Driftless Glen: Are We Having Fun Yet?

“Brian will never sell it because he knows I’d kill him”. That’s what Renee Bemis’ friends say about her and her husband, Brian. They are the husband and wife co-founders of Driftless Glen Distillery in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Brian is an owner of a successful automotive group in the Chicagoland area. Renee is a talented and acclaimed sculptor. While both enjoyed whiskey, they didn’t plan to ever make their own until a business colleague approached them in 2012 about opening a distillery.

The plan from the beginning was for the venture to be self-funded. As with building anything (especially a distillery) the actual costs quickly exceeded the budget their partner had developed. About a year after filling the first barrel, their partner asked to be bought out. That buyout was completed in 2015 and Team Bemis owned the distillery outright. That is when Driftless Glen went from being an investment to being a passion for Renee and Brian.

Packers, Cheese, Cows…Bourbon?

There are a few things that come to mind when I think of Wisconsin.“Bourbon” wasn’t really on that list before I first tried Driftless Glen.There is solid logic to choosing this location for a distillery, however. Baraboo is on an aquifer which provides a clean and bountiful water source.The grains needed to make their whiskey can also be sourced locally allowing for a “grain to glass” concept to be followed.

Driftless Glen incorporates a double distillation process using both a column still and a pot still. These stills were custom-designed for DG by late whiskey legend, Dave Pickrell. To date, Driftless Glen has produced over 5,000 barrels of whiskey. There are even about 200 barrels left of the 30 gallon barrels they experimented with in the “early” days. Currently, DG runs one distillation shift per day. They can produce 10 barrels of rye or 14 barrels of bourbon in a shift. The distillation capacity is available to produce 6,000 barrels annually. Unfortunately, they don’t have the rickhouse space for that much whiskey yet.

Their Fingerprints Are All Over It

The Driftless Glen bottle is beautiful and distinctive (and designed by Renee…remember: she’s a sculptor).The most striking thing about the bottle to me is the fingerprints etched on either side of the bottle.While it may have been unintended, in addition to being unique, it is a quite practical feature helping secure one’s grip while pouring.What the fingerprints really represent is the passion the Bemis’ put into this whiskey and their belief in the product and in the team of people at Driftless Glen who make it.

The fingerprints also indicate a sense of total ownership of the process. Being self-funded, Brian and Renee don’t have to answer to other investors or bankers. As both Renee and Tanya Smith (DG national marketing manager) told me: they are going to do things their own way and have a good time doing it. Brian and Renee turned down a national distribution contract because it would have forced them to compromise their convictions about “how to do this”. Renee says their initial goal is to own the Midwest and they are content to build it up slowly. Growing fast is not worth sacrificing the values they have sought to establish at Driftless Glen.

The “grow slow, grow right” concept is also evident in the decision to not source whiskey. Renee said: “if we chose to source and people loved it, then would they still love Driftless Glen if our own product was different. Even worse, what if people hated what is sourced? They would likely never give our own product a chance”.

Taste the American Spirit

The slogan of Driftless Glen is “Taste the American Spirit”.That American spirit can be an entrepreneurial spirit.While winning awards and accolades for their whiskey, DG has also been acknowledged as a business by Inc. and Entrepreneur magazines.

The American Spirit can also be uncompromisingly, pouring your heart into something you’ve come to love. Not just Brian and Renee, but the whole team at DG seems to live and breathe what they do.

The American Spirit is most certainly a love for America, which Renee says is a core value to Brian and her. That is why “taste the American spirit” is on every bottle and why they team up with military and veteran’s organizations on projects.

The American Spirit can also take some unexpected forms. Nobody would have expected a car dealer and a sculptor to successfully own and operate a craft distillery in Wisconsin. Yet, here we are.

Good News for Brian

As I prepared for my phone interview with Renee, I was most curious about two things: 1) How the heck did you end up owning a distillery?, and 2) Are you having fun, yet?

As unconventional of a story as it may seem, we have our answer to the first question. As to the second question, I wondered if people with undisputed histories of business successes would enjoy an industry such as Whiskey given the patience, regulations and idiosyncrasies that are part and parcel of it.

Oddly, I never had to ask that second question. From the moment Renee answered the phone to the time we said “good bye”, her passion and joy for Driftless Glen (the distillery, the people and the product) was obvious. This isn’t just an investment; it is, as she called it, “a thing of love”.

While some craft distilleries are in it to sell it…not Driftless Glen. Not selling out is good news for whiskey fans as we can continue to enjoy the spirits produced at DG. It is good news for Renee as she can continue to have fun making those spirits. And as for Brian, the good news is…he gets to continue to live!

For more information on Driftless Glen including tour and event information, you can visit their website at www.driftlessglen.com. My review of Driftless Glen single barrel Bourbon will be in an upcoming post, so stay tuned.