So you want to start a distillery a word of caution

[virtuoso]

there are a lot of " home distillers" and the new craze is to start a distillery. its not as easy as many of people think. the Federal Government hurdles are great. but after you get a permit you will find the federal government is primirly only concerened with your ability to pay them the tax on the spirits if they do grant a license, if they feel if you can't pay them they won't grant a licsense getting a security bond is hard for someone if they never have been in business fortunatley for me it was easy as I was in business before and had access to business insurance with a good history.They do have other criteria but if you want to open a distillery they are not unreasonable. The problem for many people is our states they still have a prohibition mentality and have lots of obsticles you must overcome.

What no one trying to sell you a still talks about is actually being able to sell your product other than telling you can. Most states have what's called a 3 tier. system. the distiller, the distributor and the retailer. as a distiller you must sell to a distributor or the state control board and in most states by custom you are only allowed one distributor to handle your spirits in that state Now the big multi national companies like diagio will go to a distributor which there are usually not many who distribute in the whole state and will offer their product line to them but demand a quota of sales from the distributor and if they don't meet it they will pull their product line an go to a competitor distributor in that state. To a distributor this multinational will represent at least 60% of a company's sales. Thus there is no incentive to handle small craft distiller by the distributor in fact some distributors see us as the enemy preventing them from not being able to meet their quotas. Finally With liquor stores having limited shelve space its hard for you to get on their shelves without a multi million dollar advertising campaign.

A small still with a reasonable investment may work well in this atmosphere as long as you can produce a decent spirit and I am not talking about some of the jury rigged stills that are home made or offered on the internet for less than $8000. then you can sell your product as a locally made product. I really don't think local distillers will make a lot of money but it can be a fun part time income for some people. If you then are sucessfull you surely can expand

[Mash]

So true.....

[frontal lobotomy]

I'm trying to start a distillery in Puerto Rico...

[frontal lobotomy]

Going for grant money for new technology /green technology...no one is making whisky on the island either.