Local couple sees growth with Twenty 2 Vodka

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
GROWING BUSINESS — The husband-and-wife team of Scott Galbiati, left, and Jessica Jewell have won numerous awards for their Twenty 2 Vodka product. Manufactured in Houlton in the Industrial Park, sales of Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka have grown steadily over the past two years.
Houlton-made product awarded platinum medal in consumer-judged tasting competition
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — It has been two years since the husband and wife team of Scott Galbiati and Jessica Jewell of Houlton released their first batch of Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka.
    During those two years, the couple has seen their fledgling business grow from a seed in their minds to an award-winning product several times over.
    Recently, the product received the “platinum” medal for unflavored vodka at the 2011 Spirits International Prestige (SIP) Awards conducted over a two-day span July 28-29 in San Diego, Calif. The award is just the latest in a series of accolades Galbiati and Jewell have accumulated over the past two years. Twenty 2 Vodka also won a silver medal in the 2011 San Francisco World Spirits competition; gold medals at the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits and SIP competitions; and bronze medals at the 2010 New York International Spirits and 2009 World Beverage competitions.
    The SIP Awards is the only international spirits competition leveling the playing field for established brands and newcomers alike by enlisting consumers as judges to score their favorite based on aroma, taste, and finish, according to event organizers.
    “It’s the only consumer-judged award out there,” Galbiati said. “There were 50 applicants who have no connection to the alcohol industry. We were extremely pleased with the platinum award because it was judged by the people who are most important to us … the consumer.”
    The couple also won the 2011 Entrepreneurs of the Year award from the LEADers Encouraging Aroostook Development and Momentum Aroostook. Twenty 2 Vodka is currently available for purchase throughout Maine, New Jersey and Washington DC, and Galbiati hopes to see that list expand in the years to come.
    “It’s nice to be recognized, but we would still be doing this even without the awards,” Jewell said. “But it is really nice to have that local support.”
    “We’ve been growing really well,” Galbiati added. “We’ve been kicking butt in Maine and by the end of September we hope to have our product in Maryland and Delaware as well.”
    Getting into markets outside of Maine is harder, he said, since it involves far more work “appeasing the middle man” when talking with restaurants and grocery stores.
    “Being a small guy it’s more difficult,” he said. “We aren’t buying billboards yet. We aren’t doing Super Bowl commercials. It’s a harder challenge for sure to find the place that doesn’t have a vodka or is willing to add another one.”
    Growing at a safe pace is another goal for the couple.
    “We don’t want to grow at such a fast pace that we implode from the center,” he said.
    Galbiati still does much of his marketing campaign the old-fashioned way, going door-to-door to meet vendors. In the past five weeks, he has logged 81 hours in his vehicle, he said. Galbiati and Jewell are the only employees of Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka at the moment. Jewell’s sister Lisa originally started with the company in Houlton, but is now working for them in the Washington D.C. area. The company produced 10,000 bottles last year. That change has meant a more active role in the manufacturing of the product by Jewell.
    One of the new products being made is a 160-proof vodka, double the alcohol content of the Twenty 2 vodka product that consumers can buy in stores. The purpose of the more concentrated form of Twenty 2 is for infusing various items, such as strawberries or other fruits.
    “The way we got to that point was people were always asking what type of flavored vodka we were going to do,” Galbiati said. “We are all about doing a neutral vodka that colorless, odorless and tasteless so it can be used in anything.”
    The product has been in bars and restaurants since November, 2010. The product is available for purchase in New Jersey, but is not legal in the state of Maine for consumers to purchase at the current time.
    A native of Monticello, Jewell met Galbiati, a New Jersey boy, 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.
    The decision to locate their business in the Shiretown was made after extensive research. The two were living in Rumford, but wanted to locate their business in Aroostook County. Originally, they planned to build a facility in Monticello, but opted instead to locate their production plant in Houlton’s Industrial Park, using Maine products.
    Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka is crafted in 50-gallon batches to ensure control over the distillation process. Once distilled, it 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.
    Being located in Aroostook County, the question they are often asked is “Is your vodka made with potatoes?” While the couple did try their first vodka with potatoes, they found their product was too similar to Cold River potato vodka of Freeport.
    “There really not room in this market for two potato vodkas,” Galbiati said. “Potatoes are a very small part of the process when making potato vodka. It’s a thing we recognize that people will always ask, but it’s not on our radar at the moment.”
    The couple has a Facebook page devoted to their product, with fans numbering in the thousands. For more information, visit www.twenty2vodka.com or www.facebook.com/twenty2 vodka.