Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Eastern Panhandle Lawmakers Discuss 2015 Legislative Session

The Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce held a public forum Tuesday bringing together lawmakers from the Eastern Panhandle to discuss this past session.

Eleven Eastern Panhandle lawmakers attended the event to share with the community their achievements and disappointments from this year’s legislative session. Each legislator was given five minutes to speak about their experience.

Many Republican lawmakers expressed feelings of accomplishment after all of their hard work, while Democratic lawmakers said some bills were introduced that were unnecessary or a political ploy.

Delegate Jill Upson of Jefferson County was one of many delegates new to the legislative process this year. Upson says having public forums like the one sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce are important for the community.

“It’s a good format because you’re able to sit at the table and have lunch with community members that you probably wouldn’t meet under other circumstances,” Upson noted, “so I like that aspect about the forum. And then the fact that they give the audience a chance to write down questions and so you can kind of get that much needed feedback that you get from being down in Charleston where sometimes people sometimes end up living in a bubble. So I always like hearing from the general public what their thoughts are.”

Of the issues mentioned, the most discussed were changes to the state’s prevailing wage, drugs, energy, conceal carry, common core, and transportation. Many eastern panhandle legislators also agreed Senate Bill 574, or as some lawmakers called it the Bloomery Bill which gave tax relief to distilleries and mini-distilleries in the state, was a big success for their area.

Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery located in Charles Town closed their doors during the session because they said their previous qualification as a liquor store was too expensive and killing their business. The bill helped them reopen their doors earlier this month.

Bloomery Sweetshine Reopens After Two Months of Waiting

After almost two months since closing its doors, the Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery in Jefferson County reopened this weekend after a successful cry for help to West Virginia lawmakers.

During this year’s legislative session, the Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery closed after years of being classified as a retail liquor store. The distillery owners claimed this as a misclassification and said it was costing them too much money, killing their business. The distillery closed in early February and the owners said they wouldn’t reopen until the issue was addressed by lawmakers.

“It was an overwhelming heartache. It was so drastic for us to make that decision,” said Linda Losey, co-founder and one of three co-owners of Bloomery Sweetshine, “You know we’ve been funding the distillery for three years out of pocket and trying to get to profitability, and it was really affecting our relationships, our hearts to keep opening and losing and losing and losing because we absolutely, absolutely love what we do, and what we do for this community and for our fans and how they react to us. So for us to, to make the decision to close, we had to make it for the financial reasons, but it really was a drastic decision, and to put seventeen people out of work, that’s what was the killer for us.”

The Bloomery Sweetshine owners estimate it has attracted more than 50,000 tourists to West Virginia since it opened in 2011, some of which were from outside the US. All of its liqueurs are made on site and by hand, and most of the fruits and nuts used in the drinks are grown on site or are sourced within the local community. The distillery offers tastings and the option of buying their products on the premises.

Rob Losey is co-owner and in charge of sales and marketing. He says the decision to close the distillery surprised their local legislators.

“I think that it was also, it was received well by every one of our legislators,” Rob noted, “and that trying to figure out a way to help us, and really to help our county. I mean, one of the things that we do is we bring in a number of tourists, and you know, we’re someplace that people from out of state find as a destination, so they come to visit us and then they spend some time in the county and leave some tax revenue behind. And I think that, that was recognized and that we were, you know, that we were a bit of a shining star in our area, and it was something not to be lost.”

In light of the news of the distillery’s closing, legislators began putting together a bill that would help Bloomery Sweetshine and other distilleries and mini-distilleries like it. Senate Bill 574 was the answer. The bill will reclassify distilleries in the state and give some tax and management fee relief to those owners. It would also raise the production level allowed for mini-distilleries.

Governor Tomblin signed Senate bill 574 on March 31^st and it will go into effect on June 12^th.

The owners of Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery were elated by the news, but Tom Kiefer, co-founder and co-owner says their closing was not a ruse.

“We didn’t close the doors to send a message that was unintended. We closed the doors, cause we couldn’t afford to stay open, so I don’t agree that a business should close down just to make a stand and fight for reduced taxes,” Kiefer explained, “I mean for us it was, as Linda had said earlier a do or die situation, and the fact that we were dying on the vine cause we always had to supplement every month the business that occurred in the tasting room, just was not an affordable way to continue on.”

Linda says it was ultimately the response from their fans that drove the message home to legislators.

“One of the strengths we had behind us was our fan base, and so if a small business is absolutely feeling the pinch of government regulations and it’s killing the business, then I don’t disagree that you have to somehow contact the legislators and get help, because it’s nearly impossible to do it without the legislative action that is required to put laws into effect that will help the small businesses,” Linda said.

During Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery’s reopening Saturday, it offered tastings to more than 350, most of which visited the distillery for the first time. The owners say they are satisfied with the response from lawmakers and are excited for the effect of Senate Bill 574 in June.

Next year, the owners plan to push lawmakers for another bill, one that will allow them to sell their products on Sundays.

Legislators Address the Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery's Cry for Help

In the House Small Business Committee this week, House Bill 2385 was discussed. The bill has to do with brewer, resident brewer, and brewpub licensing and operations in the state. The bill was introduced at the request of Governor Tomblin who noted the issue in his state of the state address last month. The bill is finally receiving some legislative attention.

The bill was introduced to address the concerns of the eleven resident brewers in the state. Four of those brewers do not have brewpubs on their premises; this limits the amount of product sold to strictly on-site consumption or in kegs to bars and restaurants. This legislation would allow those four brewers that don’t have brewpubs a limited function to sell their product in a growler, or large jug, from the premises increasing the amount brewers can sell and increasing their revenue.

“The problem, as I understand it relates to canning, if you’re a small brewer, you may not have the capacity to afford a canning operation,” said Dave Gilbert, counsel to the House Small Business Committee, “so if you want to market your wares, you’ve got to pretty much sell it like in kegs to establishments that can sell it, I guess by the drink, this would open it up for them to sell for off premises consumption from their premises.”

After more discussion and a few amendments to clear up some technicalities, the bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee for further consideration.

In connection to breweries and other small businesses, earlier this week a popular distillery in the Eastern Panhandle that has attracted over 50,000 tourists to the state, closed its doors because of legislative issues.

Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery in Jefferson County makes all of its products on-site, provides tastings, and sells its products directly from the premises. The organization, however, says it’s been misclassified since it opened in 2011 as a retail liquor store. The distillery owners say due to this misclassification, its cost them too much money and has been killing their business. They say they won’t reopen again until this issue is addressed by legislators and the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration.

Delegate Paul Espinosa, vice-chair of the House Small Business Committee, as well as Delegate Stephen Skinner, the minority chair of the same committee, both from Jefferson County, were concerned when they heard of the distillery’s closure.

“You know, obviously in a week when we heard some very good news from the panhandle with the announcement from Proctor & Gamble, while we’re very excited about that, you know we certainly are concerned anytime a small business indicates that perhaps they’re not going to continue operating in West Virginia,” said Espinosa, “I do know that Delegate Skinner and I, and our colleagues; we have introduced legislation in the past to try to address some of the concerns that the Bloomery Plantation Distillery has, and we are working together along with Delegate Upson and others to introduce legislation this year that will address some of the issues they have, such as the ability to operate on Sundays. I think one of the bigger challenges we have is dealing with some of the tax concerns that the distillery has, and working with Delegate Skinner others to look at some legislation and talk with other groups that are involved.”

Espinosa says the reason the tax issue is so complicated is because it would require a lot of reevaluating of the current tax structure not just for the Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery but for other retailers as well.

Delegate Skinner says he currently has two bills he’s eager to introduce. Delegate Espinosa is a supporter of both.

“The two bills specifically that we’re on together, one would deal with the Sunday issue. I mean, in various ways, they deal with being open on Sundays and able to operate a business on Sundays that deals with alcohol,” Skinner said, “The other bill that we’re still discussing is dealing with the punitive nature of Bloomery selling from their premises, and the interaction between that and retail liquor stores. Right now, Bloomery Distillery has to pay a fee to a liquor store for the privilege of selling its own product, and the liquor store that receives that fee doesn’t even necessarily have to market the Bloomery’s product. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. Nowhere else in the country do we see this, and if we want to have a flourishing distillery business, wineries in West Virginia, we have to eliminate that.”

Delegate Espinosa says he’s hopeful the bill allowing distilleries and wineries to be open on Sundays will have a lot of support from both sides of the aisle, but he’s not sure there’s time this session to address the tax issue.

“I’m concerned that because of the short amount of time we have trying to address the tax issue is going to be more challenging than perhaps addressing the ability for those establishments to operate on Sundays. But we’re committed to doing everything we can, if possible, to address it this year,” Espinosa said.

Delegate Skinner says the issue, however, is not a partisan one.

“Oh I think that these issues are not partisan at all,” Skinner said, “and especially because when we’re dealing with distilleries and wineries and breweries all across the state. And there’s nothing partisan about how we’ve been dealing with this, and working together we can find a solution.”

Last Call for Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery

An Eastern Panhandle distillery decided to close its doors this week because of uncertainty about regulations the owners say are making their business unprofitable.

Distilleries must sell their liquor to the state and buy it back at a 28 percent markup under a provision of the liquor law called bailment. Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery in Jefferson County says that markup has made doing business unsustainable. Bloomery co-owner and founder Linda Losey says the bailment fee caused her to close her popular tasting room.

“So we had to make the decision to close down the tasting room operations because we, if we’re racking this money up, we won’t ever be able to pay it back.”

Losey said small distilleries like hers that sell directly to the public have been misclassified under the law and should be exempt from the bailment requirement. She says the state Alcohol Beverage Control Administration, the ABCA, promised a decision about the classification by January fifth of this year. The decision hasn’t been made yet. The distillery began a social media campaign to urge the ABCA to rule in its favor.

ABCA spokesman Gig Robinson says the distillery’s situation is a priority, but it will take time to sort out since any decision will affect the ten other distilleries in the state.

Bloomery isn’t the only distillery waiting for a ruling. Smooth Ambler, near Lewisburg, doesn’t rely as much on revenue from its tasting room, but bailment does affect its profit margin. Randi Smith, Smooth Ambler’s business manager, summed it up this way:

“If there has been a misclassification of distilleries in the state of West Virginia, and indeed we are not required to use the bailment system in order to sell retail product out of our own retail tasting rooms, you know, then we just want a ruling, we just want a clarification on that.”

Bloomery’s distillery is in West Virginia Senator John Unger’s district. He echoed ABCA’s assessment that Bloomery’s business model is unique and that any solution to its situation will affect other businesses in the state. However, he stressed that the state can’t afford to lose small businesses and must encourage their growth.

He said he has urged the ABCA to make a decision.

“They gave me commitment that Friday they would give an answer. Now, again, the answer that they give, it will be what they interpret the law. I’m hoping it’s favorable in the sense that all parties would be okay with whatever that interpretation is.”

If the decision isn’t agreeable, Unger said legislation may be required to address the problem.

Bloomery posted a message on its website explaining the closure.

Distillery Helps Sustain Jefferson County's Rural Economy

Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery located in Jefferson County has attracted around 50,000 tourists since it opened in 2011. While Jefferson County has been called the leader in tourism and economic impact in the state, some say the rural economy is struggling, and this distillery could be helping to revive it.

Allison Manderino is one of the fun-tenders, or bartenders, at the Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery. She drives two-in-a-half hours every weekend from Pennsylvania to the eastern panhandle just to work weekends serving drinks.

“You ask anyone here who works here, we all have the same answer, we all love each other,” said Manderino, “and Tom and Linda, our owners, we want them to succeed so much that we will do whatever we need. And if that means that, you know, I drive and live in a different state every weekend, that’s okay. I’ll do it, because I want to see this through, and I know we’re going places, and I just want to help them get there in whatever way I can.”

Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery began after co-founders, Linda Losey and Tom Keifer went on a trip to Italy in 2010. While there, they tasted Limoncello, a very popular lemon liqueur and wanted to replicate it once back in the US. After scouting out various locations, they found a rural spot in Charles Town, where they began to build their business in an old bloomery, or ironworks mill, from the 1700s that was in disrepair.

“So we thought, why not settle in West Virginia,” remembered Losey, “and I came out here, and I texted Tom, I’m like, I’m going to meet the craigslist killer, and he said where are you and what are you doing, and I said, don’t worry if I like it, you’re in trouble, if I don’t like it, it’s no worries. And I liked it, and so here we are, on 12 acres in Charles Town, West Virginia, growing lemons and Hawaiian ginger and raspberries and black walnuts and pumpkins.”

Losey says she’s amazed at the success of the distillery in such a short time, but attributes that success to the fun-tenders who always try to connect to each patron individually and make each customer feel welcome.

Allison Manderino as the Dancing Lemon, the distillery’s mascot.

“Everybody brings their own sort of quirkiness to the team,” Losey noted, “and if you come and get a tasting on a Friday and have one fun-tender, and you come back in on a Saturday, you’re going to get a completely different experience.”

Tom Keifer, the other co-founder, says he thinks it’s the naturalness of the product that’s attractive and keeps bringing in customers.

“Because we have only whole ingredients, there’s nothing artificial, no coloring, no dyes, no flavors, anything like that,” Keifer said, “And there’s this robustness that comes with that. I mean when you taste the ginger you’ll see, I mean, it tastes like liquid ginger root, and when you taste our pumpkin spice, it tastes like grandma’s pumpkin pie. It’s just awesome.”

Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery grows most of its ingredients on-site, but since its products are in such high demand, it gets some ingredients locally in Charles Town and Martinsburg, but some come from farmers as far away as California.

It’s open only four days a week, but the owners say they average 300 customers every weekend. Their products have won American and International awards, and have seen at least one tourist from every state in the US, as well as a handful of other countries.

Annette Gavin is the CEO of the Jefferson County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. She says the distillery is definitely making an impact on Jefferson County’s economy.

“They didn’t just decide to do this, develop it, and, you know, wait for people to come. They market it; they market the heck out of it. You know, they get out there, and it’s literally stomping the pavement to let people know,” said Gavin.

Gavin also says the Distillery is in a perfect location being so close to Washington, DC and Baltimore.

With an array of flavors to choose from and an ever growing number in tourists, the Bloomery Sweetshine Distillery continues to do well in Jefferson County.