Dayton-made vodka hitting the shelves

The new 80-proof Dayton-based Buckeye Vodka will be on liquor store shelves around the state this week. The Dayton Daily News says that the release is surfing the wave of a national trend of micro-distilleries producing small batches of premium spirits.

Buckeye Vodka is the result of a family-based team that includes Jim Finke, president of the Finke Company in Moraine, and co-owner and CEO of Crystal Spirits LLC. His brother-in-law, Tom Rambasek of Kettering, owns Crystal Water Company in Dayton.  Rambasek is president of Crystal Spirits.  Finke's brother Chris is chairman.

They saw family and friends take hits from the closing of NCR and of the GM Moraine truck assembly plant. They noticed that people in Ohio were consuming liquor in record amounts, even as many spent less on each bottle.

Using the expertise of a friend in Austin, Texas who makes vodka, and taking advantage of high-quality water through Crystal Water, the partners started making what would become Buckeye Vodka.

There is another micro-distillery in the Miami Valley. Buckeye Distillery is located in Tipp City.

Finke says the vodka will only be available in Ohio for now, but hopes to expand it around the country.

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