How One Black Family Makes Award-Winning Vodka in the Arkansas Delta | Eater

"Opened in 2021 by Harvey Williams and his family, this farm-to-bottle, small-batch distillery crafts vodka and gin from sweet potatoes, corn, and wheat grown on the family farm and showcases an elegant cocktail lounge where patrons sample drinks such as grapefruit mules (vodka, lime juice, grapefruit juice, and ginger beer) and gimlets (gin, lime juice, and simple syrup). The operation is steeped in family history — from a great-grandfather who sharecropped to a grandfather who sold moonshine — and deliberately honors Daddy D’s original 86-acre plot (the vodka is bottled at 86 proof). Its sweet-potato vodka has earned major acclaim, including a platinum at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and rave scores in other contests, and the brand has rapidly expanded production and distribution beyond the town while introducing a sold-out, bourbon-inspired sweet-potato spirit called Arkansas Brown. By controlling the supply chain from field to bottle, the distillery aims to add value to farm crops, support the family legacy, and help revitalize a struggling Delta community." - Sono Motoyama