Is it the water? The barley? Maybe the Chinook winds?
Today, it’s not exactly clear what would go into defining an “Alberta whisky” like one does a Kentucky or Tennessee bourbon.
But the provincial government wants to change that. Last month, Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally was tasked with defining the rules for a product to be legally labelled as Alberta whisky.
Ask a handful of distillers what that definition means to them, and their answers will vary.
In Diamond Valley, located south of Calgary, Eau Claire Distillery president and CEO David Farran stands near a mash tun, a large device used in whisky production to extract sugars from malted barley.
Eau Claire Distillery has been in operation for more than a decade, and Farran has watched the local market evolve.
But in his opinion, Alberta has never really celebrated the fact that it has “all of the ingredients” for making a great whisky, like its highly-regarded barley and a well-suited climate. He hopes planned reforms could change that.
“Alberta whisky historically has not been ranked as the top whisky in the world. It’s been kind of the last whisky to be invited to the dance. And it has been priced low,” Farran said.
“Our goal, and I think we can do it here in Alberta, is to prove … we have our place amongst premium and super premium whisky.”
Crafting an Alberta whisky trail?
Nally said he’s taking inspiration for Alberta from a recent fact-finding trip to Kentucky, where he explored the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, a tourism destination that draws whisky aficionados to distilleries like Maker’s Mark and Wild Turkey.
In his mandate letter, Nally’s been tasked with establishing an “Alberta Whisky Act,” which would set out the conditions for an Alberta whisky.
“The bourbon trail in Kentucky attracts two million visitors a year. Well, look at all the people that come to Alberta for Banff and Jasper,” Nally said in an interview.
“If we could just get a small fraction of them to come check out the [Alberta] whisky trail … who knows? Maybe that’s in the future.”
Nally says the province will leave the key definitions around grains, production and process to the people who actually make the spirit.
“If it meets those certain definitions that are in the Alberta Whisky Act, then you get to call this Alberta whisky,” he said.
The provincial government said it’s working with industry to develop the rules and hopes to introduce legislation in the spring or fall of next year.
Caution around definitions
Davin de Kergommeaux, founder of the Canadian Whisky Awards, isn’t convinced that legislation is the right tool when it comes to defining an “Alberta whisky.”
“Especially when you consider how many distilleries you’re working with, people are going to keep changing what they’re doing and keep changing their minds,” he said.
“I think it would be better to have a broad outline, you know, like if you qualify for Alberta tax breaks, your whisky is called Alberta whisky or something like that.”
The author of Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert said Alberta already has the foundations of a true whisky region, with its abundance of barley and rye and a growing network of distilleries.
“There’s already a buzz there about whisky … you’ve got the mountains on one side and the Prairies on the other side. You’ve got specific terrain, specific terroir [region-specific qualities that influence flavour],” he said.
“They have everything, but they just need to get it together. Whether they need the government to do that or not, well, I don’t know. But certainly somebody needs to organize it.”
Still, he said that any definition should be made simple.
“I would say that it would have to be distilled and matured in Alberta,” de Kergommeaux said.
“At least some of the barley should come from Alberta. At least some of the rye should come from Alberta. But you don’t want to prevent them from using corn. You don’t want to prevent it from using triticale or oats or wheat.
“I think you want to be careful about defining how you make it, and more where you make it.”
Industry going through downturn
Alberta’s continued push into the whisky landscape comes at a time when the global whisky industry is going through a major downturn.
“Distilleries are closing in Scotland, Ireland, America, of course, and they’re closing other places. The demand for whisky is plummeting,” de Kergommeaux said.
There are several theories about why the downturn is happening, de Kergommeaux said. Some believe the industry has premiumized itself to the point of losing consumer interest, and the COVID-19 pandemic certainly didn’t help. Major players like Diageo have scaled back as sales fall, even among top brands like Crown Royal.
Still, the idea of a “whisky trail” perks up the ears of operators like Charlie Bredo, president of Red Deer’s Troubled Monk and GrainHenge Whisky. The operator’s Arrowwood whisky recently won world’s best rye at the 2025 World Whiskies Awards in London.
“I’m totally excited that Alberta is looking to do this,” Bredo said. “We have an awesome opportunity here to put Alberta on the map.”
Bredo noted the huge volumes of tourists every year that go to Scotland or Kentucky for bourbon, or to Japan for their whisky.
“Having a trail and celebrating the different distilleries in Alberta to make that whisky … it could be a real difference-maker for tourism here.”
Bredo agrees that the province’s grain, its climate and its mountain water could all play into an eventual definition for Alberta whisky.
