Eau Claire Distillery, Turner Valley, Canada, said its products are available for the first time in the U.S. in bars, restaurants and liquor stores in New York State. Park Street Imports is the importer and U.S. distributor. The company is looking to expand its U.S. distribution network, we’re told.
Turner Valley, just south of Calgary, Alberta, is known for its rich soil, the highest quality barley in the world and its pure Rocky Mountain water. The distillery uses ingredients from local farms, including its own on which Eau Claire’s stable of plow horses are employed along with antique machinery to make horse-farmed grain. These agricultural methods date back to the original settlement of Alberta and define Eau Claire’s historic hand-crafted process.
The first of Eau Claire’s distinguished spirits to become available in the U.S. are Parlour Gin and Prickly Pear EquineOx which have won countless prestigious industry awards.
“Parlour Gin is a happy medium between old school London Dry and New American Gin. It isn’t too sweet, nor too dry. It’s a balanced, well put together spirit that is very approachable and marketable for sure,” said Andre Robert Guerin, General Manager of New York-based Ambassador Wine & Spirits.
Prickly Pear EquineOx is a distillation of the essence of Alberta – blue skies, mountain-fresh water, prairie grain and distinctive ingredients like the prickly pear cactus. This smooth and flavorful spirit defies comparison, though it could be described as a sweet, barley-based alternative to gin or vodka. Its name honors the role Eau Claire’s horses and oxen play in the annual spring planting and fall harvest.