Alaskan Vodka Made From Glacier Water

"Sometimes you gotta take a chance in life," Tobi Foster said.

"I put all my eggs in this basket."

Actually, he put all his potatoes in this basket and distilled it all with local glacier water into what he says is a very successful operation -- Permafrost Vodka from Glacier Creek Distillery.

"It's doing 10 times better than I thought it would be doing," Foster said.

"We've been on the market about three months and we're already selling all of our productions."

Part of the marketing strategy involves branding the vodka as a product of The Last Frontier.

"We're just selling in Alaska right now, but we hope to sell down south eventually," distiller Theo Graber said.

It took five years and nearly $100,000 to get to this point.

Vodka connoisseurs -- and yes, they're out there -- will tell you Permafrost has a smooth, almost sweet taste on the palate.

The company has already outgrown its small, backyard shed of a distillery and plans to upgrade to a larger facility.

"You'd be surprised how patriotic Alaskans are towards Alaskan products," Foster said.

This is a top-shelf, premium spirit and sells for $50 a bottle.

Alaska-made products are not always cheaper, but people like what they represent -- there's a good story behind this one.

Glacier Creek Distillery calls itself Alaska's "first and only distillery."

Technically that's true, but back in the early 1990s a company named Alaska Mountaintop Spirits produced locally made vodka called Attakiska.

That used glacier water as well, but instead of potatoes it used grain alcohol.