We had the good fortune of connecting with Seth Benhaim and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Seth, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Shortly after graduating college I moved back home to Los Angeles. I had started my own business in college and had enjoyed the experience of making money doing what I felt was interesting at the time.
I continued to have an entrepreneurial ideas and concepts the year after graduating, to the point where I eventually said to myself, “the next good idea you have you cannot pass it up, you have to go for it.” It turns out that next idea was to create a brand of single bottle infused vodka‘s. All of this was in 2012, and I had just turned 24 then.
What should our readers know about your business?
Today, we operate two distinctly innovative spirits brands: Infuse Spirits Vodka and Broken Barrel Whiskey.
Our vodka brand has been out since 2014 and our whiskey has been evolving since 2017 into the brand it is currently. I am extremely proud of both brands as they present unique and discernibly differentiated product offerings within their respective categories and strive to bring something new to the industry.
We have currently distributed our products to 40 states as well as Canada, and have product on shelves of numerous national and regional chain liquor stores. We have a growing online whiskey club that offers fans of the brand and opportunity to get rare and limited edition releases every quarter.
Getting to this stage has not been easy or smooth but nevertheless enjoyable and an experience I would not trade for anything.
Something most people don’t realize about whiskey today is that several new and emerging brands are taking advantage of the situation and the rising prices and values in American bourbon. Conversely, we have and will continue to build both our brands as mainstays intended to be around for the long-haul, regardless of rising or falling prices in bourbon, economic fluctuations or market corrections. We are determined to build a generational brands that exist hopefully when I’m long gone, maybe as something to be remembered by….
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a friend was visiting LA, I would start with a round of drinks at my bar, Broken Barrel Whiskey in DTLA. We house over 1.200 different bottles of spirits from around the world in addition to the entire lineup of broken Barrel.
From there I would suggest going to Guerrilla Tacos, and then perhaps to the rooftop at the Ace hotel for a cocktail. While someone was visiting LA I would also suggest variety of Southern California classic activities like going to the beach or a theme park with family depending on the time of year.
I see point on things to do has dramatically shifted in recent years now that I have a young child.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I must thank my investors, business partners, mentors, coworkers, distributors, and retailers – without any one of these folks we would not be able to bring our brands to the world.
Website: Www.Brokenbarrelwhiskey.com
Instagram: Instagram.com/BrokenbarrelBarrelwhiskey
Linkedin: LinkedIn.com/brokenBarrelwhiskey
Facebook: Facebook.com/brokenbarrelwhiskey
Youtube: Just a YouTube “Broken Barrel whiskey”
Other: Our bar and gift shop address is 2332 E. 8th St., Los Angeles, CA 90021
Image Credits
Wes Kroninger