Skunk Brothers Spirits is run by a family of disabled veterans focused on locally sourced, quality distilled spirits. The Washington-based team is building on their grandfather’s prohibition-era moonshine ideas to bring small-batch spirits to their loyal customer base. 

This is the era of the artisan, locally-crafted food and beverage. While the number of craft brewers is declining due to market saturation and brewers being acquired by the majors. The craft spirits industry on the other hand is surging forward and being praised for its innovation and unique products that are brought to market. With craft beer sales leveling or declining, as well as a host of other higher price point food trends like the faux meat craze, it’s clear that consumers in this space are looking for quality goods produced by a team with noble values.

Despite this, the liquor market remains dominated by the likes of Jack Daniels and Jim Beam — both of which fail to deliver on any of these new tenants of the market in 2019-2020. Even some of the so-called craft spirits brands are just repackaging the same mass-produced liquor. (Source)

From our Moonshine Corn Whiskey to our Honey Pear Liqueur, all of our spirits are hand-made right here in Washington with locally sourced ingredients. We believe we already have all the best ingredients in our community, so we work with local farmers and suppliers to produce the highest quality spirits from scratch. 

We’re bringing all the elements that consumers have been sorely missing from the spirits industry — transparent sourcing, long-tested recipes and ever-evolving flavors. 

The spirits market has shown excellent growth in recent years, maintaining a decade-long streak of expansion. As the overall market grows considerably, the craft spirits niche has been steadily eating away at the gains of their mass-produced competitors. From 2017 to 2018, U.S. craft spirits distilleries grew to 760+ in 2016, from only 60 in 2003, approximately 2,000 permits issued. (source: American Distilling Institute, Market Watch, Jan. 2016)

Craft is 1.7% of the total spirits market by case sales and was projected to hit 8% by 2020. (source: BNP Paribas, Market Watch Jan. 2016) Despite a slowdown due to COVID-19 the market is still poised to continue its upward trend.  Due to the nature of their upmarket positioning, craft spirits are also out punching its weight in value. The total market share for spirits hit a record 35.4% in 2015 of a $24.1 Billion industry. (source: Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Feb 2, 2016.)

We have increased efficiencies significantly since our last raise on StartEngine, resulting in a more than doubled potential output. Skunk Brothers has also built a solid reputation and is recognized as an industry leader that produces award-winning and innovative new spirits. 

In 2019 we doubled our sales from 2018 with time to spare in our fiscal year. In 2019 we brought in $114,810.00 and this trend continued despite COVID-19 in 2020 and having our production floor shut down for nearly 5 months for expansion projects. During the COVID-19 slowdown, we took the opportunity to expand operations, and in 2020 we doubled our 2020 sales numbers at $217,646.

Last year was a challenging year for small distillers like Skunk Brothers because covid shut down many of the venues that serve artisan whiskies.  Skunk Brothers used this period to pivot and grow its internet sales while continuing to focus on its local tasting room sales.  The result of these efforts was a 90% year-over-year increase in sales.  At the same time sales cost increased from an anemic 2.3% of operating cost to an industry-standard 25% of operating costs in 2020.

In addition, the company was able to increase Gross Margins by 14% from 59% in 2019 to 67% in 2020.  This was the result of capital investments in more efficient equipment and retaining specialists to improve operational workflows.

We are now able to produce 60 gallons per day in our 320 gallon still and 100 gallon finishing still and have recently begun expanding from our beloved whiskey to gin, brandy and cordials. 

Thanks to our superb location in Columbia River Gorge, a tourist hotspot full of natural beauty tucked away on the border between Washington and Oregon, we’ve built relationships with many of our customers who come back year after year to enjoy a visit to our tasting room.

Now that the bars and restaurants are opening, the market is once again surging, and Skunk Brothers is ideally positioned to capitalize on the growth!

We take the finest ingredients from all around Columbia River Gorge, Washington and Oregon and distill spirits that make taste-testers swoon. We distill all of our products in-house at our distillery in Washington — never repackaging other manufacturer’s spirits. 

Each season we take the freshest fruit from our community and use them in our seasonal cordials; these liqueurs are a big hit and we struggle to keep up with demand.

Our “sweet” liquors can be sold fresh (without aging), our Smoke Jumper Bourbon is a hit with rapid aging and at the same time we’ve been steadily producing whiskey to age, stowed away in barrels to naturally enhance the flavor. 

We are constantly evolving to align with trends in the industry. Of the 7 most recognized whiskey trends listed in 2020, we meet almost all of them. 

We have gained experience and tried new things, including experimenting with younger whiskies. Our Whiskey Road and Smoke Jumper Whiskeys have been recognized for taste and quality. We are also finding success in experimentation with oak and aging processes, and our whiskey blends are seeing tremendous growth. Retailers are also able to visit our distillery and pick and choose the liquor they want on their shelves.

With the economic impact of COVID-19 forcing all the major spirits manufacturers to delay releasing new products until 2022 coupled with consumers’ desire to get out and try new experiences gives small producers a unique marketing opportunity in 2021. Distilleries have to produce high quality products that are unique and stand out. We believe we have that uniqueness and we’ve seen that people love what we are doing.

We are currently selling almost exclusively from our tasting room, with supplementary revenue coming from online ordering and limited local distribution. With just these three sales channels and no outside marketing, we more than doubled our sales each year.

With the proceeds from this raise and with the end of COVID-19 lockdowns, we plan to expand our online store and add additional marketing channels of advertising, online marketing. We have already added local and regional sales personnel as well as distillery personnel to successfully reach our production and sales goals for 2021 and 2022. In fact, in the first quarter of 2021, we have added 2 more products to our Oregon and Total Wine and More inventory with an additional 2 on the way. In Oregon, we have sold more cases to Oregon stores in this first quarter than we did all of 2019 or 2020.

We are one of only two craft distilleries in the region, and have ingrained our company as a staple of the community. Our customers love coming into our tasting room and sitting down with the family owners and operators of the business.

Our local ingredients assure that our product reflects the seasons and tastes of the northwest. That’s an intangible aspect that mass-produced spirits will never be able to emulate.

In the past five years, we have focused on our community, building relationships with farmers and growers in the area, and cementing our brand as a trustworthy source of superb spirits. Now, we’re ready for the next steps and that means we want to fund a sales and marketing department to bring our unique flavors to a wider audience.

We have removed the bottlenecks we had in our production, we can now brew 1500 gallons of mash per week and will be able to double that output by mid summer, and we can now keep our stills running 7 days a week and will be able to expand distillation with this new rais. That means we want to fund a sales and marketing department to bring our unique flavors to a wider audience.

We want to continue expanding our product line, incorporating age-accelerated whiskey into our repertoire — as well as a bevy of other exciting offerings.

These investments will allow our brand to grow well beyond the Columbia River Gorge market and buck the seasonality of the tourism market

We’re the Donoho family. We’re a family of veterans — who have served from  WW2 to Operation Enduring  Freedom and — we continue to serve. We are all ecstatic to be able to give back to the veterans and first responders community through various charity events.  and we are all ecstatic to be able to give back to the veterans and first responders community through various charity events.  Last year we gave 10 cents of every bottle sold to Patriot Paws.  An outstanding organization helping veterans assimilate back into society with companion dogs for support. This year we will also be giving to Smoke Jumpers Association non-profit.

We grew up hearing stories about Grandpa Donoho, who hustled his way through prohibition and the Great Depression by slinging moonshine to locals to feed his family. 

Today we carry on his tradition and hope to do him proud one bottle of whiskey at a time.

Skunk Brothers Spirits has already demonstrated  we can sell our products with the best of ‘em. Without any sophisticated marketing or sales-team we’ve been able to attract fans from all over the country — simply thanks to our superior liquor.

So far, we have had to play defense, with demand peaking and our facilities unable to catch up.

By investing in improving operational efficiency, and expanding our sales  and marketing  organization, there’s no telling how fast we can grow.

We’re confident, not just because the numbers are in our favor, but because there’s something magical that happens when someone tastes our craft spirits. So, join us, and be part of the Skunk Brothers family as we get our craft distilled spirits out into the world.  For us it is a labor of love that we know you will enjoy being part of.