Since launching his restaurant Billy’s in Barrington, Bill Dessel has always taken an innovative approach to the food on his menu, sourcing fresh, healthy ingredients from local farmers' markets and fish from local purveyors.
But when it came to liquor, all he had to offer was the same-old vodka or whiskey, and some of the more "exotic" flavors — like cotton candy — just didn’t seem to meet the definition for "healthy" or "fresh."
Around this time, Bill’s old college buddy Tom McGowan moved back into town, ready to open a bar called Keel. The two realized the name would be much better suited for vodka, and their new company took off from there.
Keel Vodka is a lighter, healthier vodka that is gluten free and has zero carbs, zero sugar and only 58 calories per serving. The vodka is also only 23.8 percent alcohol, compared to most brands that contain 40 percent.
"When we started Keel, our goal was to make it the best possible product and we wanted people to know what was in it. We wanted to be really transparent.”
“These different brands were dropping off these wild vodka flavors that didn’t seem that great for you, and we just started thinking there must be better way to make vodka that is lighter and more refreshing,” Dessel told Rhode Island Inno. “We wanted something we would drink; something our customers in Barrington would drink, kind of like the light beer of vodka concept.”
Ready to create the next big vodka brand, Dessel and McGowan then had the daunting task of finding the right distillery. When they started looking in 2012, the craft spirits distillery movement hadn’t exactly taken off yet, making the selection very limited.
The two would eventually stumble upon a boutique distillery out in Eastern Idaho that had been making some high-end vodka brands.
The man running the distillery told Dessel and McGowan that the optimum quality of taste in alcohol was really at 23.8 percent. After that, the taste begins to overpower the palate.
It took another year and a half to obtain the necessary permits for a license to distill the vodka and for the Keel label. During this process, Dessel and McGowan were determined to put a nutrition label on the bottle, a rare thing for a vodka brand to do at the time.
“The government was like, ‘Why?’” said Dessel, who said the company would eventually succeed with the nutrition label. “Other manufacturers really don’t want you to know how many calories, how many carbs and how many sugars are in their drinks. When we started Keel, our goal was to make it the best possible product and we wanted people to know what was in it. We wanted to be really transparent.”
While preparing for the launch of Keel, the duo added their third partner to the team, friend and former New England Patriots offensive tackle Matt Light, an engineering major from Purdue University who had a deep interest in startups and running a business.
“Matt embodies the overarching spirit of Keel,” said McGowan. “The world is busier and busier and we all have tons of responsibility, yet we all want to have a lot of fun. The concept of Keel, the healthier choice and the lighter option, allows you to go out at night, have a few cocktails and have your fun without sacrificing the next day.”
Since launching in 2013, the company has come a long way. The team has been amazed by the support they have received in the Ocean State and hopes to duplicate the following they have built in other states.
Keel has already made waves in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire, and now the team is moving into more adventurous markets like Denver, Colorado; Austin and other parts of Texas; Atlanta, Georgia and parts of Florida like Tampa Bay, West Palm Beach and Miami.
Sales are doubling and in some cases tripling in some of these new markets.
While Dessel and McGowan are focused on growing sales, they also see Keel as much more than just a vodka company.
Not only are they considering expanding into other lines of alcoholic such as gin or a sparkling can drink, but they also see Keel as a brand, a platform and lifestyle for people and millennials.
“We consider ourselves the vanguard of this moderation movement happening across spirits,” said McGowan. “Once you see a Keel product, it goes across the whole spectrum.”
