Paul J. Kozub loves making vodka.

By William Freebairn

Paul J. Kozub loves making vodka.

"You take this mash that looks like junk and you distill it into this pure liquid," said the 30-year-old Hadley resident.

Kozub has taken his appreciation for the production of liquor and turned it into a business. He has invested his entire savings in a new business, Valley Vodka Inc., that has produced a high-end vodka called V-One.

The new spirit can be found in dozens of bars and liquor stores throughout the Pioneer Valley.

"I want it to grow in the fertile grounds of Western Massachusetts first," said Kozub.

His ambitious plan is to expand to Worcester and Boston in two years and eventually achieve national distribution. Kozub said he has tough competition from well-established premium vodkas, but believes he can find a niche.

"This is made in small batches, and it's hand crafted," he said.

Kozub grew up in Wilbraham, and returned to the region following college. He bought a house in Hadley several years ago.

One day in 2003 he saw a farmer's truck loaded with local potatoes passing his Hadley home. That was when inspiration struck.

His grandfather had told stories of tending an illegal still in Ludlow during Prohibition. Now, Kozub decided, he would make vodka legally.

Kozub bought a still from Canada and set it up in his basement, where he experimented with different vodka recipes.

He researched vodka-making on the Internet, and began corresponding with a man in Poland who seemed very helpful. That man, Marek Brniak, would become his consultant on vodka production, and in the summer of 2004 he flew to Krakow, Poland, to meet with him.

Kozub, a fourth-generation Polish-American, had initially planned to manufacture the vodka in Hadley. His visit to Poland eventually drove him to change his mind.

"As soon as a I landed in Poland, it felt like I was home," he said.

He visited a distillery and furthered his plans for production, even buying a set of blueprints that would allow him to make vodka on a large scale.

However, the reality of building a distillery in Hadley proved daunting. The high-end single-column distilling he wanted required massive amounts of water, which could prove problematic back home.

Increasingly, he believed it would be easier to have the vodka made for him in a Polish distillery and shipped to the United States.

He was still tinkering with the recipe after his return from Poland.

"I tried potato, I tried wheat, I tried rye, I tried blending them," he said.

In April, he quit his job as a loan officer for TD Banknorth to devote himself full time to his dream. He settled on a potato-based vodka and told the distillery he wanted to go ahead.

Then, unexpectedly, the distillery in Poland backed out of the project at the last minute. He and Brniak scrambled to find a new contract manufacturer, and Kozub flew back to Poland in July.

At the new distillery, he conducted taste-tests and changed the recipe of his vodka completely.

"We had two or three days of vodka tasting," he said. "They said we have a new variety of wheat and we tried that. It was the most drinkable vodka I'd ever had."

The wheat variety was more expensive than potato or standard wheat, but Kozub knew he had to have it. He placed the order, completed the design of the bottle, and returned home to await the shipment.

His order came in two weeks ago, and Kozub turned to selling the spirit.

The vodka is priced at about $25 for a 750-ml bottle, similar to other premium vodka brands such as Chopin and Belvedere.

Kozub had to get a liquor distributor's license in order to sell his goods directly to bars, restaurants and package stores. He said he is unusual in having such a license to distribute a single product.

V-One is already available at several area bars, including FitzWilly's and Packard's in Northampton and Max's Tavern in Springfield. Liquors 44 stores, Table & Vine in Northampton and Town & Country in West Springfield are among the liquor stores that stock the product.

Kozub has held promotional events at bars to draw attention to V-One. He said few people know about the product yet, but word is spreading.

The company launched its Web site, www.v1vodka.com, this month.

A formal launch event is scheduled for Max's in October, with the proceeds benefiting charity.

Launching a liquor brand has proven complex at times, Kozub said. Federal authorities require samples of the product to be tested and approved, and the packaging must be reviewed as well.

"Starting a business from scratch is very difficult, especially if you're in the alcohol industry," he said.

But Kozub is confident he will succeed.

"I know the community will support a local guy."

©2005 The Republican