mkatrincic_NC

Fantastic question: I have 18 years marketing and operations background. Yes, invaluable. Lee has 18 years experience in pharmaceutical R&D in senior chemist roles. His formulas for our products are insanely precise. Starting a distillery is ultimately a business. No doubt on what McKee said on a previous thread. This business requires the science of distilling and the art of marketing to work in tandem. Cheers.

Just to also clarify -- Bloomery isn't closing. They were in a tight bind regarding the taxing for direct sales out of their distillery. They were going to end up with a loss per bottle. However, they got grassroots support that translated into a hard and fast lobbying effort in WV...and as of today, their bill has passed. See: www.facebook.com/BloomeryPlantationDistillery Their Post: WOOHOO!!! The Bill has passed the House!!! The last step is for Governor Tomblin to sign it! Thanks to Rob's heroic efforts; our Delegates Upson, Espinosa, and Skinner; all of the West Virginia Senators and Delegates; and all of YOU, our fans, an your incredible grassroots campaign! Everyone's hard work and efforts made this happen! Please see the link below to sign Delegate Skinner's "SweetSign" petition asking Governor Tomblin to sign the bill! Thank you all! smile emoticon http://www.delegateskinner.org/urge_the_governor_to_sweetsi… ______ Back to the question at hand too. States with direct sales to their consumers out a distillery usually have the upper hand at breakeven being on a shorter time scale. We're not as fortunate in NC and will be working hard on the marketing side to gain awareness as soon as our products hit shelves later this Spring.

This is also immediately helpful to North Carolina as we're trying to gain passage of selling direct to consumers post-tour. NC Senate Bill 24 is our bill. We would sincerely appreciate immediate access to the response data. Please see: http://ncdistillersassociation.org/nc-sb-24/ Thank you.

Well said Sam (!) and thanks for adding the background history for those category of spirits. In our research on global gin manufacturing, it's largely a non issue to leverage NGS as base for re-distilling gin or even those that make compound gin. In reviewing the boutique distillers (or the big guys for that matter) in the UK for instance, you'll be hard pressed to find one mashing their own grain. Of course, tastes for gin vary widely which is why we love the category. It's fantastic that the US consumers want to try gin made from a base of rye or wheat or apples, etc. For us, corn based ethanol enables us to build a pedestal for the botanicals that we want to shine through. To help on the answer at hand...on sourcing NGS, we've needed to consider also where they are located or shipping from. Shipping fees vary widely. The closer you can locate a supplier, usually the better the pricing. If you're able, you may be able to gain efficiencies too in the larger volume shipments , e.g. tote vs. drum.

59 DAYS!!!! Oct 7 - Dec 5. Our DSP was approved this morning...AND it's national repeal day too! How awesome is that y'all?!

Exciting news all! We submitted Oct 7. Assigned to specialist as of Oct 27. We're hopeful that things will be pretty straightforward for us too. Jim McCoy reviewed our application prior to submission and had a couple corrections/recommendations. He was fantastic to work with and fingers crossed, it'll be helpful to the TTB as well!

Thanks so much for posting your experience. We're almost ready to hit the submit button on our application ourselves and this is very helpful!

Hi James, I agree that the owner history and OOI applications for each owner (as indicated in the TTB's requirements for an LLC) is critical to prove through that all of the owners of the distillery are on the up and up with the background information and validated crime/felony, etc. If you have a reference to where source of funds refer to personal bank account history for committed equity investors, I would greatly appreciate it! I haven't come across details requesting that in any of the documentation. We are providing personal documentation for ourselves as we make up 85% ownership but as our equity partners are already committed through on their financial investment with according SEC filings, I am hesitant to go a further step that can be legally considered invasive. Thanks for your insight!

We're in a similar position on our equity partners less than 10% each but it looks like since we're an LLC and not an S or C corp, all owners have to submit their OOI applications. That's fine but a bit of a pain since they have no voting power either. Ah well... On the source of funds, from what I've read is that your business bank account statements are critical to show receipt of the equity with the source of that equity (by name, trust, etc), and for all personal accounts where we've self-funded the business. We also have our P&L statements from our books that we will submit too. If you have all of this, you should not have to show personal statements from your equity partners because honestly --- the funds are received and it doesn't matter to the federal government once those funds are live and viable to the business. IF your equity partners have not yet completed their investment, then yes -- you'll then have to show that they have those funds available in their personal accounts. Hope that helps.

Going back to this topic. I like the look of this one for our two doors into the bonded space. One is back exterior steel door (outside access) and the other is the interior door delineating bonded/retail. Any concerns/advice from the veterans? http://www.amazon.com/Schlage-FE576-CAM-716-Lock/dp/B007IZ4ENY http://www.schlage.com/en/home/products/FE575CAMFFFACC.html?bck=@@sch-us:brand/schlage@@sch-us:product/levers/keypad#horizontalTab2 Against the specs in 19.192 Security: - There is an electronic keypad. - It is auto-lock with an internal alarm. - It is a 5-pin tumbler C keyway with two nickel silver keys. - It's wider than 2 in. in body

We add Mueller stills to the credible list. We have had a fantastic experience thus far.

As of a couple weeks ago, it looks like Mother Earth is now active in the association too. I'd like to meet Adam -- hopefully soon! I loved watching his travels to CO last month via FB.

Looks great! Congrats on getting the website up. It would be fantastic to have you listed in the NC Distillers Association too (ncdistillersassociation.org). Keith at Carolina distillery is the president of the association and has been working to ensure all of the current and upcoming NC distillers are joining together....especially since the bill (HB 842) is headed to a vote shortly in the NC legislature. His email is carolinacraftspirits1@gmail.com I'm not sure when our next meeting is yet but we do have email communications around the bill going on right now. Hope you'll join us!

Similar vein - we zeroed out the income from merchandise but in the start up costs and subsequent cash flow requirements for years 1 - 5, we have the inputs for sourcing these. That way, any merchandise revenue is all upside but you've ensured your cash flow projections and month to month needs include the manufacturing of your merchandise.

I originally added this to an older discussion but thought this might be better: Being in NC, we're not allowed to sell our spirit in an onsite retail/tasting area. We are allowed tastings and we are planning to sell merchandise. Our hope is that the restrictions of selling spirit on site, post-tour may change. There is momentum in other controlled states and we're supporting the NC effort to prove out the revenue and tax opportunities to the state. As we are working through our site plan with that in mind, we're trying to think through how to delineate for the potential opportunity to sell on site. Appreciate help validating the following: - Bonded area will include the still, all manufacturing equipment, filling, labeling and office space. Window walls (floor to ceiling). TTB security locks in place. - Retail/Tasting Area will have bathroom and direct outside access The bonded area does not have outside access in the current site plan. We can work with the architect to build it in but it may cost us. Our plan was to move finished product pallets out of bonded area through the retail space to get outside for shipment. Is this do-able/feasible? Thanks in advance.

Realize this conversation is from mid-year 2013 but would appreciate perspectives/advice. Being in NC, we're not allowed to sell our spirit in an onsite retail/tasting area. We are allowed tastings and we are planning to sell merchandise. Our hope is that the restrictions of selling spirit on site, post-tour may change. There is momentum in other controlled states and we're supporting the NC effort to prove out the revenue and tax opportunities to the state. As we are working through our site plan with that in mind, we're trying to think through how to delineate for the potential opportunity to sell on site. Appreciate help validating the following: - Bonded area will include the still, all manufacturing equipment, filling, labeling and office space. Window walls (floor to ceiling). TTB security locks in place. - Retail/Tasting Area will have bathroom and direct outside access The bonded area does not have outside access in the current site plan. We can work with the architect to build it in but it may cost us. Our plan was to move finished product pallets out of bonded area through the retail space to get outside for shipment. Is this do-able/feasible? Thanks in advance.

Having learned a great deal from this forum, I wanted to share some initial observations as we're in the funding process right now with our distillery. We've one confirmed investor and are pursuing 1-2 additional. Beyond equity investment and self-funding, we're looking to secure an SBA loan or startup line of credit. From community banks, here's the heads up to begin discussion on loan qualification: *Direct Industry Experience. *Business & Marketing Plan. *Three years of financial projections with assumptions. *20% capital contribution to the total project cost. *Collateralization on a 1:1 basis after discounting. *Credit score of 700 or better on all principle owners. Your mileage may vary but I hope this is helpful to those of you who are just beginning the business plan development. These are important baseline assumptions to prove out and best to know upfront what will be required of you.

Welcome Ryan! We're opening a gin distillery in Durham (Durham Distillery) in 2014. NC distilling is taking off these last few months. Carol - I had heard of the NC distilling group from a couple local distilleries but am uncertain how to contact them. Can you PM me who I need to get in contact with? Thank you!

Fantastic information - thanks all of you. StillDragon - would be great to synch up re:still design and spec sheets. I'll PM you. Our plan is to leverage NGS in first 1-2 years of production and then for some line extension products of our gin, get into a production from local grains ...

DISREGARD duplicate post. Got an error on posting and ended up with duplicate.

Hey all -- Pricing out the gin stills for our production. Looking at 400L (105 gallon) with 8-10 plates and botanical basket inset. I know what the mercedes/BMW version of this mockup costs but wanted to go out to you guys for any sense of pros/cons on what you're using or plan to use. Gin is its own animal and while we're not planning on distilling anything else on this still --- I still want to retain some flexibility esp. for when we may need to sell on secondary market down the road (I'm assuming we outgrow it vs. fail!!). Any and all advice is very much appreciated. Your mileage is invaluable. Many thanks.

Thanks all. So great to meet all of you! Revival - we saw your media pickup in mid-summer too. Sounds like we're all thinking this is a good time for this area. I think Durham will certainly embrace all of us! Such a great community. Love your spot in Downtown. Should be a great rehab of the building. Am starting to look at spaces in the area with local broker too to see what might be possible. We're planning on Gin only out the door -- know you guys have grander plans. Would be great to meet! Bros Vilgalys - we love your product and have been following you for awhile (esp. on FB). Seems we may know a few people in similar circles. I'll PM you too. DR - I'm beginning to map out a trip for November time frame. Planning on meeting Troy & Sons and some others in Asheville, hopefully Artisan Spriits and then could loop down to you before heading back. I'll let you know - thanks for the invite!

Thanks for the information! I can probably head down there for a day as it's about 4 hours or so -- would be great to meet you guys in person as we're exploring stills now. Didn't see the workshop info on your site or Six & Twenty's. Who do I need to speak with to make sure a one-day drop in is feasible?

Quick hello down here from Durham! Great to see a good amount of activity on the forums from some startup and ongoing distilleries here in N.C.! We are in the beginning stages of the process for Durham Distillery, LLC -- going to focus on craft distilling of gin. Attended the Kothe workshop last month which was like drinking from a fire house but got us moving in the right direction. Appreciate being a part of such a great community. Looking forward to getting to know many of you.