We invite you to come on over to our new blog which is will be much more active and also where it will stay!

Today marks the 75th Anniversary of REPEAL DAY ~ the day the United States ended Prohibition and reintroduced alcoholic beverages to legal public consumption (& more importantly – a return to taxable liquor.)

It’s no coincidence that the end of Prohibition marked the start of the end of the Depression ~ because all those spirits re-entering the  marketplace resulted in MASSIVE TAX REVENUE for the US government.  So keep this fact in mind anytime you hear of proposed legislation to restrict or reduce alcohol sales (which would result in huge tax losses, job losses, a stock market crash and don’t forget all the hospitality jobs, night clubs, restaurants etc. that will go out of business should Prohibition in any form ever return).

Seriousness aside, here in Seattle there are plenty of fantastic drinking establishments that will be celebrating Repeal Day tonight.  Below are a few of my favorites which in future posts I will review to let you know why I highly recommend you pay a visit and I think that what they are doing will shape the future of the spirits business (& Odyssey Spirits).

Where to Celebrate Repeal Day? While there are a great number of fantastic bars that will be showcasing their pre-Prohibition cocktails etc. this evening – being that I’m known for being a “themed entertainment aficionado” I must absolutely mention VESSEL (next door to the 5th Avenue Theatre) – my friends Zane & Jim etc. are pulling out all stops to go hog wild with a Repeal Day Celebration.  In addition to mixing some of the best cocktails in town there will be Fedoras & Pinstripes galore, a Burlesque performance and other surprises in store for all who attend.

Other bars of note I recommend checking out this evening (which I will be reviewing in upcoming posts) include:  ZIG ZAG CAFE (Pike Place Market), LIBERTY & SUN LIQUOR (Capitol Hill), ROB ROY & SPUR (Belltown).

As for me, I’ll be swinging by VESSEL after the Robin Williams performance at The Paramount Theatre.  Happy Repeal Day Everyone!

P.S. Click here for more information on Repeal Day.

~ 15th Annual Single Malt & Scotch Whisky Extravaganza ~
Friday, November 7th, 6:30 pm ~ Downtown Seattle @ The Rainier Club

• 90+ Single Malt Whisky impressions (tastes)
• Irish & Japanese whiskeys impressions
• A full buffet dinner (carving stations, pasta, salads, dessert, coffee)
• Plus 3 cigars (Monte Christo, Don Diego & Gispert) per guest

Since Odyssey Spirits has plans to start a Single Malt Whisky in 2009, in the interests of R&D we’re attending this event & it would be great if you were there too!  The cost to attend is $130 per person.

To RSVP: Call 1-800-990-1991 (Note: payment will not be processed until 48 hours prior to the event

This event is already close to selling out, so call ASAP to RSVP. Business Attire required, smoking cigars on premises will not be allowed during the event.

That said, I guess I’ve dragged my heals, in terms of blogging, because the majority of our progress seems so intangible.  Like most start-up entrepreneurs we’re deep in the process of doing a great number of things > business planning, location scouting, forming alliances, meeting with government officials, networking with others in our industry, attracting potential team members, talking with advisers and potential investors, etc.  I’ve actually had to add sleep, meals and exercise to my calendar otherwise I often forget them!  Therefore my initial goal will be to blog at least once a week and build to more frequently as we experience more growth in our company (& thus have more tangible news to share with you).

For those who’ve joined our mailing list and asked about what spirits we intend to produce, being purposefully vague we plan to start out by producing several brown spirits, a couple clear ones and possibly a green one.  We look forward to sharing more complete information with you as we gain more tangibility and when we do we’ll definitely celebrate!

* P.S.  We welcome your questions, comments and suggestions on topics to share with you!

Odyssey Spirits is one of the early pioneers of the Washington State Craft Distillery Movement .   We have an exciting and ambitious vision of what we aim to achieve, and with your active support we’ll realize our vision.   Therefore we invite you to join us in our adventures and for which we promise to keep you informed of what we’re up to during the course of our journey.

In addition to posting on our personal progress, we’ll also highlight activities of our local craft distillery industry, local bars that we think serve up the best cocktails, share tasty cocktail recipes you can make at home that use local fresh ingredients, introduce ingredients we especially enjoy and offer you invitations to special events we’re either attending or involved in producing (such as spirits tastings).  Plus as soon as we have some photos to share we’ll post those here as well.  Officially this blog will serve as the Chronicle of Odyssey Spirits Adventures and by checking back you’ll be part of our success from the ground up!

We have a ton of exciting things to share with you about our progress thus far, which we’ll elaborate on in upcoming posts.  For now, this is our first blog post ever, & considering we’re completely new to the whole blogging thing please let us know if you know of any tips and tricks we can use to enhance your blog visiting experience.

For now here are 3 ways you can be actively involved in our adventures:

1. Stay tuned to our blog for regular updates (favorite us or sign up for our RSS feed)
2. Visit our website & sign up for our quarterly “Good Times Newsletter”
3. Join our Facebook Group