Freeport, ME – Maine Distilleries, LLC, of Freeport, Maine, in coordination with family-owned Green Thumb Farms, Inc., of Fryeburg, Maine, is proud to announce that the 2012 Cold River Warm Hearts program, which ran during the first quarter of 2012, has made possible a donation of 8,000 pounds of farm-fresh Maine potatoes (over 20,000 servings) to food banks across New England this fall.

These potatoes, fresh from harvest, will be delivered to The Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn, Maine, The New Hampshire Food Bank in Manchester, New Hampshire, the Greater Boston Food Bank in Boston, Massachusetts, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts in Hatfield, Massachusetts, and the Rhode Island Community Food Bank in Providence, Rhode Island during the first two weeks of December 2012.

Maine Distilleries is also pleased to announce that the Cold River Warm Hearts program, an effort to raise awareness of hunger and food insecurity in New England, will be run once again during the first quarter of 2013. Sales of the three Cold River products across New England are expected grow substantially during the first quarter of 2013, and Maine Distilleries looks forward to making another sizable donation of farm-fresh Maine potatoes from Green Thumb Farms at the time of the fall harvest in Fryeburg next year.

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Uniquely positioned in the vodka and gin market as 100% gluten-free, farm-to-table, and hand-crafted, Maine Distilleries hopes to heighten consumer awareness of its award-winning American-made spirits through this 2012 potato donation and its continued close work with its brokers and distributors in its key markets.  Additionally, in launching the 2013 Cold River Warm Hearts program in January of 2013, Maine Distilleries looks forward to making this charitable giving an important company tradition.

Following the 2010 launch of its newest product, Cold River Gin (awarded 90 points in the 2011 Ultimate Spirits Challenge), the Cold River products have seen significant growth across their major New England markets.  The company’s flagship product, Cold River Vodka, has seen tremendous critical praise since its 2005 launch.  It was awarded a double gold medal at the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, garnered an auspicious 5-star rating (“Highest Recommendation”) from renowned spirits guru F. Paul Pacult in 2008, was awarded a double gold medal at the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America Convention in 2009, and was named the best vodka in the world by Wine Enthusiast Magazine in December of 2009.  Most recently it was named one of the top 10 vodkas in the world in the October 2011 edition of The Tasting Panel, and it was awarded a Double Gold Medal in 2012 by The Fifty Best (www.thefiftybest.com/spirits/domestic_vodka).

About Maine Distilleries, LLC (www.mainedistilleries.com, www.facebook.com/mainedistilleries):

Founded in 2005, Maine Distilleries, located in Freeport, Maine, is the brainchild of four talented Maine entrepreneurs:  Don Thibodeau, who owns Green Thumb Farms in Fryeburg, ME; his brother, Lee Thibodeau, a neurosurgeon in Portland, ME; Bob Harkins, a former Sunday River ski executive from Paris, ME; and Chris Dowe, Master Distiller and CEO, from New Gloucester, ME.

Known as a leader amongst American craft spirits, the company’s gluten-free vodkas and gin are hand-crafted and batch-distilled in a copper pot still, using water from Maine’s Cold River Aquifer and farm-fresh Maine potatoes from its own Green Thumb Farms.  The company’s award-winning Classic Vodka, Blueberry Flavored Vodka, and Traditional Gin are currently available at major markets, restaurants, and fine spirits retailers in 26 states, the District of Columbia, western Canada and the United Kingdom.

For further information on Maine Distilleries, LLC, the Cold River products, the Warm Hearts program donation schedule, or to schedule an interview with Sales & Marketing Director Joseph Swanson, please call 207.671.7109 or email joe@coldrivervodka.com.

For more information about Green Thumb Farms, Inc., of Fryeburg, Maine, please call 207.935.3341 or email info@greenthumbfarms.com.