Multimedia Reporting (Kuhr-Musser)

Grown in the Kansas prairies, distilled in Leavenworth, and available at your local liquor store, new vodka distilled from Kansas grain is available for the first time ever.

High Plains Inc. in Leavenworth is producing the first ever liquor to be distilled legally in Kansas since the state banned the manufacture of liquor in 1880.

Most Wanted Vodka is the brainchild of Seth Fox, a former process engineer and amateur distiller who converted a profitable electronics company he started in 1984 into High Plains in 2004.

By July 2005, the first cases of Most Wanted Vodka were hitting the shelves. At the end of 2005, Fox had shipped about 3000 cases of vodka to 180-190 covering the four corners of Kansas. He hopes to double that number by the end of 2006.

Fox is the 7th generation of a family with a history of moon shining in the hills of North Carolina.

“I’m not the first to do it in my family,” Fox said, “But I am the first to do it legally.”

Talking with Fox, you get a strong feeling of a man who is proud of his work and the history behind it. Fox started High Plains with absolutely no loans or investors. He used only personal funds for his start up capital.

Fox feels that buy starting the business entirely on is own, he feels less pressure to please investors and feels more flexible with his business plan. It also gives him a sense of security in his job.

“If you take it really slow, and do it all yourself, it’s pretty fail safe. Worst-case scenario, I’ll bottle water,” said Fox.

Self-sustainability permeates through High Plains. Fox literally built the distillery from the ground up. He hand built his filling machine from scratch using spare junkyards parts.

The rest of the shop at High Plains is filled with converted equipment. A coffee grinder from an old coffee shop is used to grind the grain for the vodka. A boiler from an old Kansas City home heats up the vodka and pushes it through the still. In fact the only new thing Fox bought in his endeavor was a scale to weigh the containers. Every other component was either bought used or pieced together from scrap in Fox’s machine shop.

Fox poses with a 1 liter bottle of Most Wanted Vodka. High Plains bottles the vodka in sizes ranging from 50 mL to 1.75 L. Photo: Nate McGinnis

Fox, who lives on a farm in northwestern Kansas, wouldn’t have it any other way. He approaches each job as a learning experience

“That’s the key is you have to be industrious like any farmer. He might not go out and buy a new part he might make one work or he’ll fix it himself or he might find something better,” Fox said.

Fox takes pride in the fact that his vodka is made from Kansas grain. “The best grain in the world,” he says. In fact, the best grain in the world grows right around the corner from his home; Fox buys all the grain used for production from his neighbor. Every component of Most Wanted Vodka is produced either right here in Kansas, or in the United States.

With the current outsourcing of jobs, Fox prides himself on supporting US workers like him. He uses a unique example to prove just how far the outsourcing has gone. While on vacation at Mount Rushmore, Fox went to the gift shop and checked the souvenirs to see where they were made. He was discouraged that he found a lot more “made in China” than “made in the USA”.

Now that Fox has conquered the homemade vodka market, he is looking to expand his product line to offer a wider variety of homemade Kansas liquors. Fox has recently been buying whiskey barrels from the McCormick distillery in Weston, MO and will begin distilling, aging, and shipping 5 types of whiskey later this year. Future projects also include 3 types of rum and two types of tequila.

Fox, a former process engineer, built his filling machine from spare parts in his machine shop. Photo: Nate McGinnis

Fox doesn’t see himself quitting the liquor business anytime soon, but he already has a back-up plan if business begins to dwindle.

“The next thing I’ll probably do, if I sell this or go on, I’m probably going to make cigars,” Fox said.

And his source for the tobacco? His neighbor grows it, right around the corner from his house, just another product of the fruitful Kansas plains.

For more information on the history of Kansas liquor laws visit: A History of Alcoholic Beverages in Kansas

If you or someone you know has a drinking problem please visit: Alcoholics Anonymous