Our story begins with a family of immigrants who moved to Upper Canada from England in the early 1830s - the Sleeman family. Upper Canada was a turbulent place when the Sleemans arrived. On The heels of the War of 1812, a revolt against the British government was heating up. In St.David’s, Ontario the Sleeman family were contributing to the rebuilding of the community after it had been burned to the ground during the conflict. The Sleemans created a thriving brewery in 1834, and a couple of years later, in 1836, they founded the first Spring Mill Distillery. While the brewery went on to great success the distillery ceased operations shortly after it was founded. Now, 183 years later, the Sleemans are back in the distilling business with the launch of Spring Mill Distillery on the banks of the Speed River in Guelph, Ontario.