Best Distillery: Eau Claire Distillery

photography by Neil Zeller

Eau Claire Distillery

Situated 35 minutes southwest of our bustling downtown core, you'll find Calgary's Best Distillery. Housed in the circa-1929 Turner Valley movie theatre and dance hall that in its early days also served as a town hall, political rally centre and community gathering spot, you'll now find the Eau Claire Distillery serving up canned cocktails, single malt whiskey, crisp vodka and a multitude of gin. The company chose Turner Valley as its home to be closer to its local ingredients and draw water in from the Rocky Mountains. These award-winning must-try spirits are proudly made with Alberta barley.

Like many others in the industry, Eau Claire Distillery's tasting room, events, tourism and on-premise business was greatly impacted by COVID-19. This presented a number of challenges for the business, but the team worked together to launch two new products through the pandemic, a Spruce Berry Smash canned cocktail and Flourish Gin. The staff were resilient as they responded to new customer needs with an expansion of their online store and direct-to-consumer deliveries in Calgary and Okotoks. The smiles and excitement the Eau Claire Distillery team received when serving new and loyal customers was what helped them persevere through this trying time.

You can support your local Eau Claire Distillery by visiting their tasting room in Turnery Valley or ordering their spirits online with free deliveries in Calgary and Okotoks on orders over $49. The outbreak of COVID-19 postponed the seasonal full-time opening of their tasting room and various tourism offerings at the distillery, so the team at Eau Claire are going through the process of slowly reopening and providing their guests with a safe, memorable experience. Eau Claire Distillery relies on Albertans, so they hope you'll stay close and support local businesses this year.

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