With a Canadian icon in the house, the energy was electric at JW Marriott the Rosseau Muskoka Resort and Spa in Minett last week.
Actor-comedian-musician-businessman Dan Aykroyd was the guest of honour at a private event celebrating the partnership of his Crystal Head Vodka with the resort. Adding to the feel-good vibes was a charity element, which saw money raised for the SickKids Foundation.
It was an intimate evening of excellent food beautifully prepared by the resort’s culinary team, live music, and good spirits.
“We celebrate the end of the summer and the good things to come,” Aykroyd said during a short speech.
There is no hint of Hollywood about the man, no pretension. Aykroyd was dressed casually in a cap and loose-fitting shirt and was warm and personable while mingling with partygoers on the rooftop patio overlooking Lake Rosseau. He shook hands, good-naturedly posed for photos, and chatted amiably.
Aykroyd wears his Canadian roots on his sleeve.
“I’m a proud Canadian and I’m thrilled to travel the world and say that Crystal Head Vodka is Canadian-made with Canadian ingredients,” he told me. “We use peaches-and-cream corn from Chatham, the sweetest corn there is, so unlike most vodka we don’t need to add artificial sweetener in the form of glycerine. And the water we use is pure Newfoundland ice water.”
Adding to the vodka’s uniqueness is the fact it’s filtered seven times, three of which are through semi-precious Herkimer diamonds, creating a clean, clear, and colourless spirit.
“We provide a blank slate for bar chefs (an affectionate term for skilled bartenders) to work their magic with,” Aykroyd said. “Our partners here are so imaginative — they’ll be able to do amazing, fun things with the product.”
The most exciting expression of the partnership between Crystal Head Vodka and JW Marriott the Rosseau Muskoka was the mid-June opening of the Crystal Head Ice Bar at the resort. It’s a memorable addition to a property already filled with them.
“It’s the only all-season ice bar in Canada,” enthuses Mike Evans, director of sales and marketing at the resort.
Chilled to -15 degrees Celsius and featuring a serving bar carved from ice, the ice bar offers a unique venue for sampling all three waves of Crystal Head spirits: Original, Aurora (made from English wheat), and Onyx (crafted from Mexican agave).
The festivities officially celebrated this partnership.
“We’re excited about our association with Crystal Head Vodka and Dan Aykroyd,” explains Evans. “Crystal Head Vodka is a brand that is distinctly Canadian and high quality, which reflects what we’re about as well. And, of course, having Dan Aykroyd involved lends itself to many exciting possibilities.”
The event was also in support of the SickKids Foundation, a charity for which JW Marriott has raised $390,000 over the past nine years. Guests on the evening were encouraged to purchase tickets for a chance to win a bottle of Crystal Head Vodka, and $3,000 was raised as a result, bringing the total raised by JW Marriott the Rosseau Muskoka Resort in 2022 to $10,000.
“We wanted to make a splash with our new partnership,” says Evans, “but by partnering the event with our ongoing commitment to support SickKids Foundation, it added extra meaning to the evening.”
For Aykroyd, who resides on a country farm estate near Kingston, it was also an opportunity to pay his first visit to JW Marriott the Rosseau Muskoka Resort.
“This resort,” he told me while seated at the bar, “has the spirit and quality that makes me excited to partner with them.”
