It's been a while since our last entry so I thought I'd post some information on what we've been up to over the last couple months and what's in store for the first half of 2009.
First off, our Open House in November went fantastic. Several hundred people stopped by to tour the facility, sample our wares, and enjoy some delicious food. A special thanks to our friend Cary Craig for the world-class jambalaya and hot cider!
Around this time we also partnered with O'Sullivan Distributing to handle our southern Oregon sales and marketing. O'Sullivan currently handles an excellent tequila called Zircon Azul. We met with owner Dean Sullivan who agreed that our product had amazing potential in greater Oregon and would make a nice complement to his products. Look for Dean at tastings and events around Oregon. For interest in carrying Elemental Vodka outside of Portland, call Dean Sullivan at 541-680-6677 or email osullivan_distributing@mcsi.net
The holidays were a blur. More of a blur than usual, actually. With the unprecedented snowstorms, much of Portland seemed shutdown for weeks. We still managed to get out and do some tastings as well as supply a good deal of Portland's last-minute holiday gift vodka!
Over the past six months we've fielded a lot of requests for Elemental from people in states across the U.S. Although we can sell directly from our retail store, we're forbidden to ship out of state. We've been hoping to find a solution to this problem and are happy to announce that we have. Elemental Vodka is now being carried by an online retailer called
www.acorkabove.com that ships to every state in the U.S. Not only do they ship, they carry a great selection of hard-to-find spirits from around the world so check them out.
Also, the mini's are in! We're not sure exactly what to do with them, but they sure are cute (see picture)! We had a rush order for several thousand mini-bottles of our Elemental Vodka. Buckling down to complete that order in just a few weeks was a big bureaucratic challenge but we managed to pull it off (special thanks to John at Indio Spirits for a big assist on this one). Once the smoke cleared we were left with a few hundred mini bottles for ourselves. We may put them up for sale in the distillery store or possibly test the waters with them at select outlets. So if you're eager for the first Elemental Vodka collectible, this might just be the ticket. Let us know.
Oh, and somewhere in there Michael Heavener somehow managed to get himself elected Treasurer of the Oregon Distillers Guild. The new officers of the guild now include Eric Martin of Artesan Spirts as President, and Tom Burkleaux of New Deal Distillery as Vice-President. We want to thank outgoing officers Lee Medoff, Mike Sherwood, and John Ufford for setting things in motion the last year or so and for helping us with the current transition. The ODG will hopefully be able to pick up where they left off and make even bigger strides this year in terms of promoting Oregon spirits as the country's finest.
Now of course it's hard to believe we're already a month into 2009. Top priorities for us include getting our full-blown website up within the next couple of weeks and gearing up production for the spring and summer. We're also hard at work on some gourmet infusions that might see the light of day as limited editions come this summer.
As usual we're starting to fill our tasting schedule so look for us in your local liquor store. If your local store doesn't carry Elemental, please request it. We've had great response from the store owners and they've very happy to carry local products. But we need your help in making them all aware that we're available. The OLCC item number is 6457B. Thanks for all your support and look for the new website soon!
We've just about recovered from an amazing weekend showcasing Elemental Vodka at the Better Living Show. Billed as "Portland's Largest Sustainable Lifestyle" trade show, the event was held Friday through Sunday at the Portland Expo Center.
