Strathcona Spirits

They’ve got Spirits Yes They Do! Edmonton’s first distillery success story

If you were looking to taste some locally produced spirits a year ago, you’d have been out of luck. This year, you’ve got options. Lots of that credit goes to Adam Smith. Over the past four years, he’s been hard at work setting up Edmonton’s first distillery—Strathcona Spirits. With their vodka and gin on store shelves already, and more offerings on the way, Adam and his team are using locally sourced ingredients to make a name for themselves in the craft-distillery world. And they’re putting Edmonton on the map doing it.

They’re Number 1

Strathcona Spirits has the honour of being the city’s first distillery, which seems surprising for a city as old as Edmonton. There is, however, a good reason why Adam’s the first to invest in a distillery here: Prior to 2013, operating a small, craft distillery was illegal in Alberta. As soon as he heard that this long-standing law had been lifted, Adam got to work.

“Some friends and I used to run a music venue out of this space, and I was looking for something to do with it,” explains Adam.

When the law changed, we started planning this distillery, and we figured we’d just continue planning it until we hit a roadblock—but that roadblock never came. Eventually we just decided to pull the trigger. We bought a still, and we started producing vodka and gin.” It was a long process getting everything together, from licences, to equipment, to recipes, but bottles of Strathcona Spirits finally hit liquor-store shelves in December of 2016.

Pioneers in the Field

Adam has always had an interest in brewing and distilling, but because of the former laws surrounding small-scale distilling, there were no real footprints to follow.

“There isn’t really any infrastructure set up here,” he says. “There are no suppliers, and there isn’t really anyone nearby to learn from. Because of that, you have to look to Europe and to the American South for guidance. That’s where they’ve already figured things out. We’ve got about 20 years of catching up to do here in Alberta.”

Over the last few years, Adam has been touring the American South and the West Coast, meeting fellow distillers, learning from their experiences and picking up equipment along the way.

 Building a Brand

One of the first things Adam’s customers always comment on is the distinct design of his bottles. The labels are rich in symbolism, evoking both the history of distilling, as well as the land and ingredients essential to Strathcona Spirits’ operation. The designs came from artists as far away as Argentina and Portugal. The art style mirrors Adam’s international education, balancing the hyper-local aspect of the business with the global talent and wisdom put into it.

Next came the name. “We talked about a lot of different names for ourselves and our products that were a bit more punny and in line with our sense of humour, but we wanted to do something a little more historically responsible. We’re the first distillery in Edmonton, and we’re located in the heart of Old Strathcona, so we kept it simple: Strathcona Spirits.” This respect for the community is also communicated in the business’s official logo, which is a silhouette of the humble Strathcona warehouse that the business calls home.

Local Ingredients for Local Spirits

If it’s possible for liquor to fit into the “farm-to-table” movement, Strathcona Spirits fits the designation. All of Adam’s ingredients are local to Alberta, and some are even foraged from within the city itself.

“We use hard red wheat for our vodka, and that comes to us from a farmer about 23 kilometres south of town. It’s the predominant grain grown in the region, so it’s not hard to find. But I’m also proud to use it since it has such an importance to the history and the economy of the region.”

Sourcing ingredients for Strathcona gin is a bit more complicated. Adam and his team forage wild juniper from the banks of the Red Deer River Valley and accent the gin with sea berries that grow right here in Edmonton. It’s not a common ingredient, but as soon as Adam tasted the experimental mixture, he knew it was the flavour he was looking for. Fortunately for Edmontonians, it’s the flavour they’ve been searching for, too.

Visitors Welcome

This summer will see a small expansion to Strathcona Spirits in the form of a storefront for their workspace. Besides acting as a retail space, this storefront will host tastings and small events, so be sure to stop by.

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