Every week we do a Member Monday Feature to shine a spotlight on one of our Chamber Members. This week we are pleased to shine that spotlight on MLH Distillery and help everyone get to know a little more about this local business. Here is a Q&A for you to enjoy!
Please provide a short description of your business and what you do.
MLH Distillery is a craft distillery that focuses on producing exceptional spirits. We began by emphasizing handcrafted gins and liqueurs and bespoke barrels of rum and whiskey. We now have a full product line that includes our vodka, three gin recipes, coffee, cranberry and chocolate liqueurs, silver and barrel-aged rum, Bourbon, and an American Single Malt Whiskey. In addition to the production distillery, we have a tasting room and cocktail area where we educate our customers and provide a relaxing atmosphere to share a cocktail and live entertainment.
What’s the story behind your business?
Our business began when Brian Myers came back from a trip to England and brought a bottle of a small batch handcrafted gin. He shared the bottle with four friends – Brian Hogue, Dave Hefner and Jack Livingston. We all sort of joked that we could make our own gin and the idea of MLH was born. The name Forefathers comes from the friendship of the group. We each have children that grew up together and were friends. Through our children we became friends and have been playing cards together for over a decade. As the business idea turned from idle talk to a dream and then to a reality each of us began to take on areas of focus: Brian Myers focuses on sales and product marketing, Dave Hefner focuses on financials and state LCB interactions, Brian Hogue does all of our engineering, technical compliance and quality control, Jack Livingston develops recipes, blends spirits and manages the cocktail lounge. In addition, our kids also work for us. Dylan and Ryan Myers work with distilling and bottling, Tyler and Erica Beecham (Dave Hefner’s daughter and son-in-law) work with event planning, bartending and outside sales, and Noah Livingston works on blending, recipe development and graphic design and bartending.
What is your top selling product?
All of our products are made with a great deal of passion and commitment to quality. Our vodka is consistently our top seller. It is smooth and light without the burn of many vodkas. Our coffee liqueur has always been the product that people are drawn to. It is a higher proof light liqueur with a strong mocha note and coffee fresh from Howe’s. Over the past two weeks we have brought on our Bourbon and our American Single Malt whiskey. I am confident our customers will find these to be exceptional as well.
When is your busiest season?
Our busiest season is definitely the fall. We see a strong upturn in sales as the weather gets cooler. The current pandemic has really been a help to us. People have been incredibly loyal and with the closing of the state stores our bottle sales went through the roof.
What is something people would be surprised to know about your business?
That our coffee liqueur was something of an accident. We really were not intending to get into that line of spirits. Brian Hogue went to a training and brought back a coffee liqueur from another distillery. The partners asked if we could do it so Jack gave it a try. One of the test runs was done at a slightly higher proof and he decided to cut down the sugar to make it more coffee and cocoa forward. It worked and our most popular liqueur was born.
Can you tell us about a memorable or favorite customer experience?
There are so many. Our customers are the best part of the business. I won’t mention names but there are several of our favorite regulars that we have considered putting name plates on the back of their regular bar stools. That is what the business is really about. Building relationships through our spirits.
How is your business responding to COVID-19?
We care about the health and safety of our customers. They have become our friends through the distillery and we want them to be healthy through all of this. We are fortunate that we have been able to meet demand and stay connected. Our business has grown and we are now ready to open up and welcome everyone back.
How can the community support you now and going forward?
We believe in Grove City as a community. The community has supported us in so many ways. We hope that our neighbors will always see the distillery as a place to gather and share. Moving forward we hope that they will continue to include us in their celebrations and their challenges.
Is there anything else you’d like us to talk about?
We would like to remind everyone that we are a strong community and a community that cares for each other. You all have helped us to survive and flourish over the past months. We hope that you can all show the same support to the other community businesses as they begin to open up. Find a restaurant or a small shop and buy something. Get an order of food to go and bring it to the distillery. Our community is a great place to grow a business. We are living proof of that and again offer our thanks to our customers – our friends.
Member Feature: MLH Distillery 107 Breckenridge Street, Unit 2, Grove City, PA. For more information, you can call 724-264-4959 or visit mlhdistillery.com