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(Courtexy The Chernobyl Spirit Company}
We don’t usually cover the hard alcohol segment at American Craft Beer, but this story was impossible to ignore.
Here’s the deal…
Atomik (their spelling not ours) is the inaugural product from the Chernobyl Spirit Company. It’s an artisan apple spirit that was crafted using fruit and grain from Chernobyl’s infamous exclusion zone and 1,500 bottles of the spirit planned to ship to England were seized before they left a distillery in the Ukraine.
Ukrainian and British scientists have shown that slightly radioactive products from the zone could be distilled to make spirits with levels of Chernobyl radioactivity below what they could measure.
However, their first small-scale experimental production has been seized by Kyiv City Prosecutors following a Ukrainian Security Services, the SBU, Ukraine’s secret services.
According to USA Today “Jim Smith, an environmental science professor at Portsmouth University and company founder, said it was unclear why the bottles were taken.”
(Credit: Chernobyl Spirit Company)
“We are working hard to set up a business to help bring jobs and investment to the Chernobyl affected areas of Ukraine and to further support the community with 75% of any profits we make,” said Professor Smith “It seems that they are accusing us of using forged Ukrainian excise stamps, but this doesn’t make sense since the bottles are for the UK market and are clearly labelled with valid UK excise stamps”.
35 years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, scientists have spent their careers working on its consequences and remain committed to supporting Ukraine’s long recovery from the accident.
And the Chernobyl Spirit Company was founded as a Social Enterprise with a mission to produce high quality artisan vodka from land in the areas of Ukraine abandoned after the Chernobyl accident.
“This case is a clear example of violation of Ukrainian Law by the Kyiv Prosecutors and the SBU, said Elina Smirnova, the lawyer representing The Chernobyl Spirit Company. “They have targeted a foreign company which has tried to establish an ethical “white” business to first of all help Ukraine. The actions of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are damaging the reputation of Ukraine as an open country for doing business. We still believe that the truth will win.”
Bottom line…
We’re not sure that the world was begging for alcohol made with apples and grain grown near the infamous Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
But if you were, it appears you’ll have to wait…
