Home Distiller

Woodshed,

Did the 16,000 bond cover the tasting room also or is that a separate bond? I'm assuming separate. So you yearly bond would have been $21,000.

Thanks

Screwgie, We are strictly wholesale right now but working towards a tasting room. The bonds are separate I believe. The wife has handled all of that but that is how I remember it.

A bond, is basically a guarantee the government will get their money. You can either use a bonding company, much like an insurance company. They put the money up and you pay a premium. If you have the cash, you can put that in am interest bearing account, but promise not to remove the principle. $15,000 - $25,000 is about where it starts for a small distillery.

I am submitting my application for the tasting room now. This allows me to also sell directly to the public from the distillery.

Ozone,
I called the TTB about a month ago and asked about the cost to get a permit and was told the permit itself costs nothing. The minimum bond requirement is $5000. I called my insurance agent here in VA and was told a $5000 alcohol bond would cost about $60/yr. The bonds costs go up according to production as noted below. The ancillary costs is what will hurt, like state permits, water filters, and whatever the state can dream up. I filled out the federal permit but never sent it in. When I got to the state application and they wanted me to put a notice in the paper for two weeks running and notify all of my neighbors, I threw it in the trash. Alli

It depends on where you live. Where I am at, they notify your neighbors to give them a chance to speak up if they have a problem with it. Mine all went smoothly. I applied, and 4 months later all my permits were approved.

Anyone else getting ticked off just reading this thread? Thank God I'm in a line of business that doesn't get raped by the Protestant Mafia as badly as distilleries do.