Twenty 2 vodka now available
By Joseph Cyr
StaffWriter
HOULTON — Nestled into a warehouse at the Houlton Industrial Park, the founders of Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka are hoping to bring their high quality spirit to markets on a national scale.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
NEW BUSINESS — Scott Galbiati, left, and Jessica Jewell have created a new brand of vodka that is distilled in Houlton. Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka is available locally and expanding across the state at a rapid rate.
Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka is produced in Houlton, by the husband and wife team of Scott Galbiati and Jessica Jewell. The two founded the Northern Maine Distilling Company in 2006, and released their first batch of Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka in September 2009.
Five years in the making, the idea to create a vodka company began as a business plan for a one of Galbiati’s college courses.
“That class planted the seed that this was something we could do, and make some money as well,” he said. “This was not started as a passion for drinking. It’s a money-making venture for us.”
Jewell, a native of Monticello, met Galbiati, a New Jersey native, while the two were attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. The two were in the engineering program, where Jewell received a degree in chemical engineering, and Galbiati earned a degree in engineering science and sociology.
Why vodka?
“Vodka is the first step in making any other spirit,” Galbiati said. “To get good at making vodka is the best strategic move before jumping into other spirits.”
Interestingly, according to federal guidelines no individual is allowed to make “hard” alcohol in their homes. Beer and wine are the only type of alcohol that can be brewed. Therefore, the makers of Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka were not able to make a single batch until all of the necessary paperwork had been obtained from the state and federal governments.
“It has everything to do with the protection of revenue,” Galbiati said.
Raising start-up money was challenging. Galbiati’s grandfather was his very first shareholder. All of the equipment had to be purchased and licensed by the federal government before a single drop of alcohol was created.
“It was under a million dollars,” Galbiati said. “We have a lot of time and money committed to this project. We have 18 investors over three states, which took a while to acquire. We really built this [business] from the molecule up.”
Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka is crafted in 50-gallon batches to ensure control over the distillation process. Once distilled, Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka is blended with northern Maine water and chill-filtered up to six times for a final polish. As a final step of inspection, each bottle is hand inscribed with a unique batch and bottle number on the front label. Each batch yields approximately 250 bottles.
Galbiati and Jewell, along with her sister Lisa Jewell, are the only employees of Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka. If the demand takes off, additional employees could be added as needed.
Why Houlton?
The decision to locate their business in the Shiretown was made after extensive research.
“We were living in Rumford, but we always wanted to locate our business in Aroostook County,” Galbiati said. “The Northern Maine Development Commission was incredibly helpful. Being a manufacturing entity, our business was very attractive to them.”
The two originally planned to build a facility in Monticello, but opted instead to locate their business in Houlton’s Industrial Park.
“The quality of water is incredible here,” Galbiati said. “So many people just take that for granted. The water is more than half of what you are drinking, so good quality water makes good quality vodka.”
Starting a business, especially one as expensive as theirs, was daunting for the couple.
“Putting all the capital expenditures up front, and then waiting for the license was excruciating,” he said. “It took six months for the federal application and then the state took another two months on top of that.”
“We were granted our federal license on the fifth of March,” Jewell said. “Then the state license came in around the first of April. Then we were finally able to start playing around with brewing.”
The couple brewed their first vodka with potatoes, but found their product was very similar to Cold River potato vodka of Freeport.
“The vodka had a character, and there are some people that love that particular character,” Galbiati said. “We wanted our vodka to have no odor, no taste and no color, which is the definition of vodka. Our vision was to have our vodka disappear in your mouth.”
Galbiati came up with the name Twenty 2 to be intriguing for people.
“We’re not aimed at the 22-year-olds, but it could be,” he said. “We’re not aimed at the 40-year-olds, but we can be. Marketing is such a tricky beast because it can be a black hole if you don’t manage it right. We’re hoping our product appeals to people in Maine. Having only one other Maine vodka to be compared to is significant and ours is priced less.”
As a sign of today’s technology age, the Internet has been a strong avenue for spreading the word about their product. Facebook in particular has provided an outlet for the couple to receive feedback on the product.
“It lets us interact with our customers,” Galbiati said.
Award-winning product
Recently, Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka was awarded the bronze medal for vodka in the 2009 World Spirits Competition. Despite being on the market for just under three months, Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka emerged with the prize after a panel of industry professionals judged all entrants in a “double blind” tasting which focused on the overall quality and innovation of the spirit. The blind tasting method allows all spirits to be judged on a level playing field, so that big and small producers alike are considered equally.
The World Spirits Competition is part of the largest beverage competition in the world. Winners for the 2009-10 contest hailed from more than 30 countries.
The competition included all of the major products, such as Bacardi and Tanqueray.
The World Beverage Competition was founded on the premise that beverage products should be judged not by the strength of their marketing or the budget of their sales force, but rather on the quality and innovation of the product itself. All products submitted to the World Beverage Competition are taste tested by a panel of judges who are industry professionals from six different continents. Judges do not see the packaging or know the brand name prior to documenting and submitting their tasting scorecards. With these safeguards in place, The World Beverage Competition is accredited as the premier tasting event in the world of beverages.
Locally, Twenty 2 vodka is available at Paradis Shop N’ Save, Andy’s IGA and County Yankee grocery store. It is served at the Blue Moose Lodge in Monticello, Presque Isle Inn and Convention Center, Caribou Inn and Convention Center, the Courtyard Café in Houlton, and O’Kelly’s Irish Pub in Houlton. It is also served in numerous restaurants in Bangor and Portland.
For more information, visit www.twenty2vodka.com, or www.facebook.com/twenty2vodka.
