Spirited from farm to flask

At Rig Hand Distillery, visitors can taste Alberta in a bottle. Operating on a working farm, Rig Hand uses locally-grown ingredients to provide a distinctly local taste for their community.

“As a craft distillery, our first principal is to source local, our second is to employ local, and our third is to sell local,” says Geoff Stewart, Owner and Founder of Rig Hand.

A family run business, Rig Hand produces vodka, rum, whiskey, gin, moonshine, and coffee cream liquor. While many ingredients come from their on-site farm, Rig Hand also partners with local farmers and businesses to ensure their local economy grows alongside the distillery.

“It’s a sense of pride to be able to tell people that all of this comes from our own backyard,” says Mike Beile, General Manager and Distiller at Rig Hand.

In 2021, Travel Alberta supported Rig Hand with an investment to build their farm and further expand their agri-tourism programming. This investment allows guests to receive a firsthand experience of spirits being distilled from grain to glass.

“If you come out to Rig Hand Distillery, you are going to be able to tour a working farm, you’re going to be able to walk the grounds, you’re going to be able to see the crops growing. You’re going to get a full holistic picture of farm to flask,” adds Stewart.

Rig Hand has five per cent Indigenous ownership and has adopted an Indigenous reconciliation program. In light of this, Rig Hand hired an Indigenous consultant from the Peepeekisis First Nation who hosts classes, ceremonies, and drumming on Rig Hand’s campus.

“We really want people to have a place to come, to sit, to tell stories. That’s really what building a culture is about,” says Monique Collins, Indigenous Consultant at Rig Hand Distillery.

Whether it is partnering with nearby farmers, hiring local workers, or fostering a sense of culture, Rig Hand Distillery is proudly offering homegrown Albertan spirit for visitors and residents alike.