The Big Rig Craft Distillery opened their doors on October 17, 2015 and they already have an impressive line-up of spirits for sale at their boutique store within the facility. These spirits include their Premium Vodka and Wildrose Gin; their selections of White Dog Distillate (not whisky for three years yet); and their intriguing Sugar Beet Brum. As well, they are experimenting with an array of flavoured Vodkas some of which are bottled and ready for sale, and others which are in development.
Big Rig Premium Vodka is produced from a Rye and Red Winter Wheat mash on the company’s main still (Mighty Morley). This is a versatile still consisting of a large wash still, two columns, and a condenser. The columns are different sizes, a short 4-plate column is used for stripping the spirit (reducing the water content), and a tall 16-plate column is used for Vodka production. When the company refers to their spirit being distilled 16x, they are referring to the 16 plates in the tall column still. Their distillate must be distilled through each plate on the way up the column. After distillation the spirit is triple filtered and reduced to bottling proof (40 % alcohol by volume).
(More complete information regarding the production of Big Rig Premium Vodka can be found here: The Big Rig Distillery Tour.)
Here is a link to my review:
Review: Big Rig Premium Vodka
Please enjoy my review of this product from Alberta’s newest craft Distillery.
Like most home bartenders, I do not have a ready supply of Vodka Citron, nor a suitable lemon vodka substitute in my home bar. However, I wanted to construct a Cosmopolitan which would be similar to the IBA formulation. I did this using my newly acquired Big Rig Premium Vodka, and tweaking the recipe by adding a touch of lemon juice and decreasing the lime juice by the same amount. I tried different garnishes, and decided that orange peel seemed to suit the overall flavour profile of the serving (the IBA formulation states a lime slice garnish).
Sobieski Vodka
After the tasting event, I continued my examination of each spirit putting each brand through the paces of my 
The Rum Howler had another great year tasting Vodka in 2013 as it seems like producers from all over the world have been sending me samples for review upon my website. My quirky style of vodka review appears to have struck a chord with these producers, especially those in Eastern Europe who have told me that my willingness to bring the gastronomic experience into my review process is much appreciated. The willingness of foreign producers to send me samples in spite of the huge difficulties they can experience in dealing with Canadian Customs and Excise means that I had an unusually strong group pf spirits for this years Vodka Awards.
The Rum Howler Blog 