounge to their space.
“It’s our goal to holistically develop products for the lounge so that those visitors can try them before anyone else,” says Routley. “When we land on a product that really hits well, we’ll queue it up for a quarterly launch.”
In the meantime, you can find Stolen Bell products on a shelf near you. So, raise a glass to the East Kootenay’s excellent spirits—the entrepreneurial, the handcrafted, and those that stir us.
~ Jacquie Moore
Find this full-length story and more in The Trench’s Spring/Summer 2025 edition: