Distilling Wild Spirits in Canmore

It is not every day that a new vodka hits the liquor store shelves, and certainly not one that is fabricated using only (100%) ingredients from Alberta. The bad news is Ginger and Nutmeg missed the grand opening party. The good news the Wild Life Distillery is nearby, in Canmore.

The distillery’s founders Matt Widmer and Keith Robinson are both Bow Valley locals. Widmer grew-up in Banff and Robinson in Canmore, their connection, like many residents, was snow and sport related – in this case, cross-country skiing events.

Wild Life Distillery Owners in Canmore

It might seem strange for graduates of Kinesiology (Widmer) and Business Administration and Marketing (Robinson) to join forces, but they both appear to be driven by entrepreneurial forces. In the summer of 2014, they shook hands on the slightly crazy idea of opening a distillery in Canmore, and the Wild Life Distillery began to take shape.

Nutmeg asked how the concept came together. According to Widmer,

“I have had an interest in distilled spirits since 2010. While living in Tofino, I would chat with a friend (MBA graduate) on a weekly basis about business ideas and options for future entrepreneurial goals. Distilleries were just starting to be a thing on Vancouver Island around then, and it sparked my interest. Why were there no small distilleries in Alberta? I travelled to Chicago in 2011 to take a spirits course and learn about the industry. Then after some investigation with the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC), I discovered that there were extremely high production minimums to grant access to a class-E manufacturing license. So basically, you had to produce 250,000 litres of absolute alcohol to get a license, which clearly prohibited any small distillery from considering starting up. It was then in the summer of 2014 that the AGLC changed the licensing structure, and dropped this huge minimum to zero.”

This was the game-changer that they needed.

“The distilling industry is full of big bucks and big dreams. Keith and I had to find ways to achieve the big dreams without spending too many $$. “

And, sure enough starting a new venture is not easy…

Probably the most difficult part of opening this business was getting permission from the municipality to renovate and acquire our building permit. This involved months of planning, navigating the building and fire codes, and countless meetings with the town to finally arrive at a mutually acceptable solution. Only then, could the space be renovated to suit the production requirements. Determining and finalising equipment needs took months of research and hours of commissioning once it was all installed.

The Wild Life Distillery facility is now fully operational and open to the public Wednesday through Saturday from 12 to 8 pm. Drop by for a tour (at 3 pm), enjoy a cocktail or buy a bottle of local vodka to take home.

Vodka bottle from Wild Life Distillery in Canmore

Can you tell our readers about the Wild Life Vodka?

We use all Alberta ingredients for our vodka. The grains are raw hard, red wheat and malted barley. We mill, mash, ferment, distill, bottle and label every drop of every bottle on site. It is 100% locally produced, and we are proud to be able to do so here in Canmore. From ‘grain to bottle’ the process is around two (2) weeks. We use Canmore ground water for blending, and the resulting spirit is clean, smooth and authentically Albertan.

Mixing cocktails with Wild Life Vodka distilled in Alberta

Where can readers find your Wild Life Vodka locally?

In Canmore:
Stores: Liquor Depot Canmore, Cellar Door, Rusty’s Liquor and Unwined at 3 Sisters
Restaurants: Where the Buffalo Roam, The Drake Pub, Hogshead Pub, and The Hive Gallery

In Banff:
Stores: Liquor Depot Banff, Side-Street Liquor, Town House Liquor, Tunnel Mt. Liquor
Restaurants: Ticino Swiss-Italian Restaurant, Melissa’s Restaurant, The Bison Restaurant, Park Distillery, The Block Bar/Restaurant and The Banff Park Lodge

What is Next up on your list of spirits to be produced?

Gin. We should be ready with gin within several weeks, and then from there, we will likely do a flavoured vodka for summer.

Contact details:
Wild Life Distillery
160 -105 Bow Meadows Crescent
Canmore, AB T1W2W8
Tel: 403-678-2800

Alberta Food Tours for Culinary Tourists

OK, so Alberta suffers from a few extra months of winter than other locations in Canada, but that has not stopped foodies from noticing what the Province does produce — naturally. Events such as Cook it Raw Alberta (2015) have raised culinary awareness levels globally.

Karen Anderson @calgaryfoodtour

Karen Anderson, the founder of Calgary Food Tours, is a self-professed food lover. Her passion for the kitchen influenced by a family of cooks, with roots in St. Andrews by-the-sea, in New Brunswick, Anderson tells Nutmeg that “One grandfather owned a fish market, and the other was a farmer.”

Continue reading

Knife Skills fit for Guerrillas in Edmonton

Chef Michelle DeLand acquired her knife skills, how to make a roux, and what it takes to make soufflé from some of the gurus in the food industry. American-born DeLand trained with Madeline Kamman (the NY Times called her “Flinty, Revered Teacher of Chefs“) in San Francisco. She also had the opportunity to work under Chef and TV personality Jacques Pepin for a short period.

Guerrilla Dinners #Edmonton @MichelledeLand @ExtraordinaryFood

Continue reading

Constructing An Edible Life in Canmore

The cocoa goji balls are criminal – they should be locked up!

Carole Beaton owner and operator of An Edible Life in Canmore is modest, she says that she is not a confident cook and “only started baking in the fall.” When pressed for more details, Carole admitted that she may have baked before launching her food business, but never in retail quantities.An Edible Life storefront @anediblelife #Canmore

Continue reading