Bone Spirits – Farm to Bottle Distillery

On a recent trip to Smithville, Suzanne and I discovered that there was a distillery in town. This sleepy little town surprises me every time we visit. We learned that Smithville has been used for many films such as Hope Floats starring Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr., The Tree of Life starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, Natural Selection starring Rachael Harris, Doonby starring John Schneider and Bernie starring Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey. Quite an impressive talent of stars I’d say. Those stars rise and fall but there is one rising star that is here to stay in Smithville. This shining star is Bone Spirits, another entrepreneur story that makes me glad I live in Texas. 

An unassuming two story metal building with a small sign on the outskirts of town stands lonely on this quiet street but, once you enter, you can sense the pride and joy of making great products. The compact distillery is impressive. Up the stairs to the tasting room Suzanne and I went. As we entered, the owner of Bone Distillery, Jeff Peace, greeted us with a big smile and offered up a place at the bar. It didn’t take long for him to start telling us his story of success in creating this distillery. Hard work and knowledge from working at another distillery allowed him to build and craft his own version of excellence in distilling liquor.

Eager to please us, Jeff offered up samplings of his Smith’s Vodka, Fitch’s Goat Moonshine, Moody June American Dry Gin and Fitch’s Goat 100% Corn Whiskey.  As he poured up each sample, Jeff gave us a little background info on the name selections and the locally sourced ingredients. All tasted good, but my favorite turned out to be the Moody June American Dry Gin. I’m not usually a gin drinker, but this stuff tasted great! Made from handpicked botanicals with juniper and citrus notes, this gin is outstanding.  Yes, you guessed right. I bought a bottle without hesitation. And yes, I’m drinking some now while I’m writing this story!

Jeff likes to call his methodology “Farm to Bottle”. He sources as much of his ingredients as possible from the local farmers and gives back to the farmers distillers grains for them to pick up to use as soil fertilizers and livestock feed. This sustainability idea is good for the success of all involved and builds a great community network of families.

As a proponent of buying local products and goods (Texas Made), I hope you will check for Bone Spirits in your local liquor store such as Spec’s. If they don’t carry it, ask them to order some. Or better yet, do like we did and take a daytrip to Smithville and score some from the source. You’ll be glad you did. In the meantime, I’ll finish my tasty Gin drink while I think of my trip to see Texas Thru My Back Door!

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