Northern ingredients being used in new grain-to-glass distillery in Sudbury

Former scientist Shane Prodan says he sat as his desk for years thinking about how he would build his own a science lab.

Now he is the sole owner of Crosscut Distillery in Sudbury, a grain-to-glass distillery on Kelly Lake Road. It's part distillery, part tasting room.

The facility produces vodka, gin, seasonal products, and shortly, Prodan says, they'll be filling barrels of whisky.

"It's a lot of fun every morning trying to think of new ideas and how to incorporate them into new flavours and develop interesting products," he said.

He says the planning for the business started almost three years ago, and it was just April 4 that it officially opened its doors to customers.

Prodan is in the process of submitting two of his products to the LCBO to distribute throughout northern Ontario.

"There's a lot of paperwork and a lot of hoops to jump through. We're well through them, but we still have a couple more to go."

'Start from scratch'

Recently, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation distributed funding to several new businesses that are part of the agri-food sector in the region.

Crosscut Distillery received $200,000 from the NOHFC. According to Proban this will help with the construction of the facility and purchase of equipment.

"When I sought to build this I wanted a grain-to-glass facility, and what that means is that we start from scratch. We start with grains and local botanicals, then we ultimately go through all the stages that will lead to a finished product," he said.

"I figured we would approach them and see if they also appreciated the value in what we would bring to the food chain in the area," Prodan said.

Northern ingredients 

Crosscut vodka is made from three grains. Prodan says the oats and wheat — which make up the majority of the vodka — is harvested between Sault Ste. Marie and Temiskaming.

He added he is in discussions with a local harvester for the botanical ingredients for the products.

The closest distilleries to Crosscut are either in Muskoka or Hearst. But Prodan has modelled his business after ones on the West coast of Canada.

"I have a vision that looks more towards what some actually look like in B.C., than Ontario, but there will be steps along the way to get there."

As far as the vision for the tasting room Prodan says he'd like to add character.

"Have something that's a little bit different than what you might find in northern Ontario," he said.

"Where the ultimate vision goes, I think we're going to keep that one a little closer to the vest."