The story begins more than 20 years ago with Envirotech CO2, an environmental technology and service company run by Shawn Ward. One of Envirotech’s projects was to research the development and commercialization of ethanol fuel cells. Those fuel cells required ultra-pure ethanol—distillation knowledge that set Ward on the path to making premium spirits.
The husband-wife team of Ward and Lisa Landrie founded Lost River Permaculture in 2015. The previous year, Ward’s father had received a 20-liter scientific reflux still as a retirement gift. Ward and his father began experimenting with making spirits in his father’s furnace room, eventually getting a license to do so commercially.
One of the first things that Lost River did was make some rye whiskey and put it into barrels—where it still sits, eight years later. Their first commercially available product was Sugar Shine rum—but for the quality Ward wanted, it took too long to make and was “tremendously expensive,” he says.
“For a small-scale craft product, we did not have access to cheap sugar,” Ward says. “We used the white refined granulated product you find at the grocer. It required specialized yeasts to maximize fermentation and required several distillations, with ample cuts from both the heads and tails of the run to isolate only the smoothest hearts. After extensive carbon filtration, the final yields were very limited.”
Today, Lost River Distillery’s sole commercial product is their vodka made from 100 percent wheat, grown on the farm that is home to the distillery.
Great Water, Clean Process, Narrow Cuts
Ward started making vodka in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, using city water. He now distills near Dundurn, a town of 675 people about 35 minutes south of Saskatoon.
“We draw water from an aquifer,” Ward says. “It has the perfect mineral content, and it has no chlorine, like city water does. It makes a marked difference.”
“Vodka is 60 percent water,” he says. “Water is at least as important as anything else in making vodka.” Ward says he’s also experimented with mineral water and distilled water, and he’s now convinced that the aquifer water is best for making premium vodka.
Ward says the next element of making great vodka is keeping his 100-liter copper reflux tower still impeccably clean. “We are meticulous,” he says. “We clean the still between … run[s], so the spirit has maximum copper exposure. If the still isn’t clean, you can taste it right off the bat.”
Having exposed the spirit to maximum copper to remove sulfur-based compounds, Ward says the next key element is “extreme” carbon filtration. Lost River uses fresh carbon every time, never reusing any.
Finally, Ward carefully monitors the temperature and pressure of distillation, leaving out a lot of the heads and tails to keep just a narrow cut of the run.
“We consider ourselves truly craft,” Ward says. Lost River distributes its product only in Saskatchewan—a province with fewer than 1.2 million people spread over 250,000 square miles (650,000 square kilometers). “Great vodka isn’t about flavor,” he says. “It's about mouthfeel and years of perfecting our process.”
Sustainability also is part of Lost River’s mission. “We are mildly profitable, and we don’t intent to grow or scale,” Ward says.
Supporting the Land
Lost River’s mission isn’t to make lots of money or grow—it’s to support the ethos of “permaculture.”
“The term ‘permaculture’ is a reflection of our land management and animal husbandry,” Ward says. “We create value for grain we already had. And then the spent grains are used as feed supplement.”
While there are services that gather spent grains from distilleries and breweries to deliver them to livestock operations, “brewing and distillation by-products are wet and heavy,” Ward says. “To be most environmentally friendly, use of them needs to be directly adjacent to their source.”
The benefits of feeding spent grains to the cattle aren’t only environmental. “Happy cattle make delicious beef,” Ward says. Reducing stress on the cattle releases fewer hormones that negatively affect the beef’s flavor. “We have had a lot of positive feedback regarding marbling.” Lost River also partnered with the University of Saskatchewan Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence, located in Saskatoon. Research conducted there found that fermented products are easier on the cattle’s digestive systems.
Lost River’s permaculture ethos goes beyond making vodka from the farm’s own grains and feeding the by-products to its cattle. “To me, permaculture simply means permanent culture, in that the practices we employ at the farm will promote sustainability for both the land and for ownership.
“The bulk of our land is alfalfa hay land, as it requires the fewest inputs and binds nitrogen back to the soil. For crops, we grow wheat, barley, and oats, as these three grains comprise the largest part of our end use products,” he says.
“The most important practise for us in permaculture is to maximize the resources of the land toward growing sustainability. Many modern farming techniques, such as minimum tillage, irrigation, and progressive crop rotation methods address these needs.”
A Rye Toward the Future
That rye spirit laid down eight years ago has been aging quietly. While businesses driven by profit and cash flow are often tempted to release a spirit as soon as it can legally be called “whiskey,” Lost River has the luxury of time.
“We purchased brand-new oak barrels, and the flavor profiles are tremendous,” Ward says. When asked why he has yet to sell any rye, he says, “It’ll be worth the wait.”
“The whiskey is progressing very nicely,” he says. “It has tested to be exceptionally smooth, with a bounty of unique flavors with notes of vanilla, oak, caramel, and hints of citrus. Feedback has been very positive. We plan to market a limited offering in 2026, when it is 10 years old.”
Lost River’s marketing tagline: “Enjoyed by the best.”
“We have developed a clientele that has an appreciation of premium products,” Ward says. “They love that we take no shortcuts.”