Spirit Spotlight: Shiphouse Vodka

Visitors who board the Jet Express for the Ohio islands must pass the Benson Ford Shiphouse before hitting dry land in Put-in-Bay.

Bryan Kasper, who recently became an investor in Gahanna-based Noble Cut Distillery, now owns the century-old vessel built for the Ford Motor Co. One of his dreams was to have a liquor bottle in the image of the ship, says Noble Cut founder Tony Guilfoy.

So in 2021, they began working with a glassmaker in Poland to create the bottle, and it’s turned out to be a favorite memento of Put-in-Bay. Shiphouse Vodka hit the shelves in 2022, winning a double gold at the San Francisco Spirits competition. Noble Cut and Shiphouse Vodka opened a second distillery in Put-in-Bay in 2023.

“Once we had the resin sample, I said to Bryan that if the bottle comes out anything close to this, this is going to be the greatest bottle ever,” Guilfoy says.

Proof Magazine is for Ohio spirit lovers. It is produced by Great Lakes Publishing three times a year. Don’t miss an issue by subscribing to Ohio Magazine. View a digital version of the Proof Magazine Spring 2024 edition here.