b'ONTARIO POTATO FARMERS Ken and Liz Beattie got into the craft distillery business back in 2016, using surplus, non-saleable spuds otherwise destined for cattle feed to make potato vodka. Their fledgling company called Beatties Distillers has certainly come a long way since then. Proof of that came at the 2018 World Beverage Competition, a major event for the beer, wine and spirits industries. At that eventthe first international competition for the Beattiestheir signature spirit called Beatties Distillers Farm-Crafted Potato Vodka was named best in show, earning the unofficial title of the worlds best vodka.Liz Beattie admits the news came as a bit of a shock.Honestly, it was surreal. It was just unbelievable, and we were all over the moon, she says.We had to make sure that we had enough product in the stores before we an-nounced it. Keeping that to ourselves when you wanted to scream it from the rafters was difficult, but Ive said it to everybody every day since then, Beattie laughs.Andy Murison, head of sales and marketing for Beatties Distillers, says expectations werent terribly high when the decision was made to enter the World Beverage Competition.It really was, quite frankly, just going to kick the tires and see how our brandWayne Strongman surveys freshly harvested potatoes at the Beattie family farm in performed against the other categories, so it was a bit of a one-off experiment toAlliston, Ont.PHOTO: LIZ BEATTIE, BEATTIE DISTILLERS.be honest with you, says Murison. We didnt expect to come out with an award, and we certainly didnt expect to get the best in class.Its very prestigious. It basically helps ratify our commitment to quality and it helps enable us to go to customers all over North America, including the U.S., andIt was a bit of a one-off experiment to introduce ourselves as a high-quality vodka.Beattie agrees the worlds best vodka moniker has been a huge boost for theto be honest with you. We didnt distillerys brand. A great example of that, she says, is how things have changedexpect to come out with an award, since liquor officials in Alberta were first approached about selling Beatties Distill- and we certainly didnt expect to get ers Farm-Crafted Potato Vodka two years ago.They said, Well, lets see how you do with LCBO [Liquor Control Board of Ontar- the best in class. io]. Then we won the award last year, and they said, Okay, lets talk, lets get thingsANDY MURISONmoving now. So certainly, thats helped us to get into other markets, says Beattie. According to Murison, Beatties Distillers Farm-Crafted Potato Vodka is now sold in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Alberta and, soon, British Columbia. Its also available in a growing number of states south of the border. The distillerys product line has expanded as well. It now offers some special, limited edition flavoured vodka products, such as strawberry potato vodka released last summer, as well as a sweet potato vodka. In addition to vodka, Beatties Distillers now makes potato gin and poitn, an Irish-style moonshine distilled from potatoes and aged for a minimum of three months in oak barrels.Murison says the distillery has also laid down some Canadian whisky that will come out of the barrels and be available to customers in a few years time. BETTER TASTING VODKAWhen asked why their vodka fared so well at the recent World Beverage Compe-tition, Beattie and Murison say the answer is simple: vodka made with potatoes tastes better. Its creamy and its smooth. The potato, without a doubt, makes a superior spirit, says Beattie. Certainly, when you drink a shot of something straight, you get that terrible burn. You dont get that from the potato spirit.Murison concurs. Potatoes in our opinion produce a better base of raw mate-rial. As a result, we think it helps provide a very robust and great-tasting alcoholPotatoes being harvested at the Beattie family farm in Alliston, Ont. base. PHOTO: LIZ BEATTIE, BEATTIE DISTILLERS.FALL 2019 SPUDSMART.COM 5'