FMA's Featured Maine Products...
Some of the finest products in the world come from Maine companies, and you can visit more of them in Freeport than almost anywhere else. Companies like; Cole Haan, Thos. Moser, Georgetown Pottery, Acorn, Brown Goldsmiths, Cold River Vodka, Au, Wilbur’s Chocolates, just to name a few, are located here in Freeport. Oh, and did we mention L.L.Bean?
On this page we'll feature a different product made with pride, ingenuity and quality right here in Maine - and available in Freeport!
This month we feature...
The idea for Cold River Vodka originated with brothers Lee and Donnie Thibodeau. Growing up in Presque Isle, the heart of Maine’s potato country, they listened to their father and uncles tell about their history of turning potatoes into vodka. However, the realities of tending to the potato crop and the rigors of the annual harvest left little time.
Three years ago, the idea of commercially producing a distinctive Maine vodka resurfaced between Donnie and Lee as they were driving back to their childhood home in Presque Isle. After years of thinking of business ideas and talking about the future of Maine’s potato industry, the two decided to make the best potato based vodka from Maine potatoes.
Maine’s agricultural industry is always searching for ways to add value to staple crops. This goal complemented the Thibodeaus’ desire to preserve Maine’s open space and become the only vodka distillery in the country that would oversee its entire production – from planting potato seed to bottling vodka.
They called longtime friend Bob Harkins, who had recently left his post as a ski area executive, and asked him to explore the feasibility of producing vodka using Maine potatoes and Maine water. With that call, the business was born.
The three needed someone who knew distilling and soon discovered Chris Dowe. After a decade of installing and consulting on breweries across the country, he wanted to spend more time with his family in Maine.
The four partners and their wives chose the name Cold River Vodka. Glaciers carved the Cold River through the backbone of western Maine millennia ago. From the aquifer that this clear, pristine river feeds, the distillery takes its water. From a dream to a reality, from the ground to glass, from spud to super-premium spirit — this is Cold River Vodka.
Cold River Vodka can now be found throughout all six New England States as well as North Carolina, Indiana and Florida.
Visitors are welcome to tour our Distillery at 437 US Route One in Freeport, Maine, and watch the Cold River Vodka process as it happens.
Our Distillery and Gift Shop are open Tuesday through Saturday for tours and shopping! Our hours are 12 noon to 5pm, and we recommend that you call ahead for tours.
We look forward to seeing you in Freeport!
Maine’s agricultural industry is always searching for ways to add value to staple crops. This goal complemented the Thibodeaus’ desire to preserve Maine’s open space and become the only vodka distillery in the country that would oversee its entire production – from planting potato seed to bottling vodka.
