'Shutdown Wasn't In Business Plan': Colorado Gin Maker Can't Get Product To Market
LONGMONT, Colo. (CBS4) - Dry Land Distillery has been working on a 100% Colorado Gin. It's made from botanicals that are native to Colorado and it's got a lot of juniper in it so when you smell it, it smells like the Rocky Mountains. But this Colorado gin can't be on Colorado shelves or served to Colorado customers until the federal government gives approval first.
"This shutdown was definitely not in our business plan," said Marc Staats, who along with Nels Wroe opened the distillery in the downtown Longmont Creative District about seven months ago.
"We've had phenomenal success, great support from Longmont, and or customers have been tremendous," said Staats.
They distill, bottle and sell their own spirits including whisky, rum and gin.
"We've been working for the last six months on perfecting our gin recipe," said Staats.
They've already invested money with suppliers and valuable time to get the recipe right.
"We think it's the spirit of Colorado," said Staats.
But due to the government shutdown, they can't get the label they need to sell the product.
"For a small distillery like us, when we have a release of a spirit in one month, that might make our month or not," said Nels.
For now they are adjusting employee schedules and hoping to sell enough of their already-labeled products to get through.
"We're hoping that this is just a little glitch along the way. Let's just keep this government shutdown to a minimum," said Wroe.
And if they can get this new product to market, they think they can get their spirits to soar.
"Our plans are to get bigger. We want to be able to sell more of Colorado nationwide," said Staats.