Your humble narrator is delighted with his page-a-day booze calendar, which lets me sample a different spirit every day, all in the name of field research.
Last week was the 7th annual World Gin Day, so your intrepid liquor reporter spent the day enjoying Gin & Tonics, Martinis, Negronis, Tom Collins, Gin Fizz, and other delightful cocktails.
Cocktail culture has waxed and waned over the years, but the Gin craze in North America all started in the dark days of Prohibition. Despite the best efforts of the morality police, booze was consumed with great abandon in the Speakeasies that existed in every city. Because the hooch producers and suppliers had to keep one step ahead of the law, there was a shift from whiskey to gin, simply because gin did not require extensive aging.
Because so much illicit liquor was being produced clandestinely, the so-called bathtub gin of the day was generally of poor quality, so had to be mixed with sweet juices or honey to mask the foul taste. This was how many gin cocktails were born, and many are still popular to this day.
When Prohibition ended in 1933, gin cocktails remained popular not only because of familiarity, but because it would take several years of aging in oak barrels to build up a domestic supply of whiskey.
Consumer tastes changed in North America in the 1960s, with cocktails largely going out of fashion, until a vodka-led surge of cocktail culture in the 1980s, followed by increased popularity of traditional gin-based cocktails in the mid-noughties.
The gin renaissance that started a decade ago is still going strong, with much of the popularity being led by the small artisanal distilleries.
Despite its humble beginnings, when gin was the curse of the lower classes back in Victorian England, we now think of gin as an upper-class spirit, most commonly used in fancy martinis and cocktails like the ever-popular Gin & Tonic or Tom Collins, and the many artisanal distilleries producing small-batch Gin are certainly helping that perception.
Fortunately, we are blessed with a world-class artisanal gin producer right here in Alberta.
Yes, gentle reader, the Eau Claire Distillery opened last year in Turner Valley, and the master distiller is none other than local booze legend Larry Kerwin, who you may recall did stints as Brewmaster in Calgary for Carling, Molson, Big Rock, and Village Brewery.
The Eau Claire Parlour Gin is made in the style of a London Dry Gin, and has only been on the market for a year or so. Made from locally grown barley and other grains, the distillate is then infused with the traditional Juniper berries, as well as more local botanicals including Saskatoons and Rosehips.
Since Turner Valley is only 75km from Chestermere, I decided to go for a Sunday drive to sample their wares direct from the wellspring, since they generously offer tasting tours 5 days per week.
Turner Valley had a notorious history during the dark days of Alberta’s Prohibition from 1916-1924, when the surrounding area was known as Whiskey Ridge, due to the large number of illicit stills churning out rotgut moonshine. I did see a few old farmers that looked suspiciously like Uncle Jesse Duke, so there might be a few illicit stills out there to this very day!
The distillery itself is quite small, so the 20-minute tour of the shiny new distillery in a lovingly restored old-timey movie theatre was over almost as quickly as it began. Luckily, the tour ends in the attached tasting room, so I settled in for some serious sampling.
After the first sip of the Eau Claire Parlour Gin in a dry martini, I felt like I was in a Prohibition-era Gin joint with a flapper girl on my arm and a Roaring 20s band playing in the background.
Although I was concentrating entirely on the Parlour Gin in the tasting room, the Eau Claire Distillery also produces a premium Vodka, and has a cellar full of whisky that has been aging in oak barrels since last September. We probably won’t see their first whisky release for another year or two, so I’ve definitely got a reason to return for another tour!
Look for them at your local booze merchant, or make the quick trip to Turner Valley for a tour and tasting!
