High spirits were on display at the ribbon cutting ceremony for Prohibition Distillery in Roscoe on June 21. The establishment is selling its first product, which is called a super-premium vodka named Bootlegger 21 New York Vodka.

From the distillery’s website, “We use 100% corn. We considered wheat and potato, but liked the flavor profile of corn in bourbons and other whiskeys,” says Brian Facquet, who co-owns Prohibition with his partner in-name-only crime, John FK Walsh.

“Our Gluten free, 100% American corn grain, Bootlegger 21 New York Vodka, has a unique genesis. After all, our colorful approach and romantic reverence to the Prohibition era of the 1920’s and 30’s, has given us supreme optimism in the face of today’s divergent opinions and social conflict.

"Just as the Bootleggers shrugged off the 18th Amendment making the transport and sale of liquor illegal in the U.S., we said, ‘to heck with the financial woes’, and instead quit our jobs to follow our dream. A dream to make a locally crafted spirit that respects a sense of tenacity found in the American entrepreneur. A spirit that pulled us out of a depression, saw the birth of the cocktail, backroom speakeasy, and Bootleggers of notorious fame.”

Go to the Prohibition Website for more.