They Make Whiskey On Kansas Farm

They Make Whiskey On Kansas Farm 31-5-7 The fruity smell in the shop on Seth and Dorcie Fox's Atchison, Kansas, 100-acre farm comes from an unusual rural enterprise - a whiskey still. "I'm the first in my family to be legal," laughs Seth Fox, referring to ancestors in North Carolina who made illegal corn whiskey. Fox, a process engineer, has a background in everything from building agricultural chemical plants to making pharmaceutical bottling equipment. A few years ago he decided to take his hobby of making small batches of beer and wine a step further and contacted the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) to explore getting a distillers license. He discovered plenty of paperwork, including a 92-page permit to fill out, just to get started. "It is kind of intimidating," Fox says. But with only 88 distillers in the U.S., he feels it's also an area of opportunity. Kansas turned out to be a good place to establish his business. "People in Kansas are really supportive of anything made in Kansas," Fox says. Without advertising, his business, High Plains Inc., went from selling 3,000 cases of vodka in 2005 to an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 cases of whiskey and vodka in 2007. Part of Fox's success is because of his self-sufficient skills. He and his wife built their Quonset-style 3,500 sq. ft. building themselves, and he built stills and bottling equipment from used stainless steel, glass and copper - much of it from dairy farm equipment. Instead of costing $150,000 or more, he spent $6,000 on his still. And instead of $30,000 for each of his four bottling units, he spent just $1,000 apiece. The couple and two part-time workers run the operation. Fox started his distillery in Leavenworth in a 12,000-sq. ft. building, but grew tired of the commute to work. Running the business on the farm, where the couple also raises beef cows, is much more efficient. Leavenworth, with its five prisons, helped inspire the name, "Most Wanted" for his whiskey and vodka. Fox buys corn for whiskey from farmers within 10 miles and malt barley from Minnesota. Growers in Kansas supply him with wheat and other grains for the vodka. "Everything I make is 80 proof," Fox says. He makes 300-gal. batches. He also makes blends for other companies. "I'm extremely lucky," Fox says, "because demand has grown without much promotion." He spends $2,000 a year on T-shirts he gives away. He has distributors in Kansas, Missouri and Texas, and he plans to add other nearby states soon. But there's a lot of paperwork, Fox warns would-be distillers. "Every hour in the plant requires an hour of paperwork," he says, noting he completed 200 pages of forms explaining his operations procedures to obtain licenses as a distiller, blender and bottler. "There's a lot of farm distillers for fuel, but there aren't too many for beverages," Fox adds. "There's plenty of room at the bottom, especially for high population states. If you're excited about yourself and your product, you're going to do well." Fox notes that he doesn't drink a lot of alcohol, but he knows when something tastes good and is smooth. Fox said his whiskey is only aged from 3 to 30 days in used barrels made out of Missouri white oak and it tastes more like scotch than bourbon. In taste tests it stands up to more expensive brands. Because of low overhead costs, Fox sells his whiskey for $12 to $13 retail. "We're in some high end restaurants in Kansas City, and we're also in some tiny Mom and Pop bars," he says. Fox plans to make gin, rum and tequila, and continue making custom blends for other companies. One great resource that Fox used to set up his distillery is the website www.distilling.com. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Seth Fox, High Plains, Inc., 1700 Rooks Rd., Atchison, Kansas 66002 (ph 913 773-5780; sfox@highplainsinc.com; www.highplainsinc.com).

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