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MurLarkey Distilled Spirits is a Virginia-based craft distillery that has gained a cult following on the east coast for its diverse range of nationally and internationally awarded small-batch artisan spirits. With a focus on sustainability, community, innovation, and history—the name, craftsmanship, and emphasis on tradition all pay homage to the company’s Irish roots—it’s no surprise that the family-run operation has found success since launching in 2016. However, it’s one thing to rack up awards for quality and ingenuity, but it's quite another to be bestowed with a humanitarian award in one’s county.
The local distillery was recently honored with receiving Prince Williams County’s 2020 Human Rights Award for their impressive efforts responding to COVID-19 in the county. When the initial lockdown went into effect the MurLarkey team saw that there was a shortage of hand sanitizer, which at the time was more coveted than masks. That’s when the team pivoted their model and began producing hand sanitizer in their distillery to serve first responders and health care workers. Due to their initial rush to help, the first few batches were stored in Ziploc bags, but the presentation did not matter—in fact, the team was met with cheer. As the pandemic continued to rage on, MurLarkey kept producing hand sanitizer (now in 4oz bottles) and giving it away to anyone in need. Now that is what community, care, love, and true American values are all about; being inventive, and standing up to help others when needed.
MurLarkey went on to produce over 3,000 gallons of W.H.O. formulated sanitizer which served not only its own town, but neighboring communities and counties, helping everyone from healthcare networks to schools and churches. Given that the sanitizer was produced and most of it was given as a donation, the team was simply acting out of the goodness of their hearts and the calling of civic duty. “We’re honored by this award and hope our efforts helped those we donated to in some small way,” expresses MurLarkey’s Co-Founder and CEO, Thomas Murray, adding: “We would also like to thank the Prince William County Emergency Operations Center for their support in helping us source some of the raw materials needed to produce sanitizer to the W.H.O. specification.” With the major draw of supporting small, ethical, and “good” businesses, over major corporations, especially after this past year, this most recent award for MurLarkey solidifies the company as not only being the best in flavor, but the best in heart—and if that’s not a sell for turning to their delicious nationally acclaimed spirits, we don’t know what is.
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