the other direction and do it. Typically, I prove them right and me wrong. But when it goes in my favor, it tends to be a grand slam.” York, Maine is a tourist community — a summer resort town with its beaches on the Atlantic and abundant outdoor activities for vacationers with varying interests.
Supplying them with top-rated spirits during their visit is job one for Wiggly Bridge.
Keeping up with demand necessitated the opening of a second production facility, in the form of a 200-year- old barn with plenty of room for expansion. “We’ve built seven stills to date,” David points out. “But what we have here is a 275-gallon stripping still and a 109-gallon spirits still… now our products have expanded from whisky and bourbon to gin, rum, and agave spirit — which will be on the market this summer — and a single malt that will be available in 2020.” The inspiration behind the products Wiggly Bridge chooses to produce is a direct reflection of the palettes of the two Davids. They are unabashed bourbon drinkers, preferring a higher rye content than most. “I like high-rye bourbon. So we produce an ultra-high rye bourbon. We’re 37% rye, which is quite high.” Wiggly Bridge also produces vodka and rum, for those of you who prefer to lean away from whisky. David explains that their vodka is their only spirit that they do not produce from a fermented mash. “We import a French wheated vodka and we break it down in proof, then we run it through our spirit stills after a certain amount of bourbon runs. We actually use the vodka to clean the stills. What you get is one of the smoothest vodkas that you’ll ever have. We have won gold medals for it.” A large part of the business model at Wiggly Bridge Dis- tillery involves collaboration with, as David puts it “other businesses and people who are doing good work and coming up with new and unique products.” For example, they developed a wine and maple syrup combination that was aged in their bourbon barrels. Moreover, the co- oper- ative processes in developing these products can work to the benefit of both businesses, not only in sales, but in a seemingly endless chain of new flavors and concoctions. “When we get the wine barrels back from some of these wineries we are working with, we are finishing a bourbon in the former wine casks. And it is coming out stellar.” “I did a quick back-of- a-napkin business plan for the distillery.” Other examples include coffee beans that they age in their former bourbon barrels, roasting them to an espresso blend and marketing it as an evening coffee. “You don’t really want to drink this one in the morning. Although there is no alcohol in it, the barrel aging really changes the profile
tillery. I always advise people against that, but these things come pretty natural for me so that’s what I did. And it made a bit of sense. If we started out with not a lot of exposure, we could see if we enjoyed this first, and if we did, we’d go ahead with it.” Of course, there are regulations surrounding distilling and the sale of alcohol in the United States. Thus, the process of licensing took close to a couple of years to complete. But by 2013, all the ducks were lined up and Wiggly Bridge started making 50-gallon batches of whisky. “I asked the Prime Minister what their distilling laws were and he said they really didn’t have any.” While the father-and- son team has no formal training in distilling, aside from the school of trial-and- error, David admits that he does possess an understanding of process- ing chemicals from previous business experiences. “I do understand chemicals a little bit. We have a chain of car washes, and back in the late 80s, I developed our own soaps and waxes, with the assistance of a chemist out in Santa Anna, California. Also, I’m not one to accept the statement ‘you can’t do that.’.
When I hear that, it provides me with the incentive to go in
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • DECEMBER 2018
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