Work on the Pemberton Distillery is proceeding apace in the Pemberton Industrial Park, and the company owner and future master distiller is confident that most of the pieces are coming into place, hoping for a late-spring beginning of sales for his product.

Tyler Schramm said he’s been fielding many questions from locals who wonder when his distillery’s organic potato vodka will start flowing, and his answer has been hopefully soon.

“There’s a lot of people that have been asking where the vodka is,” Schramm said.

As he and his two brothers have worked to build the facility that will house the vodka- and whisky-producing distillery, people have stopped by the site to talk about the distilling process and the construction. Schramm said he’s grateful to have that support and interest from the community.

“Everyone’s really positive about it,” he said.

The project is “definitely behind schedule,” Schramm said, due to delays such as the length of time it took to get his development and building permits, and originally he had never planned to build through the winter. But with a late-November start on construction, he and brothers Jonathan and Jake have had to work through the winter conditions, including December’s brutal Arctic outflow.

“That slowed us down hugely,” Schramm said of the extra-cold temperatures, which were hard on gloveless hands trying to tighten bolts and work with the parts of the steel building ordered from a kit. While the brothers “definitely had our moments” during the construction process, Schramm joked, they’ve made it through as the pre-ordered building went together smoothly.

Tyler and Jonathan have construction backgrounds that served them well during that period, Tyler said, as each has three years of experience working and building chairlifts for Doppelmayr at Whistler Blackcomb.

“That background was really helpful,” Tyler Schramm said.

With the building now up, Schramm said, the push is on to get the concrete floor finished before the distilling equipment arrives from Germany. He expects the Bavaria Holstein-made equipment to arrive within the next three weeks.

Schramm, who holds a Masters of Science in Brewing and Distilling from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, has also been hard at work on the vodka side of the business, setting up the permits necessary for sales and designing the bottles, which he said will reflect the Pemberton area and the West Coast, though he’s keeping the specifics under wraps for now.

Schramm said he has a contract with Across the Creek Organics to supply the potatoes for the vodka, as Schramm hopes to use about 40 to 50 tonnes of spuds in the first season of distilling.

In the hottest part of the summer, when storing potatoes becomes difficult, Schramm plans to take a break from vodka production to make a small batch of single-malt whisky, which he’ll store and age for five years, followed by small bottlings each year until the whisky reaches 10 years of maturation in the cask.

“Definitely it’s my plan to stick with this (venture) for quite a long time,” Schramm said.

Initially, he’ll be looking to sell his products in bars, restaurants and private liquor stores, which can carry his spirits as a regular product, and then he’ll try to get them into government liquor stores, which will only be able to carry his spirits as specialty products initially.

Schramm said he’s already had interest from restaurants and the public for sales. Looking to establish on-site retail in the distillery, Schramm said he’s also hoping to give tours of the small facility, to work on the educational side of the process.

Helping people understand where their liquor and spirits come from is “something I look forward to,” the passionate distiller said. He’s hoping to offer the tours in the summer, once matters are more settled.

After a long haul with the project, Schramm said, “it’s exciting to finally be getting close.”