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History
Hand crafted spirits is not a new idea. In what is now Poland monks began distilling grains in the fifteenth century. Pot stills have been around for a very long time. The old word for a pot still, “alambic” or “abembic” is an Arabic word which goes back further to the ancient Greek which got the word from the Egyptians. Prior to prohibition, Americans had a strong tradition of family owned local distilleries, each with local characteristics. Prohibition saw the closing of these small distilleries, equipment was destroyed, and when prohibition was repealed in 1933 only a handful of these small distilleries reopened.

The art of handcrafting spirits, using small pot stills was replaced with very large production oriented distilleries. These commercial distilleries concentrated on quantity, not quality. Vodka from a pot still will contain the delicate aromatics, the congeners, and flavor elements from the rye. The rise of craft distilling is the return to quality and using locally grown grains. Kent saw this opportunity and has brought this style of distilling to Northern Michigan. He credits his Polish ancestry with his motivation to hand craft and ultra-premium vodka using rye.