Introduction

[JohnD]

Hi there, I've been making flavored vodkas in the Polish/Eastern European tradition for 7yrs. I'm starting a business(Novina SpiritsLLC) to sell them and eventually will distill myself. In the meantime I'm looking for a way to buy spirits wholesale. If anyone could help me out I'd appreciate it. I've contacted a few distillers nearby (I'm in Chicago), but most don't seem to have any extra.

Thanks, and looking forward to Kentucky next month, I'll bring samples.

[delaware_phoenix]

Hi!

In NY for example, the small producers are only allowed to sell to retail (tax paid), the big distillers or for denaturing.

The TTB (Feds) regulate transfers in bond between licensees (tax free sales). So you have to have your permits in order before this happens. Then there's lots of options.

Good luck on your venture! Always exciting to see different spirits being brought to market.

[Jonathan Forester]

Where are you at in the licensing process for a DSP? Even if you are just mixing spirits, infusing, etc. you need to be a legal Distilled Spirits Plant.

As Delaware Phoenix said, you have to have your bond before you can buy spirits wholesale. Once you have your bond we can supply you with some info on who to contact for the best prices for GNS. So far the best price I have found for GNS is $5.50 a gallon for a 55 gallon drum, delivered, which comes to $302.50 a drum.

Hi there, I've been making flavored vodkas in the Polish/Eastern European tradition for 7yrs. I'm starting a business(Novina SpiritsLLC) to sell them and eventually will distill myself. In the meantime I'm looking for a way to buy spirits wholesale. If anyone could help me out I'd appreciate it. I've contacted a few distillers nearby (I'm in Chicago), but most don't seem to have any extra.

Thanks, and looking forward to Kentucky next month, I'll bring samples.

[Andrew]

That brings to mind a question I haven't needed to look into but am curious about. Are standard stainless drums DOT compliant for transport? Larger ethanol totes need to conform to specific design regulations; is 55 gallons small enough that they're under some cap?

When doing initial numbers research, the cheapest price I came across for NGS was ~$3 per proof gallon (not delivered) from a place in California. The other queries came in a fair bit higher, between $5-$7 undelivered, for "small" bulk purchase. One think to ask about is minimum volume; some places don't want to sell less than a full tanker and others a full tote (a few hundred gallons) per order.

[JohnD]

Thanks for the input. Right now I'm just looking for a location, thinking about SW Michigan, so I have a ways to go before I'm ready to purchase. I'm just looking to lay the ground work and make connections so that when I'm set up I can jump right into it, so I'll keep you in mind Jonathan. I've been going back and forth with TTB folks about the DSP and they've been surprisingly helpful. In Illinois we get used to cranky gov. folk so it's refreshing to get prompt responses.

Thanks again.

[Gwydion Stone]

It's the age of the "kinder, gentler TTB." After the split with ATF, they became much less grumpy. They apparently figured out that rather than spend tax money by prosecuting, feeding and housing distillers, it made more sense to help them do things legally so that they could make tax money. It's all about the revenue.