It was announced almost exactly two years ago that Imperial Distillery would be setting up shop in Moose Jaw and a year ago they announced they'd starting production over the summer of 2020.

While that clearly hasn't happened yet, the city of Moose Jaw's Manager of Economic Development, Jim Dixon, says there's an obvious reason why things got pushed back a bit.

"They are definitely moving forward. Part of the issue was COVID, and getting equipment here from Scotland. The equipment is a very important part of what they're doing so they need the right stuff. They're a little bit behind schedule but they will be moving forward sometime here in the near future."

Imperial Distillery is made up of investors from India and has been in talks with city officials since April 2018. They will be using high-end equipment from Scotland and the U.S. to make their product in two buildings on the 1100 block of Ominica East that have been retrofitted for use as a distillery.

"The last discussion I had with them a week ago was that the equipment was going to be shipped now, and it would be this year that they will be setting up and starting production," said Dixon.

In 2019, City Council approved a three-year 100% tax exception for the new distillery, but the way the motion is worded, the tax break wouldn't start until a product is actually being made so the business would pay tax while any renovations are happening to the building.

The group of investors had reportedly started their search for a location out in British Columbia and then turned their focus to the prairies where the grains they need are grown. They looked at Saskatoon and Regina before meeting with officials from Moose Jaw who sold the company on the Notorious City.