Nantucket a Great Place for Entrepreneurs
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

A lot of children travel to Nantucket, Mass., and set up lemonade stands. Jay Harmon set up a distillery.
Mr. Harmon is a partner in Triple 8 Distillers, as well as Cisco Brewers, a microbrewery founded by Randy and Wendy Hudson in 1995. Earlier, another couple, Dean and Melissa Long, founded Nantucket Vineyards, planting a modest vineyard only to find that the high-humidity summers were inhospitable to grapes. They pulled the vines in 1998 and started making wine from grapes imported from Washington state.
Today, these entities have been combined in a ramshackle location near Cisco Beach. The company welcomes thousands of visitors each year and turns out some astonishingly successful beers and spirits. Although the annual revenues from the three operations total less than $5 million, the products have acquired a wide following, especially on Nantucket and the Massachusetts mainland. Despite distribution and off-site manufacturing agreements, which are broadening the company’s reach, about 60% of revenues still come from the island.
One reason for the enterprise’s success is the near-fanatical love that Nantucketers have for their home turf and local businesses. Denise Disavino, the bartender at the Club Car – a restaurant located in Nantucket town near the landing point for the so-called day-trippers arriving from Hyannis – is a big fan of Cisco products. “If it wasn’t good, I wouldn’t do it,” she says. “People love it. They want to sample the local product.”
An especially popular Cisco product is Whale’s Tale Pale Ale, the company’s flagship English-style brew. This drink is sold in Massachusetts through Budweiser, and is distinctive not only for its taste and name, but also because initially it was sold in 24-ounce champagne bottles. Why? Because the startup venture was given a large quantity of oversized bottles and early on needed to save every penny.
The company imports hops from England to create its unusual flavor, and is launching several new lines. This year, it introduced Sankaty Light, a beer with only 120 calories, named for a famous and endangered lighthouse on Nantucket’s eastern shore. Other brands include Baggywrinkle Barleywine, Captain Swain’s Extra Stout, and Moor Porter.
The more recent focus of the partners has been the creation of high-end vodka sold under the name Triple 8. The name refers to the glacier-age pure water found in the company’s well, no. 888. This water source is touted for its clear taste, and adds to the vodka’s allure. The company has added flavored drinks such as orange and cranberry vodkas, made using fresh fruit, to its line. Last year the company’s orange-flavored vodka won top honors at the World Spirit Championship in Chicago.
In 2000, the company began producing a single-malt whisky under the professional eye of George McClements, a consultant from Islay, Scotland. Though Notch (not Scotch) is still in barrels, the producers are optimistic that this line, too, will prove popular.
At the moment, the company’s energies are focused on their Bartender’s Ball, an annual event that promotes their Triple 8 line. The Cisco group awards points to bartenders based on how much Triple 8 they sell, and invite the most productive to a three-day Nantucket celebration. This year, the company is producing a promotional video featuring the top five bartenders – Ms. Disavino is still deciding on her costume.
The marketing is not only creative. It is also persuasive. This year Triple 8 expects to sell 6,500 cases of vodka, up from 3,900 last year. In 2006, output is targeted at 18,000 cases. Prices are going up, too.
Other projects include revamping the company’s somewhat disheveled facilities, creating more products using local produce (perhaps a blackberry vodka), adding tequila to the line, and expanding manufacturing capacity. Realistically, most of the output growth will have to come from the mainland. It is simply too expensive and not island friendly to try expanding brewery output on Nantucket. Today, the company only produces draft beer on site, which avoids substantial shipping and bottling requirements. Keg output, too, must be increased. The recent Opera Cup sailing party drank up all the draft beer on the island, setting off a near panic among local bars.
The partners appear to be enjoying their company’s progress while also feeling a little stunned by it. Occasionally, an outsider pokes around asking about investment opportunities, but so far, the company is content to grow organically. Ultimately, they may follow in the extremely well-shod footsteps of the founders of Nantucket Nectars. These fellows, aka the Juice Guys, famously started making lemonade in their garage and ended up selling out to Ocean Spray for a fortune. The Booze Guys, as the Cisco crowd is sometimes called, may not be far behind.