Corinne Cluis takes Quebec’s maple spirit to new, rarefied heights

Maple syrup is to Quebec as champagne is to France and beer is to Germany — the liquid essence of a place based on the connection between taste and terroir, taste and heritage, taste and identity.

Corinne Cluis, PhD 14, has taken the knowledge she acquired during her doctorate in biology at Concordia and distilled it into a mission to capture the pure essence of maple syrup in the form of acerum (from the Latin “acer” meaning maple and the English “rum”). An eau-de-vie created by the distillation of alcohol from the fermentation of concentrated Quebec maple sap, acerum delivers the soul of maple syrup, rarefied into a whole new flavour.

“It’s a beautiful idea, that we could not only make something emblematic of Quebec but something linked to the resurgence of gastronomy and the use of local ingredients,” says Cluis.

While the path taken by Cluis to become owner and distiller of Distillerie Fove may not seem apparent at first, it’s only logical when you boil it down.

“I wouldn’t be where I am without my studies at Concordia,” says Cluis. “It all started there; the interest in microbiology, microbes, using them to create something new.”

As a researcher, Cluis was working on E.coli with a focus on genetic engineering. She gained knowledge on biochemical pathways, and how they could be modified using slight genetic modifications. That led her to her work on a research team for the Montreal company Lallemand Inc., which recently supported Concordia’s Bioprocessing Centre with a major gift.

While working for one of the world’s largest developers, producers and marketers of products such as yeast and bacteria, Cluis was focused on biofuels and distilled spirits, heading a program for the development of new products.

“We started digging into the flavour profiles that were imparted by the strains we had on the market, the key elements that differentiated them from each other,” Cluis says.

In researching how different fermentation parameters such as temperature and nutrition could affect distillate flavour profiles, she was able to travel the world to see the different approaches of distilleries in places like Scotland, the Caribbean, Mexico and the United States.

“That’s what sparked the flame and made me want to start a business of my own,” she explains. “With the knowledge I acquired then around how yeast’s biochemical pathways could lead to different aromas, I thought I could use it to make a difference in Quebec’s distillery landscape.”

From studies to spirits