Tom Adams, the owner of Seven Troughs Distillery in Sparks, is creating high proof alcohol for hand sanitizer.
“We ran into another company that was unable to fulfill some of their orders because they don’t have access to good quality ethanol. So we just took our peanut butter and their chocolate and there you go,” he said. “Now we’re not filling bourbon barrels. We’re just filling containers with a high-grade ethanol and then we will give that to our industry partners.”
As for whether he ever expected to be using his alcohol for sanitizing purposes, Adams said it comes with the territory.
“You know, as a small business, the places the business takes you, it doesn’t surprise me,” he said.
Since Adams founded Seven Troughs Distillery in 2012, he said that the restaurant, bar and distillery has had its ups and downs, but experienced a steep downturn as coronavirus reached Nevada.
“Business has been increasing and improving up until about four weeks ago, then everything started to get a little shaky and then obviously it fell off a cliff at the end of last week,” he said.
Adams said that he has 11 employees who he is trying to keep employed as long as he can. Even though Seven Troughs is still open and serving customers via curbside delivery and takeout orders, he said these adjustments have reduced the amount of tips workers receive — a hit for people who depend on that extra money to supplement their wages.
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