4L of vodka not enough? The Saskatchewan Mickey may be right for you

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If the cost-of-living crisis is driving you to drink, Saskatchewan’s got you covered.

While Albertans and their provincial government recover from the controversial news earlier this month that four-litre jugs of vodka were available for sale in their province for under $50, even larger options have been available in Saskatchewan for years without causing a political storm.

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The “Saskatchewan mickey” — first produced in 2016 by Radouga Distilleries in Blaine Lake, a tiny town about an hour’s drive north of Saskatoon — is an enormous vodka-filled 18.9-litre water cooler jug. It’s the company’s largest size option for their Provincial vodka brand.

“It was basically used for well (house) vodka in bars, restaurants and lounges,” said Radouga operations manager Lawrence Eberle. But eventually orders started trickling in from retail liquor stores.

“They had customers asking for them,” Eberle said.

Despite starting at a suggested price of $499, the “Saskatchewan mickey” proved a wildly popular product, with the distillery selling nearly 200 of them last year alone.

The largest size typically available in Canadian liquor stores are three-litre bottles commonly known as Texas mickeys.

“That was known to be the giant in the industry, but we had these Culligan jugs lying around so we figured ‘why not fill these up with vodka?’” Eberle said.

A lot of bars were already purchasing bulk quantities of vodka and breaking them up into smaller jugs for the bartenders to use, he said, and the Saskatchewan mickey found its niche.

He said customers buy them for parties, events and even as gifts.

Despite the obvious fit, Eberle recommends against using Saskatchewan mickeys in commercial water coolers, as the alcohol tends to deteriorate watertight seals.

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Earlier this month, controversy erupted in Alberta when a cabinet minister discovered that liquor stores in the province were selling vodka in four-litre milk jugs.

It’s a size entirely legal to produce and sell in the province, but the revelation had Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally suggesting he might take action to stop it.

“I don’t think a four-litre plastic jug of vodka adds to the quality of the distillery industry we have in this province,” Nally told reporters at a press conference about the $49.95 jug.

“I don’t think that it is responsible pricing to price it like that.”

In response, the Edmonton-area distillery temporarily halted production of the jugs.

Nally’s comments came on the same day the UCP tabled a bill that, if approved, would give the minister explicit authority to review and set alcohol prices in the province.

Despite temporarily halting sales, the jugs are still for sale on the distillery’s website.

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Yvonne Irnich, CEO of St. Albert’s T-Rex Distillery, told The Canadian Press the jugs were on store shelves a year before Nally took notice, and demanded an apology from the minister.

“We got a lot of publicity, but it wasn’t all good publicity,” Irnich said.

Inquiries to Saskatchewan’s Minister of Crown Investments Corporation Dustin Duncan went unacknowledged by press time, but Eberle said the province did have some reservations over the Saskatchewan mickey upon its debut.

“Customers and people on the street absolutely loved them,” Eberle said.

“The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority? Not so much.”

Citing overconsumption concerns, the province made recommendations that Radouga complied with, including measures to ensure the jugs wouldn’t find their way into dry communities, and changing the cap on the tank so it doesn’t closely resemble a water jug.

Although he understands there are some issues with the optics of selling four litres of hard liquor for under $50, Eberle described being amused at the tempest in Alberta.

“It’s the moral uproar over four litres versus the three litres of a Texas mickey, which are readily available at the majority of liquor stores across the country,” he said.

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National Post

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