February 7, 2018
Rum,
moonshine and more are produced at former biodiesel plant
By Brice
Stump
Special
to the County Times
PRINCESS
ANNE — Tom Cropper’s family has been on the Eastern Shore since 1629. After
nearly 400 years he’s the first to try his hand as a commercial liquor
distiller right here in Somerset County.
But it
was a long way from a “surfer dude” to a maker of rum and moonshine.
“I tried
to enroll in the U.S. Naval Academy, but lacked the ‘political power’.”
Then he
was enticed to join the Army during the Vietnam War, with Uncle Sam promising
to train him as a pilot for Huey helicopters.
“The
recruiter didn’t tell me they were killing 200 pilots a week at the time. By
the time I finished flight school the war was about over. As it turned out, I
never went to Vietnam, Cropper said. “In 1975 I was a Warrant Officer, the
youngest (at 19) in the United States Army.” After six years in the
service, Cropper be came a “dredging,” dredging the channel in and around
Ocean City. “I was setting cable on the jetty in March and noticed a big wave
and got washed right off the jetty. It was cold.
On that
job I got hurt really bad, was walking on a floating gantry, somebody had moved
some boards and it was 10 at night and I fell into the superstructure. I was
out of commission for 11 months. It really messed my arm up but I could stretch
out my hand to operate a computer keyboard.”
That
freak accident changed his professional life.
“For almost 12 months I taught myself computers.
Fell in love with it. Now, for the first time in my life I knew my calling was
with computers, writing software for companies. I spent 30 years in IT, serving
clients from private and public sector firms, like the Department of Defense.”
Looking
back over those 30 years, Cropper made an unnerving discovery. “I realized that
98 percent of everything I’ve done in the past 30 years is now obsolete. It was
like building paper houses. It’s gone.”
Now, he’s
embarking on a new role in life. And, just like his epiphany of “learning
computers,” Cropper is building his new professional life one lesson at a time
as he masters the art of commercial distilling.
After
establishing OTVB (Only the Very Best) LLC in 2017, Cropper and his wife, Tina,
set up business in the former Greenlight Biofuels building on Progress Lane at
the Industrial Park in Princess Anne.
In the
6,000- square-foot building the Croppers’ have a small lab, two offices, two
copper distilling tanks and a wooden barrel housing a copper cooling “worm” for
the distilled spirits.
Around
the still are rockers, chairs and benches waiting for folks to come in and take
a tour of the distillery. Unlike high powered corporate distilleries, the
Croppers offer a cozy, relaxed one- on- one interaction with their visitors. It
is something that fits their personalities perfectly and makes the experience
rewarding.
“This
isn’t about getting rich. It’s about doing something that’s fun and meaningful,
and allows me the opportunity to share my craft skill with folks who have
an interest in seeing a small distillery operation,” he said.
“Hopefully
I am building something that in 10 years will have more value than it does
today and am providing a product people enjoy. I want to do something that
requires ‘ hands on’ involvement.”
Cropper
grew up learning about marketing and sales from his father.
“My
father started Cropper Oil and Gas Company in Berlin in 1968. So I was exposed
to the business end of life. Then one day my grandfather told me that the
secret of business success was to ‘find out what people want and go get it’.”
So the distillery came into being, now one of just 20 in Maryland and the
newest in production.
“Being
able to produce something that was considered currency in the beginning of our
country is something that interests me,” Cropper explained. “I found out that
in good time people like drinking a little bit. In bad times people like
drinking a little bit.”
Cropper
hopes to produce vodka, whiskey and gin, but figured he wanted to try his hand
first at distilling rum and rum-based moonshine.
“Last
year I was an apprentice at the South Florida Distillery for a number of month
to learn the trade,” he said, “and we are finally producing rum and moonshine
here.”
Offered
under the Spirits of Patriots brand, the company’s Navy- strength rum has an
alcohol content of 114 proof. The moonshine is 80 percent proof.
“Our
Commodore Decatur Navy Strength Rum honors a local hero. I want to honor our
patriots, especially those from our area — I went to Stephen Decatur High
School near Berlin.”
Special
to the Crisfield-Somerset County Times/ Brice Stump