Mark Twain once said, “Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.”
Since 2016 Murlarkey Distilled spirits has been making barely enough to satisfy the growing demand for their excellent products.
Tom Murray, Mike Larkin and his brother Jim Larkin were part of an Irish-American family growing up in New England. They all eventually migrated down to Virginia and in 2013, Mike Larkin along with his father-in-law, George “Papi” Zwetkow—a 5-star chef and master distiller—approached cousin Tom with the idea of a distillery.
Tom who had a background in tech startups and finance, found the idea intriguing and they formed MurLarkey Distilled Spirits, LLC.
The name was an amalgam of three family names, Murray, Larkin and Kelly (their grandparents). It also was a play on the Irish word ‘malarkey’.
Their grandparents originally made a potato-based whiskey called Poitin (pronounced poo-teen). The recipe for which was the start of the product that MurLarkey produces today.
Mike’s brother Jim, with a background in hospitality management, joined shortly afterwards and took lead as COO. In 2016, Kevin Szady joined MurLarkey as Head Distiller and the team was assembled. With Mike’s passion, Papi’s nose, Tom’s entrepreneurial sense, Jim’s leadership, and Kevin’s craft, the new distillery had the recipe for success.
Armed with a farm-to-flask philosophy, the Murlarkey team try to acquire all of their ingredients from Virginia. The grain and barrels are from Virginia and everything gets bottled on site.
Attention to detail and expertise put into their spirits quickly made the distilling world sit up and take notice. All four of their beverage categories took home the gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2020. A feat never before achieved by any distillery.
That same determination came in handy for the other part of their plan, to provide the ultimate tasting experience and atmosphere.
George “Papi” Zwetkow created a beautifully orchestrated and relaxed experience, where you sip each spirit plain, then on the rocks, and then with some additions that make it more of a cocktail.
It made for an educational, relaxed, flavour tour with a lot of surprises along the way.
Now, almost 10 years in, they are ready for an $8.1 Million expansion to a new “FarmBrewLive” location. They plan to ramp up production with a 14” Continuous column still from Specific.
This state-of-the-art still stands 35’ high and will be the jewel in the new 25,000-square-foot facility, housing both the distillery and tasting room.
This expansion aligns seamlessly with the ongoing enhancements at the FarmBrewLive campus.
The future of this powerhouse team of Tom, Mike, Jim, Papi and Kevin could not be brighter…and that’s no malarkey!
