Creating fine spirits is an extension of the Alaskan way of life. Putting up hand-crafted food and goods comes naturally to people here, and during the Klondike Gold Rush, bootleggers made moonshine. We’re a small team committed to harvesting sustainably from the land, creating our own quality goods, and following our dreams in a place that can be wild and unpredictable. We wouldn’t trade it for anything, and we’re proud to produce exceptional spirits we hope you'll savor.
Heather shade, Owner
A former National Park Service biologist who once spent weeks at a time in the backcountry of Denali, Heather still brings a scientist’s curiosity to her work, and loves experimenting with botanicals to create spirits with an unmistakable sense of place. Heather is the founding president of the Distillers Guild of Alaska, which advances the interests of spirit-makers (and spirit-drinkers) statewide.
SEAN copeland, Owner
Sean came to distilling as a carpenter with more than two decades of experience, and you can taste his meticulous attention to detail in everything we make. You can also see it when you visit our tasting room, which Sean restored from the ground up, as well as our new production building that he built from scratch in 2019. When he’s not patiently coaxing perfection out of our whiskies, Sean is usually sailing, fishing, or romping around in the woods.
ozzie, distillery dog
Ozzie may not be a sea creature, but she’s just as much a mascot for our distillery. She been part of the distillery story since the very beginning, supervising Heather and Sean as they renovated what is now the tasting room and now, keeping a close eye on our barrels of whiskey as we’ve moved into our new production building.
David Thomas, distiller & production manager
When David isn’t distilling delicious liquors for the public to enjoy, he is out kayaking around Southeast Alaska and enjoying the astounding natural beauty of the area. He loves to travel and experience new places and cultures, trying different regional food and drinks from around the globe.
In the dark of winter he enjoys wood burning art projects, tattooing and catching up on a long list of great books.
Garrett Montgomery, Tasting Room Manager
Garrett started at the distillery as a tasting room bartender. He quickly perfected the art of craft cocktails and was promoted to Tasting Room Manager. From creating new cocktails with locally harvested ingredients and assembling cocktail kits for customers to take home with them, Garrett highlights the handcrafted theme of our distillery for every person who visits our tasting room.