Queen City Distillers Announces New Leadership Team
Robert Walsh, Operations Manager and Master Brewmaster (on left) and Kiran Shrestha, Master Distiller (on right) inside Queen City Distillers.
Distilling and brewing operations team receive a boost with new experienced leadership put in place.
Regina, SK — Shaun Semple has officially announced the appointments of the first batch of new leaders at Queen City Distillers (formerly YQR Distillery).
At the end of October, Semple unveiled a new vision of the underutilized facility in the heart of Regina. With the larger vision of a multi-venue dining and entertainment complex set to open Winter of 2026. Semple has been hard at work recruiting top talent to look after the already-operating businesses in both the distillery itself, as well as the retail store and wholesale order desk.
As he noted earlier in the year, this new venue will collocate several venues, creating the most complete entertainment complex in the city and beyond. The complex is set to include:
a premium craft distillery and brewery
a 7,200 ft2 drive-through-equipped wine, beer & liquor store
a 250-person one-of-a-kind sports bar
a 46-person wine and premium spirits bar
a 264-person one-of-a-kind restaurant
a 145-person speakeasy-style lounge
a 1,490-person multi-level live music venue
Today, Semple made key leadership announcements regarding the distillery and brewhouse, including a new Operations Manager for the distilling and brewing floor, and a Master Distiller.
“The current distilling operation and product line is incomplete,” says Semple, owner of Queen City Distillers. “Our goal is to develop a complete product line that boldly embodies the spirit of Regina and the prairies and we now have a team of new leaders in place to help bring our vision to life.”
Robert Walsh has joined the team as Operations Manager and Master Brewmaster for the distilling and brewing floor. Robert has worked as Brewsters Brewmaster for the last 30 years and brings a wealth of brewing expertise. Prior to joining Brewsters, Robert also spent time as the Head Brewer at the Whistler Brewing Company. Robert has immediately assumed responsibility for the operations and Adam Sperling is no longer with the company. Robert has won many prestigious brewing awards including Gold, Silver and Bronze at the World Beer Championships as well as numerous Canadian Brewing awards for lagers, ales, barleywine, pilsners, wheat and farm ale. Robert and his family have relocated to Regina from Calgary.
Kiran Shrestha, has joined Queen City Distillers as Master Distiller and will be leading the brand through an exciting journey as we roll out a complete distilled product lineup over the coming years. Kiran previously worked at Old Montreal (Sazerac) Distillery for 12 years, including serving as their Lead Distiller for the last 7 years. Kiran has his Master’s in chemical engineering from McGill University and has relocated to Regina from Montreal.
“We feel very fortunate to have these two world class individuals as Master Distiller and Master Brewmaster joining our team,” concludes Semple. “We look forward to adding more expertise to the team and more importantly, delivering a full line of locally distilled and brewed products that Regina can be proud of!”
Additional leadership opportunities are set to be announced in the coming months as more details of the restaurant, sports bar, speakeasy, premium wine & spirits bar and live music venue are released. In total there will be approximately 150 new jobs created through the development of this new vision.
For more information on Queen City Distillers, contact Ly Pham at contact@QCDistillers.com.