Bridgeland Distillery’s Artisan Glenbow Port Finish Single Malt Whisky has won three category 2025 gold medals at the Canadian Whisky Awards. Year after year, since opening in 2018, the distillery has taken home national and international medals for the spirits produced and aged in Calgary.
“I think what sets us apart, if you’re looking at the awards we’re winning, is the quality of the local, fresh Alberta grain we’re getting right from farmers,” says Jacques Tremblay, one of two former engineers who opened Bridgeland Distillery with his business partner, Daniel Plenzik.
They were geomatics and electrical engineers, respectively, who first met in 2016 while attending a distillery entrepreneurship course in the Okanagan that taught the fundamentals of spirit-making.
Tremblay was interested in whisky, and Plenzik wanted to work with grape-based Italian spirits like grappa, limoncello and amaro. Grapes are seasonal and must be processed immediately at harvest time in September through November, and whisky is steady work throughout the rest of the year. In other words, they thought joining forces would be better than competing with each other in the Calgary market.
It starts with sourcing grain. Canada Malting Co., the leading national distributor, doesn’t differentiate between types of grain. Working directly with farmers means that Bridgeland Distillery can choose precisely what they’re working with and even influence varieties of wheat or barley grown by their suppliers for future use.
These Alberta-made products differentiate themselves internationally, highlighting the hyper-local production. Bourbon, whiskey, grappa, and scotch are all protected and defined based on where the product is grown and brewed. So they’ve come up with names like “Berbon” for their Bourbon-style spirit, celebrating Al-BER-ta Ta-BER corn.
Tremblay describes the Alberta Berbon as a “delicate, clean bourbon [that is] approachable.” Years of research, micro-batch experimentation, chemistry knowledge, and research have all contributed to creating award-winning products. And cleanliness, Tremblay laughs as he humbly describes his work. “They tell us to beware of this and beware of that,” as he shows me the distilling room’s immaculate, sparkling science lab. “We’ve never had a bad batch; we’ve always been able to get something decent.”
Their signature square bottle, hand-labelled, is available at liquor stores throughout Alberta and a private reserve blend are duty-free at the YYC Airport. The distillery is open for retail throughout the week, with tastings and weekend tours. They work with local restaurants like Villa Firenze, Moonlight Lamp, Eli, Toto Pizza and Noto Gelato for food offerings with Bridgeland’s hand-blended cocktails in the tasting room.
Tasting Whisky With Jacques Tremblay
First, most importantly, he rinsed the tasting glasses under the tap. Dishwashing soap residue can ruin everything. Then, Jacques poured me less than ¼ inch into a small tasting glass.
Bridgeland Distillery prefers Glencairn glasses to catch the aroma, but a coupe or wine glass will also work. He told me to swirl it, like wine, and inhale. You see, if your nose gets too close, it will burn your nostrils, and you can’t smell anything.
He instructed me to inhale the fumes gently. He then told me to take enough in my mouth to just cover my tongue and let it sit for a moment, then notice the flavours after a swallow.
Each whisky and bourbon has its own scent and taste, which became more evident as I went through the flight. He gave me a tasting card to guide me through Taber Corn Berbon, Glenbow Whisky, and the Single Blend Whisky.
Visit Bridgeland Distilling at 77 Edmonton Tr. N.E., and online at bridgelanddistillery.com.
