Follow Alberta Premium rye whisky along the production line

The 67-year-old Alberta Distillers Ltd. plant in Calgary makes Alberta Premium, one of the few remaining 100-per-cent rye grain whiskies produced in North America.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail

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Ken Pike, the grain receiver at Alberta Distillers Ltd., displays a sample of rye.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail

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Mr. Pike takes a sample of rye grains. Alberta Premium is a rye mash whisky that's available, for the most part, only in Canada.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail

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Grain silos hold the grain before it is used in production.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail

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Alberta Premium is made by blending two aged whiskies, one of which is aged for flavour in used bourbon casks.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail

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Mr. Pike watches a truck unload grain at Alberta Distillers March 25, 2013.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail

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The fermentation or cooking process at Alberta Distillers.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail

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Storage tanks hold finished product. Alberta Distillers produces 20 million litres of various whiskys a year, made not not only from rye but also corn, barley and wheat.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail

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After blending, Alberta Premium is aged further – five years in all.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail

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Huge storage tanks hold the finished product. Alberta Distillers supplies matured whisky to boutique U.S. companies for bottling with their own upscale labels.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail

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Oak barrels are filled at Alberta Distillers Ltd. In 2011, two-thirds of the 115 million litres of whisky Canada shipped to the U.S. was bottled there.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail

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