Introduction Here at iStill we build amazing equipment for the craft distilling industry. But we do more. We help our customers make better drinks by (collective) training and (individual) product development projects. But there is another side to that same coin of producing spirits ... and that's the business side. Via our business consultancy we help our customers in that field too. This posts dives in deeper and shows how we support our customers at making better business decisions. More in detail? The example we want to promote here is all about whiskey production. We call it The Finance of Whiskey. The Finance of Whiskey Producing whiskey asks for investments up front. Mashers, fermenters, stripping stills and finishing units. Or iStills, that can do the whole process for you in one and the same machine. These combined are the so-called long term investments. Barrels, grain can almost be considered commodities. And the spirits production process asks for energy input as well as cooling water. Other things to consider are the rent of your distillery hall, staff associated costs, and marketing. With the Finance of Whiskey spread sheet, we aim to take all that into consideration. And we do so in a flexible way, so as not to develop a standard business model, but to help you design your own specific plans and planning. For instance, you can decide on:

• The units and equipment size you want to invest in for mashing, fermenting, and distilling, and their respective write-off period
• The costs of the grains and energy and water and barrels you work with (or expect to work with), and the expected Feints losses
• The number of runs you want to do (mashing, fermenting and distilling wise)
• The expected Angels' Share size, bottling strength, barreling strength, and barrel size
• Additional costs for marketing, renting, staffing and taxes
• And so much more

Based on your input The Finance of Whiskey spread sheets help you:

• Generate detailed information on the costs of setting up and running a distillery
• Create a business model with revenue, costing, and profitability
• Over a 5 year planning period
• Where you can mimic the growth of your distillery by adding new equipment along the year

The Consultation Process If you want our help and advice in setting up your distillery, please go our website and visit: https://www.istill.eu/consultancy. Choose Business Plan Consultancy and let us know what you expect from us. We'll call you back and will let you know what we have to offer, so that a more sound decision can be made on if we have on offer what you need. If you feel we can help you out, we invoice you, you pay, and the process of Business Plan Consultancy starts. We dial in a few Skype meetings and will put your decisions, the vision you foresee, into The Finance of Whiskey spread sheets. And if you want to make vodka, rum or gin in stead, please know that we have sheets and support for that as well! Pictures Here is how The Finance of Whiskey looks if you start filling in your own details, assumptions, and expectations:

Choose the machines you want to work with ...

Decide on barreling strength, barrel size, barrel costs and Angels' Share ...

Get detailed analyses of what makes up your costing per bottle (or run or year) ...

See how future investments in new equipment influence production costs ...

Get long term projections of revenue, costs, and profit ...

The Proof of the Pudding ... is in eating. Here are some outcomes based on running an iStill 500, 2000 and 5000. In all cases the units are set to make whiskey and do the whole process of mashing, fermenting and distilling in one 6-day cycle. The iStill 500 NextGen:

• Yearly production of 5.884 bottles at 43%
• Nett production costs of EUR 2,80 per bottle (incl. write-off of iStills, energy, water, grain consumption, angels share, and investments in barrels, excl. overhead and taxes)
• At 60 mash/fermentation/distilling cycles per year

The iStill 2000 NextGen:

• Yearly production of 23.538 bottles at 43%
• Nett production costs of EUR 2,13 per bottle (incl. write-off of iStills, energy, water, grain consumption, angels share, and investments in barrels, excl. overhead and taxes)
• At 60 mash/fermentation/distilling cycles per year

The iStill 5000 NextGen:

• Yearly production of 58.844 bottles at 43%
• Nett production costs of EUR 1,95 per bottle (incl. write-off of iStills, energy, water, grain consumption, angels share, and investments in barrels, excl. overhead and taxes)
• At 60 mash/fermentation/distilling cycles per year

Veronika, in front of an iStill 5000, celebrating her birthday today ...

www.iStill.eu