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Once Farran and his team were satisfied with their vodka, Eau
Claire’s finished spirit slowly filtered into the market. The initial
release started with a few bars, restaurants and liquor stores
around the province, including Vine Arts and popular Calgary
restaurant Charcut Roast House. So far, the reception has been
overwhelmingly positive.
“I think people are surprised by how smooth it is,” Farran
said. “Many have said they never expected that vodka could be
something you would sip neat, much as you would a whisky.”
Matt LaRocque, Charcut’s wine and service manager, said
he has seen a similarly positive response at the restaurant. The
only difficulty has been convincing drinkers to try something
different in place of their usual favourites.
“It does take a little bit of hand-selling because you have to
break people out of their habits for Grey Goose and some of
the bigger names,” he said. “Generally speaking, you just need
to get them to try it. Once they do, they love it.”
The bartenders at Charcut are fans of the vodka as well,
LaRocque added.
“At Charcut, we really like to cocktail and focus on the
ingredients within them,” he said. “The guys behind the bar
are essentially chefs, and the ingredients that they get to cook
with are vital. What Eau Claire brings is just a great flavour
component.”
Although Eau Claire is the first craft distillery to set up shop
in Alberta, the industry is thriving in other parts of the country.
In recent years, a number of new micro-distilleries have sprung
up from coast to coast, with particularly high concentrations
in British Columbia, Ontario and the Maritimes. Many of these
upstart distillers have already received critical acclaim for
their creations.
According to independent whisky commentator Davin de
Kergommeaux, the quality of Canadian craft spirits stems from
the difficulties of starting a craft distillery. These allow only the
most passionate and skilled distillers to excel in the industry.
“Craft products are somewhat more expensive than
mainstream offerings and, as such, appeal more to the
connoisseur,” he added. “This is why they have to be good
to survive.”
Although they lack the economies of scale possessed by
their mainstream competitors, craft distillers do have some
advantages over their commercial brethren.
“The breadth of flavour and selection is large, and, in some
cases, each batch introduces new flavours,” de Kergommeaux
said. “As well, craft distillers can experiment with different grains,
combinations, barrels and so on, one small batch at a time.”
For Farran, the biggest advantage lies in the differing
motivations of small- and large-scale distillers.
“To focus on quality and taste rather than volume speaks for
itself,” he said.
Now that Eau Claire has shown a small-batch distillery can
succeed in the province, Farran said he hopes more distillers
will follow his lead in order to build a craft industry in Alberta.
Before long, more enterprising individuals could be transforming
Alberta’s natural riches into handcrafted spirits.
“It’s going to be great to showcase what the province can
do,” LaRocque said. “And these guys are definitely going to
lead the way.”
Fall
2014
Grains
West
42
SPIRITS OF THE WEST:
(from left to right) Eau Claire founders and friends Larry Kerwin, David Farran and Brad Stevens have brought the
craft spirit movement to Alberta.