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For his 60th birthday, Richard Anderson's wife delivered big.
Sarah Anderson sent him and brothers in-law, Dave Wallace
and Craig Maxwell, to Scotland on a Scotch-tasting tour. It was
a game changer. Sipping their way through distilleries across
Islay, Scotland, propelled creative brain waves.
Following a half-day at the famous Lagavulin, they stopped
at Kilchoman Distillery, a farm distillery. It reminded Richard
of the abandoned farm Wallace and his wife, Heidi, had just
purchased. "We should do this!" he said, meaning start a grain-
to-glass distillery. "at's a fantastic idea!" Wallace affirmed.
"We talked about it the rest of the trip," says Anderson.
As the idea fermented, Anderson and Wallace took a distilling
class in Chicago. In 2013, they purchased the second part of a
120-acre farm in ompsonville, MI, along with a tractor, and
planted hops and grapes. Dave Wallace began to imagine his
new gentleman farmer lifestyle.
"I think you need to expand."
Surveying the property periodically, Bob Schuelke, who lives
13 miles south in Kaleva, was convinced the future held consid-
erable promise.
"I was there a number of times before they opened," chuckles
Schuelke. "Richard saw me and said, 'Excuse me, who are you?'"
"I said, 'I think you need to expand, and I am going to be one
of your best customers!'"
Iron Fish Distillery opened on Labor Day, 2016, their name a
tribute to the steelhead fish that journey up the Betsie river each
year. Word quickly spread across Michigan and outlying states
about the Great Lakes region's first farm distillery. Dedicated
patrons come from as far away as Traverse City, Grand Rapids,
Kalamazoo and Detroit. About 10 percent are from metro
Chicago. e distillery, located in a town of fewer than 500 peo-
ple, has also drawn visitors from around the Midwest as well as
Canada, Europe and Japan.
Iron Fish Distillery, located on a reclaimed 120-acre
farm, became the first farm distillery to operate in
the immediate Great Lakes region.
Opposite page — Iron Fish owners, left to
right: Richard Anderson, Sarah Anderson,
Heidi Bolger, David Wallace
Photo © Iron Fish Distilling
