Where: 17412 111 Ave NW
Serves: An assortment of five spirits, including moonshine, cream liqueurs and Northern Eyes Whisky, Edmonton’s first whisky product. It’s happy to tailor the tour to your tastes.
Recommended Drink: The Salted Caramel Cream Liqueur, released two years ago, is increasingly popular. But it also has a Pumpkin Spice Cream Liqueur just in time for the spooky season.
Take the tour if: Media Relations, Hansen Distillery, Shannon Donogh says “Our tours are a great way to just gather friends and family for the holidays to spend time together. We’re all about family. So we really are appealing to folks that enjoy craft spirits, folks that are looking for a little bit of an out-of-the-box experience and to learn about the Hanson tradition, which actually started way back in the Prohibition era.”
Where: 10122 81 Avenue
Serves: A unique line of whisky, single grain vodka, and gin, including Badland Seaberry Gin with sea buckthorn berry from within the Edmonton city limits.
Recommended Drink: The Velvet Cream (with a splash of absinthe on top).
Take the tour if: Founder and Master Distiller Adam Smith explains how the small-but-mighty Strathcona Spirits runs a “point-and-spin” style tour, and that “We’re a very unique distillery for people that are interested in barrel aging, because we have a gin that’s aged in B.C. pinot casks, as well as a gin that’s aged in virgin American white oak casks. So it’s a smoky, oaky, kind of bourbon-esque gin.”
Where: 10375 59 Avenue NW
Serves: Gin, mango orange vodka and cranberry sparkling tea (with whisky on the way)
Recommended Drink: The Ginski, a one-of-a-kind, never to be made again hybrid of gin and whisky, with the gin being aged in a bourbon barrel for 14 months.
Take the tour if: President Bryan Anderson, who likes to take customers on the “long” tour, says “We generally hear from our customers that our tours are really informative. We’re very engaged in and love sharing what we do, even some so-called ‘private information.’ They appreciate our passion and hearing our story. And we always hear our space is very inviting, so that when you walk in the room, it’s like, Wow, this feels just feels right.”
