Description of Business

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Description of Business

1. Description of Business

We are an Oregon-based producer and marketer of craft spirits, founded in 2008. Our products span several alcoholic beverage categories, including bourbon, American whiskey, vodka, gin and rum. Unlike other distillers, we operate several retail tasting rooms in Oregon to market our brands directly to consumers. Our strategy for growth is to build on our local base in the Pacific Northwest and expand selectively to other markets, using major spirits distributors. In December 2016, we retained Sandstrom Partners, an internationally-known spirit branding firm that branded St-Germain and Bulleit Bourbon, to guide our marketing strategy and branding. Sandstrom Partners subsequently became an investor in our company. With the assistance of Sandstrom Partners and using our in-house spirits expertise, during 2017, we created Redneck Riviera Whiskey (“RRW”), in collaboration with Country Music superstar John Rich, of the duo “Big & Rich.” Supported by John Rich’s marketing efforts, we launched RRW in the Southeastern and Gulf States primarily through Republic National Distributing Company (“RNDC”).

As a small business in a large, international spirits marketplace populated with massive conglomerates, we seek to turn our small size from a disadvantage into an advantage. As RRW demonstrates, our team can work with Sandstrom Partners to develop and launch new brands exponentially faster than multi-billion dollar conglomerates that typically acquire innovators rather than innovate themselves. We believe that Canadian whiskeys’ dominance of the light whiskey segment is vulnerable to a light whiskey that is 100% American, and we are exploiting that vulnerability with RRW, a product that went from idea, to celebrity collaboration, to design and formulation, to market roll-out in less than nine months. We are innovative in targeting emerging trends with our products, for example, our Coffee Rum with cold brew coffee and low sugar and our gluten-free potato vodka. We seek to be both a leader in creating spirits that offer better value than comparable spirits, for example our value-priced Portland Potato Vodka, and an innovator in creating imaginative spirits that offer a unique taste experience, like our Coffee Rum, Oregon oak aged whiskeys and Marionberry Whiskey.

As a Nasdaq-traded company, we have access to public capital markets to support our growth initiatives, including strategic acquisitions. In May 2017, we used our shares to acquire 90% of Big Bottom Distillery (“BBD”), known for its excellent, award winning super- premium gins and whiskeys, including The Ninety One Gin, Navy Strength Gin, Oregon Gin, Delta Rye and American Single Malt Whiskey. BBD’s super-premium spirits give us a presence at the “high end” of the market. In addition, through MotherLode Craft Distillery (“MotherLode”), our wholly-owned subsidiary acquired in March 2017, we also provide contract bottling and packaging services for existing and emerging spirits producers, some of whom contract with us to blend or distill spirits. During 2018, we intend to use our “slim line” canning equipment, newly installed at MotherLode, to profit from an emerging consumer interest in canned wine. We believe our location close to vineyards in Oregon and Washington is a competitive advantage.

We currently sell our products in 26 states (Oregon, Washington, California, Florida, Nevada, Texas, Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Georgia, Rhode Island, Idaho, Maryland, West Virginia, Wyoming, North Carolina, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Dakota, Kansas and Alaska) as well as Ontario, Canada. The Company also generates revenue from tastings, tasting room tours, private parties, and merchandise sales from its facilities in Oregon. The Company is subject to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).