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Copper Run Distillery is under new ownership, with Keith Hock and Jason Iacobucci taking over the Walnut Shade-based business. Copper Run personnel pictured is, front row from left, Jenny Bruton, Lois Hock and Keith Hock. Pictured in the back row, from left, are Brandon Moore and David Burley.
Photo provided by Copper Run Distillery
Copper Run Distillery is under new ownership, with Keith Hock and Jason Iacobucci taking over the Walnut Shade-based business. Copper Run personnel pictured is, front row from left, Jenny Bruton, Lois Hock and Keith Hock. Pictured in the back row, from left, are Brandon Moore and David Burley.

Copper Run Distillery changes hands

Posted online

Following through on a conversation with employees at Copper Run Distillery LLC late last year, customer Keith Hock is now co-owner of the Walnut Shade-based business. Hock partnered with Jason Iacobucci to buy the assets of Copper Run on July 27 from Jim White and founder Jim Blansit. The purchase price was undisclosed.

Hock and Iacobucci are making their first foray into the beverage industry, with both planning to maintain their full-time jobs and residences – Hock with Ameren Corp. (NYSE: AEE) in St. Louis, and Iacobucci, founder and president of PowerRunner LLC, an energy software and consulting firm in New Hampshire.

The new owners bought the trademarking, intellectual property and assets, such as equipment. The building and land remain owned by the Blansit family, who is leasing it now for an undisclosed rate over three years.

“It was an amicable changeover in that respect,” Iacobucci said, adding the deal leaves White and Blansit cleared of an undisclosed amount of business debt. “They walked away with a fresh start.”

Blansit said moving on from the business he founded in 2009 wasn’t a difficult decision. There was a little nostalgia, but he already had walked away from day-to-day involvement in 2017.

“Without the passion to move forward, it wasn’t fun anymore,” he said, noting he remained connected with the business for licensing purposes.

Peak years
Copper Run sells small-batch whiskey, rye whiskey, moonshine and rum.

Wholesale and retail sales peaked in excess of $500,000 in 2014 and ’15, according to the new owners.

While revenue dropped in recent years to an undisclosed sum, Hock and Iacobucci expect Copper Run to return to its top sales volumes within 24 months under their care.

“We think that’s achievable. The product and the name are solid and the employees are solid,” Iacobucci said. “They are attached to the Copper Run brand and name and whole business – to me, that was as big a factor as anything.”

Hock and Iacobucci established Copper Run Enterprises LLC to run the business.

Up next, Hock said, is a single-barrel, limited run bourbon scheduled to debut at a special event at the distillery in September. Hock said they’ll release only 300-350 bottles.

Within the next month, Iacobucci said the business website will be updated – something he noted doesn’t appear to have been done in years. The owners also plan to reinvigorate distribution relationships over the next six to 12 months they believe have been neglected in recent years.

Currently, Copper Run is on the shelves at area Hy-Vee, Macadoodles, Brown Derby, Price Cutter and Harter House stores, as well as in two dozen bars and restaurants.

Hock said they intend to research distribution expansion to areas such as Lake of the Ozarks, Jefferson City and St. Louis.

Change of the guard
As he exited in 2017, Blansit began helping his sister, Lori White, develop an 80-acre plot of family-owned land near Copper Run into A New Leaf Retreat and Campgrounds. With a fall opening planned, the siblings are creating hiking and horseback trails, camping areas, a music stage and gardens. A New Leaf will specialize in group retreats, offering yoga and meditation, as well, he said.

Blansit said he’s known Hock and his wife Lois since 2011, when they first visited Copper Run as customers.

“I think the business is in good hands and I think they have an opportunity to do something special with it,” Blansit said.

While he resides in St. Louis, Hock said he’s regularly visited the Ozarks since the 1970s, and his family currently owns a home on Table Rock Lake near Big Cedar Lodge. Hock said he got to know Blansit, his family and the small but devoted staff at Copper Run seven years ago.

“We’ve had a relationship with them for years as customers, so we’ve gotten to know them, which is nice,” said Brandon Moore, Copper Run’s general manager.

Hock also got to know the product.

“I enjoyed the whiskey so much that about a year and a half ago, I got into their barrel program,” he said. “I bought a barrel and went through the whole process of making the whiskey myself.”

During some of his visits, Hock said he would chat with employees, including Moore, and expressed an interest in one day investing in a distillery. Moore, who has worked at Copper Run since 2010, was among those Hock conversed with in December 2017, when the potential acquisition was introduced. 

It would be a couple months later before White and Blansit learned of Hock’s interest. In the meantime, Hock decided to visit with Iacobucci, who he had known for about eight years through business dealings. 

“I have a very high regard for Jason’s business sense and just common sense in general. He’s a really highly intelligent guy,” Hock said. “I value his opinion on almost everything, but certainly on those kinds of things.”

He asked Iacobucci what he thought about the idea of buying a distillery, with the full expectation of hearing he’d be an idiot to try something like that.

“Instead, he said, ‘Hey, that sounds like a good idea.’ So, I was kind of back on my heels,” Hock said. “But I thought let’s think through this and if tomorrow we still think it’s a good idea, then let’s pursue it.”

That led to the two visiting Copper Run in March to meet with Blansit and tour the facility.

“There’s a lot of good things they’ve done and continue to do, including the products,” Iacobucci said.

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