Just catching up on this story, which The Post and Courier is covering thoroughly.
This detail is something:
His wife was often involved in the company’s work. On Sweet Grass Vodka’s website, Swanger states that he “teamed up with local South Carolina potato farmers to distill the finest craft vodka on the market true to Polish traditions” — a detail he has attributed as a salute to his wife’s Polish heritage.
He proclaimed the vodka was locally sourced from potatoes grown at the former Three Sisters Farm in Bluffton, now called Daisy Branch Farm.
Farm owner Mary Connor said she hasn’t produced potatoes for two years after continued crop failures. She also confirmed she has never sold potatoes to Swanger.
In reality, Swanger and his team bottled liquor distilled by a third party, more than a dozen sources said. The grain neutral spirit — high-proof alcohols distilled from grains like corn, wheat, barley or rye — arrived in plastic vats to be proofed down with filtered water in a backroom of the Charleston lounge. Bottles were filled, labeled and shipped out from the Meeting Street Road establishment.
The process isn’t uncommon for craft “distillers” who don’t make their own liquor. It’s just not the story that Swanger tells.
This detail is something:
His wife was often involved in the company’s work. On Sweet Grass Vodka’s website, Swanger states that he “teamed up with local South Carolina potato farmers to distill the finest craft vodka on the market true to Polish traditions” — a detail he has attributed as a salute to his wife’s Polish heritage.
He proclaimed the vodka was locally sourced from potatoes grown at the former Three Sisters Farm in Bluffton, now called Daisy Branch Farm.
Farm owner Mary Connor said she hasn’t produced potatoes for two years after continued crop failures. She also confirmed she has never sold potatoes to Swanger.
In reality, Swanger and his team bottled liquor distilled by a third party, more than a dozen sources said. The grain neutral spirit — high-proof alcohols distilled from grains like corn, wheat, barley or rye — arrived in plastic vats to be proofed down with filtered water in a backroom of the Charleston lounge. Bottles were filled, labeled and shipped out from the Meeting Street Road establishment.
The process isn’t uncommon for craft “distillers” who don’t make their own liquor. It’s just not the story that Swanger tells.
