Steinhart Distillery

Steinhart Distillery sits on the Northumberland Shore in the tiny harbour community of Arisaig, roughly half an hour northeast of Antigonish, where Highway 245 curls along the coast and the distillery's windows look out over Arisaig Wharf and the warm summer waters of the Northumberland Strait. It is one of the more distinctive stops on the Nova Scotia Good Cheer Trail: a working craft distillery with a beer partnership on site, run by a family whose distilling tradition, they'll tell you, stretches back some three hundred years in Germany. Distiller Thomas Steinhart turned that family passion into a Nova Scotia operation that now draws travellers touring the Sunrise Trail between the Canso Causeway and Pictou.

Three Hundred Years of Family Craft, Poured on the Northumberland Shore

The Steinhart story is the sell here, and it is a good one. Craft distilling has run in the family for generations — the Tourism Nova Scotia listing puts the tradition at "over 300 years in the making" — and Thomas Steinhart has made his passion for distilling a reality on a bluff above Arisaig Wharf, sharing it through tours, tastings, and distilling sessions you take part in. The operation grew visibly in the 2020s: in August 2022 the federal government's Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency announced new funding for facilities and equipment to help the distillery expand its production and attract more visitors to this quiet stretch of shore.

The spirits themselves have collected their share of recognition. Steinhart's own tagline is direct — "High quality spirits made in the east coast of Canada. We make award winning Vodka & Gin" — and the shelf bears it out across a range of small-batch vodkas and gins, including flavoured expressions like a Maple Vodka (750 ml, C$55 at the distillery's online shop) that makes an easy, distinctly Nova Scotian souvenir. The Google listing now reads "Steinhart Distillery / 9zero2 Brewing Company," a sign that beer has joined the portfolio — visitors report tours covering the distilling operation and tastings running from spirits into the beer side, so the pour list is broader than the name suggests.

Tours, Tastings, and the GINstitute by the Sea

A standard visit means a guided walk through the distillery, an explanation of how the family's German traditions shape the process, and a tasting flight at the end. It's the kind of stop that reliably converts browsers into buyers — as one Tripadvisor reviewer put it, "We wounded up touring the distillery and learning so much. Next up we enjoyed some taste testing which led to us buying multiple kinds of vodka," and another titled their review "Well Worth a Visit." Across 44 Tripadvisor reviews the distillery holds a 4.7 out of 5 rating, against a 4.4 on Google — strong numbers for a rural producer.

The headline experience, though, is the GINstitute by the Sea, a two-day package billed by Tourism Nova Scotia as a signature unique experience. Priced from C$600 per person (shared cottage) to C$1,200 per couple (own cottage), plus HST, and offered year-round on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays (current availability runs through November 2026), it puts you behind the scenes with the distillery's master ginmaker: you forage and select from spices and citrus, distil and refine your own custom gin or vodka, and bottle it to take home. The package includes signature Steinhart cocktails, German schnitzel made on site from traditional family recipes, and — the part people remember — a two-night stay in an ocean-view chalet with a private hot tub, right on the property overlooking the water. For couples or small groups touring the region it is one of the more complete food-and-drink overnight experiences in the province; book well ahead, since weekend slots are limited.

What to Know Before You Go

Be candid with yourself about the drive: Arisaig is rural, roughly 25 minutes northeast of Antigonish on Highway 245, and the distillery keeps seasonal hours that shift dramatically between summer and winter. In summer (Victoria Day to Thanksgiving) it opens daily — 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekends — which makes for an easy late-afternoon tasting stop. From Thanksgiving to Victoria Day the schedule contracts to Monday–Thursday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., and closed Sundays, so a winter visit needs a little planning. The online review footprint outside Google is thin — Yelp shows only a handful of reviews — but the weight of evidence, from Tourism Nova Scotia's Taste of Nova Scotia and Good Cheer Trail memberships to the ACOA expansion investment, points to a settled, well-regarded operation rather than a marginal one.

The Practical Details: Location, Hours & Essentials

Address & Location
Steinhart Distillery, 5963 Highway 245, Arisaig, NS B2G 2L1 — on the Northumberland Shore, about 25 minutes northeast of Antigonish via Highway 245 (the Sunrise Trail coastal route), overlooking Arisaig Wharf. Follow the Good Cheer Trail signs; the distillery is also a short drive from the wharf itself, a favourite local spot for a summer swim.

Hours of Operation
Summer (Victoria Day–Thanksgiving): Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–8 p.m., Saturday–Sunday 11 a.m.–8 p.m. Winter (Thanksgiving–Victoria Day): Monday–Thursday 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.–7 p.m., Saturday 4 p.m.–8 p.m., closed Sunday. Hours can shift in the shoulder seasons — a quick call before a long drive is wise.

Price Range
Tastings and tours are modestly priced; bottles run from roughly C$30 to C$55 (Maple Vodka 750 ml is C$55). The GINstitute by the Sea two-day experience runs C$600 per person to C$1,200 per couple (plus HST), including chalet accommodation, meals, and your own bottled spirits.

Reservations
Tastings generally welcome walk-ins in season; the GINstitute by the Sea and distilling sessions must be booked in advance through the distillery's website or by phone.

Parking
Free on-site parking at the distillery; no street parking needed out here.

Contact & Booking
(902) 863-5530 · info@steinhartdistillery.com · steinhartdistillery.com, with the distillery also active on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Whether you stop for a free-flowing summer tasting with the wharf glittering below, load up on Maple Vodka for the folks back home, or commit to a weekend at the GINstitute crafting a gin that is genuinely yours, Steinhart rewards the detour off the main highway.

The property doubles as a base for exploring one of the province's quietest corners. The on-site Steinhart Distillery Cottages — the ocean-view chalets used by GINstitute guests — can be booked on their own, making this one of the few Nova Scotia distilleries where you can sleep above the stills and wake to the Strait. The immediate area rewards the slow traveller: Arisaig Wharf below the distillery is a favourite local summer swim spot on some of the warmest saltwater in the province, neighbouring Arisaig E-Bike Adventures rents e-bikes from May through October for the coastal run along Highway 245, and nearby Arisaig Provincial Park protects a fossil-bearing beach where collectors have been finding Silurian-age specimens for two centuries. A morning on the water, an afternoon tasting, and a night in a hot-tub chalet is a pretty complete Northumberland Shore day.

If you're mapping the province's full drinks trail, our Good Cheer Trail & Wine Country guide and Northumberland Shore region page make it easy to build the rest of the trip around the stop.