The Downtown Hotel in Dawson City served the milestone 100,000th sourtoe cocktail to Premier Sandy Silver on Tuesday evening

After much speculation on who would claim the “no-toe-riety” of downing the 100,000th cocktail, Silver, the MLA for the Klondike riding, beat out other contenders for the bragging rights.

“I don’t often get asked to fill in for (actor) Ryan Reynolds, but I’m always happy to oblige,” said Silver.

“Drinking the sourtoe cocktail is a time-honoured tradition in my hometown of Dawson.

“Visitors from around the world have touched their lips to the toe and so have many residents,” Silver added.

“I am thrilled to have been served the 100,000th sourtoe cocktail – it’s not my first and it won’t be my last.”

Rich Thompson is the CEO of Northern Vision Development (NVD), parent company of the Downtown Hotel.’

“The toe is a fabulous and unique part of our Dawson operations, and it is a never-ending source of stories …. We are delighted to be a continuing part of the sourtoe cocktail and its ever-present place in the Dawson and Yukon landscape, and it is amazing to see the 100,000th serving of this little piece of Dawson uniqueness,” Thompson said.

The cocktail is a world-famous tradition dating back to 1973. It involves drinking a shot of whisky with a mummified human toe in it.

Once the toe touches your lips, you have officially joined the club, and receive a certificate to commemorate the prestigious occasion.

“The toe has generated great publicity for Dawson City and the Yukon over the years,” said Adam Gerle, NVD’s vice-president marketing.

“We wanted to do something special to commemorate toe 100,000, a huge milestone in Canada’s tourism industry, and are delighted the Yukon’s premier did the honours!”

The hotel used one of Captain Dick Stephenson’s toes for the special occasion.

Stephenson, the cocktail’s founder, died in 2019, “willing all 10 of his toes to the Downtown Hotel, and his generous ‘toe-nation’ will help ensure the tradition continues,” NVD said.