Marylanders Line Up To Get Rockville Distillery's Hand Sanitizers

ROCKVILLE, MD — Nursing homes in Montgomery County, government offices in Frederick County, shipping ports in Baltimore City — they all want to get their hands on Twin Valley Distillers' hand sanitizer.

Amid shortages stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, the Rockville distillery has been turning its high-proof alcohol into hand sanitizer and is selling it to Montgomery County residents who need it — $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.

Volunteers Step Up

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.

On Sunday, Zuniga told Patch that he's moved production into the distillery's tasting room — to avoid cross contamination with his spirits — and now has volunteers to help out.

"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.

Government Offices, Supermarkets, And Medical Facilities All Want In

County Councilmember Hans Riemer on Sunday said the county has partnered with a Mount Airy distillery and a Gaithersburg pharmacy to create a hand sanitizer solution for first responders.

According to Zuniga, no contract has been been drawn up with Twin Valley Distillers — at least just yet.

"I'm trying to do my part, and if they take something from someone else, that's fine," Zuniga said.

He says that the county has already reached out to him about getting his hand sanitizer in their government offices. Frederick County, Baltimore City, and Baltimore County have also asked for the product.

So far, all sales have been conducted verbally. Zuniga says he will soon be speaking with his lawyer about drawing up contracts and fleshing out the distillery's insurance and liability policies.

He has already told all those who wanted to buy his hand sanitizer — be it government offices, nursing homes, or supermarkets — that his product is not for resale.

Hand sanitizer will be for employees, Zuniga said, adding that he doesn't want anyone to hoard his products and sell them for an astronomically higher price.

He says he will be selling more hand sanitizer outside the distillery at 8 a.m. on Monday.

Zuniga says he hopes to get 2,000 bottles out for sale — at least 1,500 will go to the public and at least 500 will go to Montgomery County.