Taxpayers’ cost of drinking whiskey and rye: $2 million

Michigan taxpayers gave $2 million to Mammoth Distillery to help the company create a new whiskey recipe. The business will purchase and redevelop Pugsley Correctional Facility, which was permanently closed in 2016.

The 2025 state budget conference report (p. 115) said the money will go toward “the redevelopment of a former corrections facility in Grand Traverse County into an agricultural tourism hub.”

Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse City, whose district includes the company’s address, told CapCon told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email that she did not request the funds. The budget does not indicate which legislator made the request.

Crain’s Grand Rapids Business in July identified Mammoth Distillery, owned by Chad Munger, as the recipient of the $2 million state grant. Munger, it said, is working with farmers to grow Rosen Rye, a cultivar that was once grown in Michigan.

Munger did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Farmers stopped growing Rosen Rye around 1950. Mammoth Distillery provides a timeline of the crop’s history in Michigan on its website. Trevor Tkach, president of Traverse City Tourism, told Crain’s that agritourism is crucial to the area.

There are approximately 50 wineries in the region, according to Traverse City Tourism. This number does not include distilleries, breweries, and cideries.

The company plans to purchase the long-closed Pugsley Correctional Facility and develop the property, which is currently owned by the Grand Traverse Band of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians.

Munger expected to close on the purchase by Sept. 15, Crain’s reported. Munger did not respond to an email seeking comment. The Grand Traverse Band did not respond to an email inquiry about the possible sale. Grand Traverse County responded to a Freedom of Information Act request by saying it had no information on Mammoth Distillery.

Mammoth Distillery was also awarded $62,572 in June by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The company would use the money ”for blending and packaging equipment to increase its processing and production capacity,” according to a state press release.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer mentioned Mammoth Distillery in a COVID-era press release. In it, she said the company had shifted its operations to manufacture and distribute hand sanitizer to health care professionals.