It turns out Louisiana’s fertile soil can be used for more than just edible crops—it’s also good for developing home-grown vodka.
Magnolia Vodka, the creation of local LSU alum Joel Brannan, is gluten free and made with 100 percent Louisiana corn from some of the most fertile soil in the country.
Utilizing Louisiana resources was a no-brainer for Brannan. After putting himself through college by bartending in Tigerland, Brannan graduated in 2012 and pursued oil and gas in Baton Rouge. He says after doing that for a while, he sat down and thought about the future and what he enjoyed most. The combination of his strong science background and bartending brought him to the liquor industry.
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“We’ve got about 30-something [distribution] locations as of today,” Brannan says. “From New Orleans all the way to Shreveport, it’s been running and gunning.”
In Baton Rouge, the vodka can be found at Bet-R Neighborhood Market, Calvin’s Bocage Market, Bin Q Liquor, Maxwell’s Market’s Corporate Boulevard and Perkins Road locations and several other distributors.
For Magnolia Vodka to be progressing as well as it is, Brannan says, is impressive considering it just hit shelves a little more than two weeks ago.
Currently, all of the corn Brannan uses comes from farms around Tensas Parish, and the vodka is distilled and bottled in Florida. Brannan does much of the work cracking and fermenting the nutrient-rich corn to go in the vodka. He also serves as the owner, marketing manager and sales representative.
“We’ve been doing tastings all over Louisiana, and we’ve gotten a lot of smiles and a lot of good results as far as taste tests,” Brannan says.
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Along with using locally sourced ingredients, Brannan says being gluten free is an added bonus.
“With more people moving toward a gluten-free diet nowadays, we don’t want to give anyone a reason not to enjoy our ultra-premium vodka,” Brannan says.
Find out where to purchase Magnolia Vodka here.