Origins

Mischief Family Roots

In Europe, making spirits and beer for home use is a centuries old practice. Mobile stills journeyed farm to farm, distilling the crops of one family before moving to the next. This tradition traveled here when John Jacob immigrated from Holland in 1929. It was the Great Depression when he traveled West, with his family, to Oregon.  In his small community everyone helped each other get by.  John Jacob would distill a little wheat for one neighbor, a little corn for another but in his journals he said rye was his favorite and he wrote down the recipe he used in his still.  His Rye Field is still there today and his recipe survives in the whiskey that bears his name, John Jacob Rye Whiskey.

Mike Sherlock and his wife Patti (John Jacob’s grand-daughter) started making whiskey in the early 90’s…an offshoot of Mike’s commercial fishing. The Bellingham, WA, fishing group Mike was a part of successfully fished the coast of Bristol Bay. Their fish was high quality, and they had a lot of it, so they attempted to negotiate a better price. The fishing company offered just the tiniest increase. So instead, the fishermen decided to open up a new market in China. That first trip, Mike brought along a little Maker’s Mark Bourbon as a gift to lubricate negotiations.  The Chinese bought their sock-eye and herring roe, but what they really wanted was the whiskey! Well, the fishermen came home to America and tried to buy whiskey to export. Kentucky distillers are a tight-knit group; when a group of Seattle fishermen turned up at their door, they laughed them out of the state! This was long before “Deadliest Catch” made Seattle fishermen famous. But one of the crew from Bellingham knew of a start-up distillery in Canada.  The fishermen invested, bought half of the operation and that started their whiskey making story.

Not very tasty at first, the whiskey got better over time. In the late 90’s they started making the rye whiskey recipe from John Jacob’s journals. Somewhere along the way Mike bought out his partners and has been in the whiskey business  since.  When the craft law passed in Washington, Mike and Patti started Fremont Mischief here in Washington State. But then, that’s another story…

Starting Fremont Mischief

Mischief’s Mike Sherlock and his friend Erik Freeman have one of those frienships punctuated by back & forth verbal jabs and mischievous pranks. It’s not surprising that Fremont Mischief Distillery started with a well orchestrated bit of mischief between these two friends.

Bursting in one day, Erik waved a flyer in Mike’s face. “Fiesta! Sherlock. What’s that mean? Costume Party! It’s for my daughter’s school fundraiser and I want you there. In costume!–Don’t let me down now.” Every few days Erik would chime in with a reminder, “Sherlock! That party is coming up, got your costume yet?” After a month of Erik’s constant chiding Mike was determined not to disappoint.

Not one to do any less than go all out, Mike and his wife Patti were in full regale the night of the fundraiser dinner-party; Mike dressed as a matador complete with montera, tight pants, white knee socks, and embroidered cape. Patti was his Spanish consort. Arriving a bit late, they walked briskly into the room. Some 300 stunned, and slightly bemused guests–each tuxedoed and elegantly dressed for the gala dinner–turned and gaped at the peculiarly dressed couple.

Erik was in the back laughing so hard he almost choked. “I think they must be the entertainment…” Mike overheard one of the seated guests remark. Word quickly spread of the clever caper Erik had played on his friend and everyone had a good laugh. After dinner, the benefit auction began. Among the cruises, cabins and other fun items to bid on was a keg of whiskey, offered by an Oregon distillery. Erik wanted it and Mike bid against him, just to drive up the price. Going, going, gone! Mike won the bid and split it with his good friend Erik. That night Fremont Mischief was born. The friends toasted the evening, laughed a lot and talked about fine spirits. The Washington Craft law had just passed. So, Mike and Erik  journeyed to Oregon to visit craft distilleries.  They left inspired and yet, saw so many ways to improve the entire process from ingredients to bottling. Fremont Mischief may have started with a prank but it soon transformed into a working Distillery, making premium handcrafted spirits and sized to  always meet demand.

Mike is still trying to get even with Erik though…