Loud, gritty, and going against the grain, Rock & Union Spirits is a Hamilton-based spirits brand for hardworking individuals who enjoy unwinding with good friends, good music, and good drinks. Created by Brian Burgess, it reflects the working-class connection to rock and roll and the importance of community.
Hailing from the hardworking steel town of Hamilton, Burgess says he wanted to create a brand for the person who puts in a full-day shift.
"It could be anywhere from construction workers through to nurses, teachers and crossing guards; it's anyone that works hard all day long, and when they get done, they just want to kick back and enjoy their time," Burgess explains, adding that music is so often present while enjoying time with friends and fusing the two ideas created Rock & Union Spirits.
The idea to create a brand in which the lifestyle and experience are as intertwined as the product includes supporting Hamilton’s vibrant music scene.
Burgess and his family have always loved music, and Burgess made his way through university by DJing. Noticing the amount of unrecognized talent in Hamilton, he decided part of Rock & Union's mission would be to support musicians by funding ticket sales, helping them find venues, sponsoring tours, and working with local music studios to offer free studio time.
"We want to be able to help those bands get a bit of a start and get noticed. So that's how we're going to be able to give back, and hopefully, as our brand grows, this is not just a Hamilton thing; this can become an Ontario thing or a Canada thing," he says.
True to the rock and roll spirit, Burgess went against what the industry suggested while creating the brand, not shying away from an edgy image and knowing that at the end of the day, the customer decides if they like the product.
"As I was going through this whole process, developing the brand and talking to people in the industry, essentially everything they said don't do, I did," he says. That includes creating Canada's first 101-proof vodka.
"We want to come in and push the envelope on the industry a little bit," Burgess says. "We're not putting any added colours, any added flavours or any added sugar in our products. There's nothing artificial going into anything that we're doing."
Burgess added that they’ll be promoting the brand at various events and festivals around the city this summer, with dates found on their Instagram @rockandunionspirits.
To order Rock & Union Spirits merchandise and spirits online, visit their website here.
