Risk & Business Magazine F.A. Peabody Insurance Fall 2015 | Page 25

Twenty 2 Vodka
Always in Good Spirits

BY: CHRIS AUSTIN, AAI, FA PEABODY INSURANCE

disappear,” stated
Jessica. “The Vodka
should be smooth
and neutral.”
Unlike other
liquors, Vodka is
produced to take on
the taste of other
ingredient(s) in
the drink. In the
current market,
Vodka accounts for
1/3 of all U. S. liquor
sales, followed by
Whiskey.
Jessica Jewell

I

f you have ever written a business plan
in college, you know that eventually
the plan is soon forgotten and ends up
collecting dust somewhere on a shelf.
Upon entering the “real world”, you get
a dose of reality and realize that the
plan would never work, right? Wrong.
When Scott Galbiati and Jessica Jewell
were attending Renssalaer Polytechnic
Institute, Scott was required to write a
business plan for one of his classes. At
that time, Jessica and Scott were dating
and they discussed where to go with the
paper. Jessica, being brought up on an
Aroostook County potato farm, thought
finding a niche product for potatoes
would be an excellent direction to move
with the plan. This planted the seed
for what would later become Twenty 2
Vodka. After graduation and marriage,
Scott and Jessica began to grow that seed
into what is now Twenty 2 Vodka.
Twenty 2 Vodka was born in 2009. As
with any new business, the early years
have periods of trial and error. They
quickly found that potatoes were not
offering the flavor Jessica and Scott were
searching for and they soon turned
to corn as the substitute for potatoes.
Our philosophy on Vodka is that “the
taste should quickly blend away and

Twenty 2 Vodka is a
premium vodka and
Scott and Jessica
are determined to
maintain the highest standards. Twenty
2 offers three distinct proofs; 80, 150 and
160. In Maine, 160 proof cannot be sold
retail but may only be sold on premises
of bars, taverns and restaurants as an
infusion product only. Infusion is the
process of letting the vodka steep with
an organic substance to impart the flavor
into the vodka. The higher the proof;
the quicker the infusion. Twenty 2 is
capitalizing on that trend by creating six
infused flavors to be sold retail as an 80
proof product: black pepper, coffee bean,
citrus, vanilla, cinnamon and chipotle
pepper. To ensure quality, Twenty 2
Vodka only uses natural ingredients in
the infusion process.

it’s not shipped. Twenty 2 Vodka, being
a micro distiller, is purposely made in
smaller vats and uses only Maine water.
The ‘proof is in the proof’! Since its
inception, just six years ago, Twenty 2
Vodka is the most awarded vodka made
in the United States. This includes the
SIP competition where they have won
back to back platinum awards as well
as gold and San Francisco World spirits
competition which is considered the
Olympics of competition in the liquor
industry.
Together, Scott and Jessica’s individual
skills comb [