That's up from slightly more than $1.7 million in fiscal 2013, data from the Alcohol and Beverages Division shows.Ĭraft bourbon accounted for more than $1 million, or 37 percent, of the micro-distilled spirit sales in Iowa as of June 30, 2016. Sales of Iowa micro-distilled spirits came to more than $2.7 million during the 2016 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2016. The American Craft Spirits Association estimated there were 18 craft distillers in Iowa as of August. Those licenses include operations such as Drams & Dashes and Swisher-based Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery, as well as larger makers such as Templeton Rye in Templeton, Archers Daniel Midland in Clinton and Grain Processing Corp. Iowa's Alcohol and Beverages Division counts 25 businesses licensed as either native distillers or alcohol manufacturers. Iowa has seen growth among its own craft distillers, recently reclassified as 'native” distillers by the state. 'Consumers are more interested in this local movement, and they're more interested in trying new things,” she said. While whiskey, gin and vodka are among the most commonly made craft spirits, Clough said there is consumer demand for products used in cocktails, such as bitters. More than half the active craft distillers are located in just 10 states, including California, New York, Washington, Texas and Colorado. 'We as consumers are more and more interested in where our products come from, who the farmers are who are growing those products, what's the story of that brand, who the makers are,” she said.
Growth in the craft spirits industry has been influenced by the same forces that drove the local food and craft beer movements, said Alexandra Sklansky Clough, a spokeswoman for the Spirits Association in New York City. Retail sales of craft spirits, meanwhile, grew from $1 billion in 2012 to $3 billion in 2016. There were just fewer than 1,600 craft distilleries across the country as of August, up from about 450 in 2012, according to the American Craft Spirits Association. Their company joins a growing chorus of craft distillers in the United States. 'When Josh mentioned that he wanted to form a business around his expertise, I knew that I wanted to be part of whatever he was thinking of,” said Rosteck, a commercial investment Realtor with Skogman Commercial, in an email. The two later talked seriously about starting a business, which Drams & Dashes. One day at Cobble Hill, he made Rosteck a drink with his own version of a crème de cassis, a liqueur made with black currants. 'That kind of lit a fire under me that was like, I don't ever want to be in that position again where I don't know what the heck is going on,” O'Connell said. You will begin to receive our Daily Business News updates. His tastes changed, though, and while he was bartending, a sales representative from a spirits company introduced him to a spirit-making contest. 'It's doing a dream on a limited budget,” O'Connell said.įormerly a bartender at Cobble Hill restaurant in Cedar Rapids, O'Connell said he began making alcohol when he brewed beer at home. A nearby shelf lined with equipment holds jars of experimental mixes. They get their neutral grain spirits from Bettendorf, have a labeling machine O'Connell made in his garage and a small, five-gallon still.Ī journal, O'Connell's 'book of Cocktail Wizardry,” sits on a table. The company has started with a shoestring budget, he said. We're trying to bring something new,” O'Connell said. 'If you walk to a store's shelves, there's 100 bourbons to pick from.
Instead, they began with herbs and spices, specifically a rosemary-flavored liqueur and cinnamon-flavored bitters. Unlike many of their compatriots, though, O'Connell and Rosteck didn't start with bourbon, whiskey or vodka, the mainstays of Iowa's craft distillers.
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