Michael Botner
Cask and Barrel
Mary Chays product consultant.
Why is it news that a new private liquor store is opening on the Westside? After all, liquor stores are places to replenish supplies of cold beer and coolers, not discover new and exciting specialty products. Not so for Cask & Barrel, which aims to please a wide spectrum of buyers. Notably, the shelves include large selections of BC’s finest, including Bombers, or craft beers, ciders and wines, primarily but not exclusively with the VQA logo.
The wines encompass a wide range of prices and styles. Two of the walls are lined with refrigeration units, which provide display and storage of BC white and sparkling wines, as well as ciders and brews.
Owner Devin Smith is also a partner at Gasthaus on the Lake in Peachland. “We’ve had the liquor license for some time, but decided not to open a store so close to Sunnyside Market just down the street on Beach Ave., a rural store with a liquor license, which sells a selection of wines along with the groceries." With recent changes to liquor laws and regulations allowing us to move the license to another location, the BC government provided the cue to open the store on Stevens Road in a prominent location along busy Highway 97.
