Today we’d like to introduce you to Bernard & Laurie Quandt.
Hi Bernard & Laurie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Hello, we’re Laurie & Bernard Quandt, the husband and wife founding team of War Trail Spirits! And though we weren’t born in Texas, our story is just as the bumper sticker says… We ‘got here as fast as we could.’
After raising our kids— we quit our careers, loaded up the pirate ship, burnt the house, the bridge, and the dock, and sailed off on a mission to create a beloved Texas distillery that would allow our customers to “Taste Texas in a Glass!”
Uniquely Laurie is the master distiller, making her one of the small handful women run distilleries in the world.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Starting a liquor brand from scratch is a long road. We often work 12 hour days, and expect to for many years.
It’s also capital intensive, especially Bourbon that has to age. We have to make multi year projections and correctly fund it.
We had seperate careers previously, so now work together constantly and that took some getting used to, but in the end we have found our different views on problem solving create a better solution.
Getting from no brand recognition to a known brand is going to take years and tens of thousands of interactions with the general public, bars, restaurants, clubs, liquor stores and building connections.
There is nothing more gratifying as seeing someone walk into a liquor store, pick up a bottle of our liquor and goto the cashier without any prompt from us!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a distillery in the Hill Country of Texas, that focuses on 100% Texas made product.
Texas made bourbon is unique as the Texas topography and climate is much more varied and intense than Kentucky. It gives each distillery in Texas a unique flavor.
We make a “easy drinking” Texas bourbon named Broken Halo Bourbon. It will appeal to any Kentucky Bourbon drinker, as well as any Texas bourbon drinker (However we want you to drink Texas Bourbon!).
We are part of the Texas Whiskey Trail, which is fun for Texans as well as tourists.
Additionally we make vodka. However with so many vodka choices out there we decided to be different. We make our vodka with Potato instead of grain. As far as we can tell we are only one of four distilleries in the USA who do this.
Its leads to the “perfect” vodka that is half the calories of typical vodka and is naturally gluten free.
What matters most to you?
We want to make a 100% Texas product. We have lived in Texas now for 12 years and are never leaving. Texas has been so good to us and we want to highlight Texas and give back by supporting Texas farmers and suppliers.
Our motto is “Taste, Tradition, Texas” and that sums up our distilling process. We want to bring Texas bourbon to the world.
Pricing:
- $49.99
- $59.99
- $21.00
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wartrailspirits.com
- Instagram: @wartrail – https://www.instagram.com/wartrail
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555904857020
