A local distillery made history in Edmonton Saturday.
Hansen Distillery became the first craft distillery to barrel Canadian rye whiskey in Edmonton, according to owner and master distiller Kristopher Sustrik.
Sustrik married into the Hansen family and learned the business from his wife’s grandparents and father.
“It’s been a hobby ever since, and I’ve taken it on and grown bigger and bigger, and we finally decided to go legit and this size,” Sustrik said.
Hansen Distillery opened a new location located on 172 Street and 111 Avenue. They have a bar on location, and also provide tours and distilling courses.
Sustrik says they are just starting to get their products into liquor stores, and hope to be in restaurants soon.
“We have a vodka out, a white rye, a moonshine, and as soon as we get back in a week here, we’ll be bottling up some whiskey, but it’s spiral-age whiskey, cherry rye – I made my own fireball called ring of fire, it’ll be coming out next week,” Sustrik said.
But if you want to try their historic Canadian rye whiskey, you will have to wait until February 11, 2020.
