1st Batch Of Hand Sanitizer From Distilleries Ready: Coronavirus

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Consumers have drastically reduced the available supplies of hand sanitizer, toilet paper and now eggs, leaving vulnerable populations without those items. Nursing homes, medical facilities and other places have found themselves in dire straits without hand sanitizer. Realizing that they could help fill that void, Montgomery County distilleries have abandoned making beverages and began making 85 percent proof alcohol that's needed for producing hand sanitizer.

Finally, the first batch of locally made hand sanitizer is now being used by Montgomery County police officers and staff at the department of correction and rehabilitation. The production process involves four area distilleries, two wineries and one compounder/pharmacist working together to produce 300 gallons of hand sanitizer each week. It will be distributed among county police, fire and rescue services, health and human services, department of correction and rehabilitation, county sheriff’s office and Montgomery County Department of Transportation.

“We are grateful to our local business community for pitching in and helping to make hand sanitizer for us,” said Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus G. Jones in a statement. “As first responders, we are focused on protecting our community, as well as our own families. This is a prime example of people coming together to support our county’s first responders and collectively protect our fellow residents."

Department of General Services Chief Operating Officer Jamie Cooke said batches will be made every week and delivered to "public-facing" county employees.

"Once we have satisfied their needs, we will offer the hand sanitizer product to local hospitals and other county organizations. To have the county government teaming with private sector companies to provide a local solution is inspiring," said Cooke.

Participating distilleries are:

• Twin Valley Distillers – Rockville, MD
• MISCellaneous Distillery – Mt Airy, MD
• McClintock Distillery – Frederick, MD
• Lost Arc Distilling Company – Columbia, MD

Participating wineries are:

• Black Ankle Vineyards – Mt Airy, MD
• Windridge Vineyards – Darnestown, MD

Participating pharmacy is:

• Vashan Compounding Pharmacy – Gaithersburg, MD

Twin Valley Distillers have been selling it to Montgomery County residents who need it at $4 for a four-ounce bottle and $6.50 for an eight-ounce bottle. But now, people from all over Maryland want to buy the sanitizer.

"It's a little bit of chaos," Edgardo Zuniga, the owner and founder of Twin Valley Distillers, said in an interview with Patch.

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Zuniga says it has been difficult to keep up with demand, even before county government offices, medical practices, and nursing homes started reaching out to him. Every day, Twin Valley Distillers gets 1,250 gallons of sugar fermentation and dilutes it to become alcohol for the hand sanitizer. The whole process, from barrel to bottle, takes about a week.

"It's not like a gel, or gooey stuff that sometimes you find in the supermarket or pharmacy," Zuniga said. "It's more like liquid, so you can use it as a spray."

In an interview with Patch on Friday, Zuniga said he works nearly 24 hours a day to keep up with production.

"My kids' friends from school and a parent are volunteering to label the bottles of hand sanitizer," Zuniga said. "Now there's a small assembly line on an L-shape table in the tasting room."
With the help of volunteers, Zuniga says it now takes two hours — instead of eight — to label the bottles.

He hoped to sell at least 500 hand sanitizers to Montgomery County first responders on Sunday.
He also aims to bottle 4,000 to 5,000 hand sanitizers next week — that is, if he could get his hands on more bottles. Otherwise, Zuniga said, Twin Valley will have to sell hand sanitizer in bulk.

Read more:

• 'Dramatic Increase' To 992 MD Coronavirus Cases: Hogan
• 4 Montgomery Co. Fire And Rescue Members Positive For Coronavirus
• MoCo Employee Tests Positive For Coronavirus, Liquor Store Closes
• 12 Montgomery County Daycare Centers Remain Open During Shutdown
• Montgomery Co. Unemployment Claims Surge Amid Coronavirus Crisis