Kentucky Mist Distillery
Northwest's Client Success Stories
If you can say one thing for Colin Futz, he’s adaptable.
In 2015, the former coal miner saw the decline of Kentucky’s coal industry, and knew it was time to change course. Colin found inspiration from back in his family history—during Prohibition, when his grandfather Henry Holbrook bootlegged moonshine around Whitesburg, the same part of Kentucky where Colin grew up.
Grandpa Henry’s bootlegging ended with a 17-year stint in Atlanta US Penitentiary (during which he befriended fellow inmate Al Capone), but Henry’s tricks of the trade stayed in the family. Decades after his grandfather’s death, Colin took those trade secrets and family recipes, and used them to create his own moonshine—this time legally, when he founded Kentucky Mist Distillery in Whitesburg.
Since the founding of the distillery in 2015, the company has flourished. The product line has expanded to nine different varieties of moonshine, plus KVOK and Whitesburg 1902 vodkas, and a signature whiskey, Ole Henry, named for his grandfather.
Trademark Troubles and Fighting Floods
Success hasn’t always come easy, however.
In 2015, when the distillery began operating, Futz attempted to register trademarks for the use of the phrase Kentucky Mist Moonshine on apparel and spirits. The distillery was quickly targeted by the University of Kentucky, which claimed exclusive use of “Kentucky” for athletic gear and fan clothing.
Kentucky Mist Distillery asked for a ruling that the trademarks did not infringe. A year later, in late 2016, a US District Court judge dismissed the case, and the distillery was able to officially register its trademark. The registration included a disclaimer that no exclusive right to the word “Kentucky” was claimed outside of the specific mark.
The trademark battle wasn’t the only challenge Kentucky Mist Distillery had to face. In 2022, severe summer rain swelled the Kentucky River, submerging Whitesburg and much of the eastern part of the state in a record-breaking flood that claimed 45 lives.
The distillery was hit hard, losing more than $150,000 in product on top of damage to the distillery building and machinery. Recovery took weeks, and Colin had to gamble on financing repairs with company money when loans couldn’t be secured.
Despite the setback of that devastation, Colin’s gamble paid off. Within six months, Kentucky Mist Distillery had bounced back—expanding to a new larger home across the street from its original location. Today, Kentucky Mist Distillery operates stores in resort areas of Myrtle Beach, SC and Orange Beach, AL, and ships spirits all over the country.
