Artisan Spirit: Spring 2015

Page 11

WRITTEN BY JOHN MCKEE

Make a white “whiskey, vodka, and

in Sebastopol, California is a great example of looking

outside

the

model and the bottle. Sure,

gin, use the revenue from

they have vodka, gin, and whiskey,

those sales to get you through until

but their crowning achievement is a distilled

your aged stocks are ready to sell.

and macerated Sloe Gin. This Sloe is a deep

It’s pretty much the standard business model of a new craft distillery, and for the first entrants to the industry, it actually worked really well. Ask the guys at Dry Fly Distilling, Death’s Door, or any number of the great first wave microdistilleries. However, how many of the second, third, _nth waves of microdistilleries have opened on that same model and been told by liquor stores, bar owners, and other accounts that they just aren’t interested in a white whiskey, gin or vodka - there are too many already out there. Which leaves the new distillery sitting on a business plan that doesn’t have legs. You’ve seen it happen; maybe it’s happened to you.

dark red, making Campari look watered down by comparison, made from a recipe they hold close and is hands down one of the top 20 spirits made by a microdistiller in America. It is unique, flavorful and abounding in something new. When they walk into a new account, they don’t lead with vodka or gin or white whiskey, they lead with the Sloe and when the account manager is blown away by what they just tasted, Spirit Works has kicked down the door for their other product lines. (Read more about them on page 65.) So too with New Deal Distillery in Portland,

Remember, you are a DSP, which stands for Distilled Spirits Plant, not a Distillery Spirits Plant. The difference is critical in charting a different path forward.

Oregon. Their Ginger Liqueur is a thoughtful and handcrafted product that fits into their markets like an apple falling on Newton’s head — people just get it, instantly. Like Spirit Works’ Sloe, this is not a flavor adjunct in NGS, it’s a handcrafted

SLOE GIN

WE NEED TO START THINKING ABOUT THINGS DIFFERENTLY

GINGER LIQUEUR WWW.NEWDEALDISTILLERY.COM/OUR-PRODUCTS/GINGER-LIQUEUR

this one before:

Spirit Works

LEARN MORE WWW.SPIRITWORKSDISTILLERY.COM/INDEX.PHP/SPIRITS-SLOE-GIN

S

top me if you’ve heard

THINK OUTSIDE THE MODEL AND THE BOTTLE

WWW.ARTISANSPIRITMAG.COM 11


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