CLIENT FEATURE
Feature: Black Swan Cooperage
A Story Of Family Craftsmanship
Black Swan Cooperage is a family-run cooperage based in northern Minnesota. Cooperages are businesses that make barrels and casks of all types. There are only about thirty operating in the United States today. Many of these cooperages utilize new technologies and techniques in order to fulfill their production quotas. Black Swan, however, relies on traditional machines and equipment that range from fifty years old up to one hundred years old. Black Swan prefers hand-making its products in order to ensure the high quality that it is known for and maintain its flexibility when it comes to producing custom products for its customers.
The story of Black Swan begins with family. Owner Heidi Korb started the company after she graduated from college. Her family had been involved in the cooperage business for decades, and seeing an opportunity to stake her claim in the industry, Heidi hit the ground running. She brought on her father, Russ, who handles research and development. With over twenty years in the barrelmaking industry, Russ has spurred many innovations, including the HONEY COMB technology that Black Swan Cooperage is most known for. Mary Ann handles bookkeeping and office work to make sure everything stays organized and runs smoothly. Finally, there’ s Whiskey and Smokey, the family dogs. They maintain order when nobody else can.
The barrels produced at Black Swan have a character of their own. Barrels are made with the best American White Oak that can be bought. Black Swan produces a number of barrels, including the Black Swan Traditional Barrel, the Black Swan Standard Barrel, and the Black Swan HONEY COMB Barrel. Each type of barrel can be used for aging spirits or beer. The HONEY COMB Barrel Alternative is a unique wood insert which can be put into any aging vessel and is available in nine unique wood species, offering multiple flavor profiles while also accelerating maturation and maximizing extraction rates.
Black Swan operates based on the values that the company was started with. It puts family first, treating both its employees and its customers as though they were part of the family. Heidi never set out to make another faceless company in the crowd, instead focusing her staff on putting out high-quality products with a handmade approach. Black Swan has grown over the years to employ over fourteen staff members while still maintaining its quality and safety standards across the board.
The hands-on, family-based approach that Black Swan is known for is what keeps it operating. It doesn’ t cut corners, it doesn’ t seek to automate everything to cut costs, and it focuses on producing high-quality, artisan barrels and casks for anyone who needs them. Whatever your need, Black Swan can create barrels which can be customized specifically for your requirements, be it a different level of toast, a specific flavor profile, or just a little different character.
For more information about Black Swan Cooperage, you can contact them at heidi @ blackswanbarrels. com or 218-237- 2020. +
BY: JIM KAMPHENKEL NESBIT AGENCIES
8 | FALL 2016