Yellowfin Vodka Introduces Its New Sister Rum Line
——— By DIANA VALLETTE ———
JAMISON TROUTH
Jamison Trouth’s type A personality and chemical engineering background set both Yellowfin Vodka and his new Mahi Rum up for success.
Trouth is the owner and creative genius behind the Sulphur-based spirits company.
The idea first sparked for Trouth when he was in college. He knew he wanted to do something outside of the mainstream chemical engineering path. “It was a feeling I didn’t quite understand at the time,” he says. “My desire to have something — I didn’t know what — outside of chemical engineering grew and grew until I just couldn’t ignore it anymore. I had never experienced anything like that.”
Trouth spoke to classmates about this calling, and they dismissed his ideas. It wasn’t until an older classmate was speaking with Trouth about chemical engineering and said, “We take raw materials and alter them to make some other molecule” that alcohol came up. Immediately it clicked for Trouth: vodka!
“I really enjoyed my distillation class. The very first problem we did was ethanol and water separation,” he said. Trouth enjoys vodka’s neutral quality — vodka drinkers can manipulate the drink as needed to satisfy their individual taste. He spent eight years working as a chemical engineer, saving every cent he could and learning about making vodka.
It’s no surprise his engineering hat stayed on for most of the creative process. “I was interested in vodka on a molecular scale,” he says. “I took a very tech-forward approach early on, but once I got more into the process, I realized my sense of smell and taste were more sensitive than any instrument.”
While his peers were buying new cars and taking vacations, Trouth was getting disciplined. He cashed in his 401k and sold his house. “People thought I was crazy. They asked why anyone would like a vodka I made, but I believed in my abilities.” Almost no one in his life could wrap their mind around the concept that he was willingly leaving a steady job at the plants. “There was real concern.”
On Christmas day, 2016, after seven years of hard work and dedication, for the first time Trouth was finally able to taste his vodka. “I was in the distillery by myself. No one else was around. As soon as I tasted it my eyes welled up with tears.”
Trouth had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of his life. There was no way to know what the final product was going to taste like, and it was a huge gamble — one he made good on. “I could not believe what I was tasting or how smooth it was. It was some of the smoothest spirits I’ve ever had,” he says.
Trouth was hoping to be able to produce five to seven batches before releasing the product to the public. This would allow him to work out any kinks along the way. But because of unexpected business expenses in March, 2017, he jumped the gun and made a Facebook post announcing Yellowfin Vodka was officially available for purchase.
“I named it Yellowfin because of the quality. You can cut yellowfin tuna right off the fish and enjoy it. It’s the same concept with good spirits; you don’t have to drown them in mixers to enjoy them.”
Trouth only had a few hundred dollars in his bank account to pay those bills, and the community showed up. The morning after his post, people were waiting at his door to purchase their bottles of Yellowfin Vodka, and all of his expenses were taken care of.
For the next seven months, Trouth sold Yellowfin direct to consumers out of his distillery — until distributor Southwest Beverage came knocking. “They picked up a palette every Monday. That meant I spent every Sunday, usually until three in the morning, hand labeling bottles. I’d get a quick three-hour nap and then load up the truck.”
Trouth was burning the candle at both ends, and he knew it wasn’t sustainable. He asked his best friend from high school, Walter Hammond, to join him as operations manager.
WALTER HAMMOND
Trouth fell in love hard with his rum and now says he drinks more rum than he does vodka. “Everyone who tries Mahi has been blown away. I could talk about it all day, but once they try it, they’re sold. I didn’t like rum before because of the artificial flavoring — it’s an epidemic in rum,” he says.
Hammond had spent 10 years working as a private pilot, and he was ready for more consistency and routine in his work life. They have been the sole two guys behind Yellowfin for the past seven years. “He can run the equipment when I’m not here,” Trouth says. “I couldn’t have a more dependable person working with me, and I’m thrilled to have him.”
Once Yellowfin was released into retail, the feedback started to roll in —and some of it was less than stellar. “I heard from some of my customers that it wasn’t mixing well in dry cocktails. Because that version had more character and a stronger flavor, it threw people off.” His focus had been on making an exceptional sipping vodka. And he had.
But, in Southwest Louisiana, the well-loved vodka-soda drink is an acidic, dry cocktail, and Yellowfin’s first version wasn’t pairing well with anything dry or acidic.
“Dirty martinis were our nemesis,” Trouth says. “Our first event with Southwest Beverage was a Louisiana Restaurant Association dinner at the Pioneer Club. They put dirty martinis on the menu.”
Trouth didn’t buck the negative feedback. He listened and tweaked as needed. It took him a couple years, but in 2018 he was finally pleased with what is now branded Yellowfin Otoro — the original version.
“That vodka is so good room temperature or neat. I had to tell people to be careful, because you can’t treat it like you would other traditional vodkas. You can’t mix and taste and see if you need more. You won’t be able to taste it. It’s surprisingly smooth, especially in sweet drinks.”
According to senior beverage manager for Coushatta Casino, Bill Wier, Trouth is right.
“I’ve been in the food and beverage industry for over 30 years, so it takes a lot to surprise me,” Wier says. “But Yellowfin surprised me. It’s a game changer. I’ve never tasted a vodka so smooth and clean. I knew that something was different about it, so I asked (Trouth) how he got it to taste so pure. When he started to explain the filtering process, it made sense to me. You could pour this vodka on the rocks or neat and just sip on it next to the fireplace and be in your happy place. I know a quality product when I taste it, and these are some of the finest that I’ve tasted in a long time. Not only is it a great vodka, but the man behind it is a good, genuine person. He deserves to succeed.”
Slowly over the years the price of Yellowfin has adapted to reflect the quality. “To find a comparable vodka in smoothness you’d have to spend $50 to $60, but I knew if I came to Southwest Louisiana at that price point it wouldn’t work. So, we originally had it confusingly low.” When Yellowfin made its way into Rouses’ Sulphur location, Rouses corporate got to know Trouth. Yellowfin made top 10 items sold in the entire store, and the number one alcohol product. As a result, Rouses put the vodka in 38 stores.
“My approach to drink making is this: quality is the most important thing, but health is important to me, too.” Trouth uses the best raw materials he can get his hands on for both his vodka and rum. “Gluten free, non-GMO raw materials, yeast, cane sugar from Louisiana and molasses. I didn’t look at what other people were doing. I just started doing it.
“The blend water is a huge part of this process. It’s a huge step. Some people use glacier water, but pretty much all of our water is contaminated.” Trouth uses reverse osmosis water that’s been through several filters. He initially spent an entire week just reading and learning about water and filtration. After a year of researching companies, he found one he felt good about. The catch? They were based in Europe and couldn’t speak English. The company sent a representative (and a translator) to Sulphur. Yellowfin’s water filtration system is the first of its kind in the United States.
Recently Yellowfin expanded to include Mahi Rum. “If you mix the four rums with, let’s say, sweet tea, it makes a completely different drink each time.”
Trouth fell in love hard with his rum and now says he drinks more rum than he does vodka. “Everyone who tries Mahi has been blown away. I could talk about it all day, but once they try it, they’re sold. I didn’t like rum before because of the artificial flavoring — it’s an epidemic in rum,” he says.
Trouth says most companies don’t use real ingredients because they don’t want to deal with the solids left as a result. “There are trace amounts of protein in sugar that react with alcohol and can cause fallout when it reacts with sunlight.”
Trouth’s type A personality, commitment to quality and attention to detail meant he played around with different configurations trying to completely avoid the fallout. “I didn’t want something sitting in the bottle, but at the end of the day, I’ve accepted there will be some sediment over time.”
Trouth won’t compromise. He refuses to add chemicals to Mahi just to avoid a little bit of sediment. “I decided that’s what true quality looks like, and even if people don’t get it in the beginning, we’ll educate them.”
What’s next for Trouth and his spirits? “It’s hard to see beyond what’s right in front of me,” he says. “When things are good and I’m not stressed, my mind wanders and I start to dream and think about the future.”
Trouth says he’ll feel like he’s accomplished something once the new distribution company he’s working with is up and running. Southern Seas Distributing Company was started by his two friends, David Haynes and Tracy Stringer. “Once I can step back and focus just on making the vodka and rum … that’s my goal right now.”
The Yellowfin Distillery, located at 1716 E. Burton Street in Sulphur, has a tasting room open from 11 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Thursday, and 11 am to 2 pm on Fridays. You can take free tours and purchase Yellowfin Vodka or Mahi Rum. Trouth’s arsenal of products now include eight different spirits. There are four vodkas: Yellowfin Otoro, Yellowfin Toasted Otoro, Yellowfin Charred Otoro and Yellowfin Single Estate. The four rums include Mahi, Mahi Platinum, Mahi Toasted and Mahi Charred.
For more information on Yellowfin Vodka, Mahi Rum or Jamison Trouth, visit yellowfindistillery.com or call 337-660-8373.
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