Elmira distiller calls new support program 'step in the right direction'

An Elmira-based distillery owner calls a new $4.9 million provincial support program aimed at helping craft spirit and cider makers  "a step in the right direction."

• Ontario pours $4.9M over 3 years into small cideries, distilleries

Finance Minister Charles Sousa and Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal told reporters at an LCBO outlet in Toronto that the Ontario small cidery and small distillery support program will provide eligible businesses with funds to expand their companies. 

It's something Ben Murphy, the owner of the Elmira-based, Murphy's Law Distillery said he's grateful for because it gives him the potential to expand his fledgling business. 

"What we're looking for at the end of the day is a similar system set up like the breweries. However, the position that the government has taken in order to help us out is a good one and a step in the right direction," he told CBC News Tuesday. 

Making waves

Murphy's Law has recently been making waves among spirit lovers, winning the 2016 Canadian Moonshine Distillery of the year and his apple pie-flavoured moonshine took the bronze medal at last year's New York International Food Competition. 

Murphy offers his products in a mason jar as an homage to the clandestine backwoods stills of the Southern United States where he says he learned his craft. 

"Been doing this for a little over a year now legally and it's going well," he said. "I lived down in Virginia for a little bit, that's where I got my start."

Murphy hopes this new program is just the start and that the province will further amend the law to eventually allow craft distillers to sell by the glass or make it easier to sell their product paired with food.