Three Friends. One Distillery.
Andrew
Co-Founder & Head Distiller
Andrew came to distilling the way most good things happen — slowly, then all at once. He'd spent years working with fermentation, obsessing over timelines and temperature, before the idea of a Halifax distillery moved from a half-serious conversation to a concrete plan. He runs our stills with the kind of quiet focus that doesn't need an audience. If you've tasted something unexpected in our whisky — a warmth that lingers, a finish that earns its keep — that's Andrew's work. He'd probably just call it doing it right.
Matt
Co-Founder & Operations
Matt is the reason Lure & Drum runs the way it does — unhurried on the outside, precise underneath. He handles the parts of the business that don't make headlines but make everything else possible: sourcing, logistics, the thousand small decisions that shape whether a distillery actually holds together. He grew up in Nova Scotia and has a deep, unsentimental affection for the province. He'll tell you the Atlantic air matters. He's not wrong.
Richard
Co-Founder & Brand
Richard thinks in stories. He was the one who pushed to make sure Lure & Drum felt like something real — grounded in Halifax, built for people who'd notice the difference. He's spent time in the whisky world long enough to know what he finds tiresome about it, which shapes everything from how we write to how we pour. His taste is exacting without being precious. He believes a good single malt should hold your attention without demanding it.
How We Work
Every decision we make at the distillery comes back to the same question: does this serve the whiskey? Not the timeline, not the margin — the whiskey. Andrew, Matt, and Richard built this place around a few principles that haven't shifted since day one.
No Shortcuts on Time
We don't release a cask before it's ready. Halifax winters are long and the summers are short — the warehouse breathes with the seasons, and so does the spirit inside it. Patience isn't a marketing position for us. It's just how good whiskey gets made.
Single Malt, Full Stop
We make one thing: Canadian single malt whiskey. Not a portfolio, not a range of approachable blends. Committing to a single style meant learning it deeply — fermentation timelines, still geometry, cask selection. We'd rather do one thing well than several things adequately.
Place Is an Ingredient
The maritime air off the Atlantic isn't incidental — it finds its way into everything. The humidity, the salt, the coastal temperature swings all influence how spirit interacts with wood. Nova Scotia isn't just where we're from. It shapes what ends up in your glass.
Small Batches, Named Decisions
Every batch we release is a decision one of us made — about a cask, a duration, a moment of readiness. There's no blending committee. Andrew, Matt, or Richard signs off on what leaves here. That accountability keeps us honest and keeps the whiskey honest.