Distillation

Alberta Distillers operates two completely different distilling setups side by side in Calgary: tall column stills for continuous distillation and classic copper pot stills for individual batches. Both run in parallel and yield two spirits with entirely distinct characters. Both paths begin with the same rye mash.

The column still runs without pause: mash flows in at the top, steam rises from below, and across multiple plates, the alcohol separates from the rest, stage by stage. This produces a clean, light base character that can be produced in large volumes. This base whisky forms the backbone of many bottlings.

The copper pot still, by contrast, operates in batches, much like a Scottish pot still. Each run ends, each new one starts from scratch, with its own cut between the heads, hearts, and tails. This method is slower but brings more weight and texture to the rye spirit.

Alberta Distillers fills its barrels from both stills at around 78 percent alcohol, noticeably stronger than what's common in many other whisky-producing countries. How much this figure climbs further by the end of aging is closely tied to the dry climate described at the previous stop. Even this starting strength already exceeds that of many Scotch spirits.

In High River, Highwood Distillers charts its own course. The column stills there supply the house whisky alongside other spirits, extending all the way to Caribbean rum. Calgary and High River thus offer two different answers to the same question: how much variety a distillery can handle.