Paul McCann is reviving his CirrusVodka brand.
A local distiller is giving his shuttered vodka business another shot.
Paul McCann has rounded up more than $1 million in investment capital and has distilling equipment on order to build what he calls Virginia’s second-biggest distillery. Nearly a year after losing a Hardy Street facility to foreclosure, McCann is ready to again pump out Cirrus Vodka – and lots of it – from a forthcoming distilling and fermenting powerhouse near The Diamond.
“We’re basically taking what we were doing before, and we’re stepping it up,” McCann said of the new distillery he plans to open at 1603 Ownby Lane.
He said he hopes to have the first batches from Cirrus Vodka’s second run on ABC store shelves by July. He said he wants to move into other states after reestablishing the brand in Virginia and Washington, D.C. The company’s stills ran dry in December 2012, and the last bottles of Cirrus Vodka left ABC stores some four to eight months ago.
McCann, who launched Cirrus Vodka in 2004, said the rebirth of the brand was brewing as a massive expansion before he lost a distillery at 2700 Hardy St. to foreclosure last June.
He said the previous incarnation expanded too quickly and too soon and, at times, he ended up pulling from one distributor to supply another.
“We didn’t have the capital support to really be able to operate at a higher capacity like we needed,” McCann said.
Paul McCann (Photo by Burl Rolett.)
If he had secured the capital he has now, Cirrus would probably still be on Hardy Street, McCann said. He was courting investors even in the weeks leading up to the foreclosure but ran out of time.
“We had some preliminary discussions on how to take the business to the next level and were just about to do that,” McCann said. “And essentially the rug was pulled out from under us.”
The building sold for $375,000 at auction after EVB foreclosed on a $300,000 loan issued to McCann in September 2011. The sale included a full array of stills, fermenters and other tools of the trade.
Since then, James River Distillers, a liquor company still in the making, has taken out an ABC license for 2700 Hardy St
McCann kept the Cirrus Vodka name and hopes his investor-powered distillery won’t have any problems meeting supply. The Ownby Lane space has the capacity to produce 20 times as much 80-proof, potato-based vodka than the Hardy Street distillery could.
Cirrus’s new 7,000-square-foot distillery will be able to generate 100,000 cases of liquor per year, McCann said. That’s 1.2 million bottles of vodka.
Big-time booze is being fueled with major investor money in Cirrus’ case, and McCann said he sold most of the company to come up with the funds to pull it off. He previously owned 88 percent of Cirrus’ parent company, Parched Group. He gave up most of that equity to raise capital and now maintains a 10 percent ownership stake, he said.
The Parched Group investors are mainly local, McCann said. And are led by the GMR Investment Group, which is headed by Frank Geho. Gary McDowell and Sterling Roberts are also members in GMR and will work for Parched Group. McDowell will handle administrative duties. Roberts, who previously operated a beer distributing company, will handle sales and marketing along with McCann.
McCann’s new distillery he plans to open at 1603 Ownby Lane. (Photo by Burl Rolett.)
“I was wearing many different hats previously and spreading myself too thin,” McCann said.
Cirrus is rejoining a local booze-making scene that has become much more crowded since its launch 10 years ago. The competition has become stiffer still in the few months Cirrus has been off the shelves. Upstart brand Belle Isle Moonshine is working on building out a Manchester distillery, while whiskey maker Reservoir Distillery has announced a major expansion of its own in the Scott’s Addition neighborhood.
The Parched Group also hopes to move into the whiskey market and to add a brown liquor to its portfolio. McCann said it will likely be a rye whiskey that will be distilled and aged at the Ownby Lane distillery. That product will not bear the Cirrus name.
McCann has been happy with the initial runs of the spirit, but he’s yet to nail down the final recipe. There is no firm timetable yet for bringing it to market.
“Had we stayed at Hardy Street, it would have already been out,” he said. “At this point, we kind of have to play it by ear because we want to focus on the Vodka first and foremost.”
Paul McCann is reviving his CirrusVodka brand.
A local distiller is giving his shuttered vodka business another shot.
Paul McCann has rounded up more than $1 million in investment capital and has distilling equipment on order to build what he calls Virginia’s second-biggest distillery. Nearly a year after losing a Hardy Street facility to foreclosure, McCann is ready to again pump out Cirrus Vodka – and lots of it – from a forthcoming distilling and fermenting powerhouse near The Diamond.
“We’re basically taking what we were doing before, and we’re stepping it up,” McCann said of the new distillery he plans to open at 1603 Ownby Lane.
He said he hopes to have the first batches from Cirrus Vodka’s second run on ABC store shelves by July. He said he wants to move into other states after reestablishing the brand in Virginia and Washington, D.C. The company’s stills ran dry in December 2012, and the last bottles of Cirrus Vodka left ABC stores some four to eight months ago.
McCann, who launched Cirrus Vodka in 2004, said the rebirth of the brand was brewing as a massive expansion before he lost a distillery at 2700 Hardy St. to foreclosure last June.
He said the previous incarnation expanded too quickly and too soon and, at times, he ended up pulling from one distributor to supply another.
“We didn’t have the capital support to really be able to operate at a higher capacity like we needed,” McCann said.
Paul McCann (Photo by Burl Rolett.)
If he had secured the capital he has now, Cirrus would probably still be on Hardy Street, McCann said. He was courting investors even in the weeks leading up to the foreclosure but ran out of time.
“We had some preliminary discussions on how to take the business to the next level and were just about to do that,” McCann said. “And essentially the rug was pulled out from under us.”
The building sold for $375,000 at auction after EVB foreclosed on a $300,000 loan issued to McCann in September 2011. The sale included a full array of stills, fermenters and other tools of the trade.
Since then, James River Distillers, a liquor company still in the making, has taken out an ABC license for 2700 Hardy St
McCann kept the Cirrus Vodka name and hopes his investor-powered distillery won’t have any problems meeting supply. The Ownby Lane space has the capacity to produce 20 times as much 80-proof, potato-based vodka than the Hardy Street distillery could.
Cirrus’s new 7,000-square-foot distillery will be able to generate 100,000 cases of liquor per year, McCann said. That’s 1.2 million bottles of vodka.
Big-time booze is being fueled with major investor money in Cirrus’ case, and McCann said he sold most of the company to come up with the funds to pull it off. He previously owned 88 percent of Cirrus’ parent company, Parched Group. He gave up most of that equity to raise capital and now maintains a 10 percent ownership stake, he said.
The Parched Group investors are mainly local, McCann said. And are led by the GMR Investment Group, which is headed by Frank Geho. Gary McDowell and Sterling Roberts are also members in GMR and will work for Parched Group. McDowell will handle administrative duties. Roberts, who previously operated a beer distributing company, will handle sales and marketing along with McCann.
McCann’s new distillery he plans to open at 1603 Ownby Lane. (Photo by Burl Rolett.)
“I was wearing many different hats previously and spreading myself too thin,” McCann said.
Cirrus is rejoining a local booze-making scene that has become much more crowded since its launch 10 years ago. The competition has become stiffer still in the few months Cirrus has been off the shelves. Upstart brand Belle Isle Moonshine is working on building out a Manchester distillery, while whiskey maker Reservoir Distillery has announced a major expansion of its own in the Scott’s Addition neighborhood.
The Parched Group also hopes to move into the whiskey market and to add a brown liquor to its portfolio. McCann said it will likely be a rye whiskey that will be distilled and aged at the Ownby Lane distillery. That product will not bear the Cirrus name.
McCann has been happy with the initial runs of the spirit, but he’s yet to nail down the final recipe. There is no firm timetable yet for bringing it to market.
“Had we stayed at Hardy Street, it would have already been out,” he said. “At this point, we kind of have to play it by ear because we want to focus on the Vodka first and foremost.”