U.S. Patent for Method and apparatus for purifying water, potable spirits and essential oils Patent (Patent # 10,561,960 issued February 18, 2020) - Justia Patents Search

The Old Ways Were Never Dead

The people of Pittsfield spent decades trying to figure out G. G. Wilkins, and by all accounts they never quite succeeded. Depending upon who you asked, he was either a brilliant entrepreneur, a shameless self-promoter, a gifted businessman, a troublemaker, or a complete lunatic. The remarkable thing is that every one of those descriptions was probably true to some degree.

Long before marketing agencies, social media influencers, and million-dollar advertising campaigns existed, Wilkins understood something that most businessmen never learn. If people are talking about you, you have already won half the battle. He stamped his name into coins that traveled throughout the country. He promoted himself relentlessly. He built businesses, launched new ventures, fought with competitors, and somehow managed to remain the subject of conversation wherever he went. At Fort Wilkins he even kept a live bear in a cage, ensuring that travelers passing through Pittsfield would have something to talk about long after they continued down the road.

Not everyone admired him for it. In fact, many people openly disliked him. Newspapers criticized him. Competitors attacked him. He found himself involved in lawsuits, controversies, and courtroom battles that followed him for years. Accusations seemed to appear around him like sparks around a blacksmith's forge. There were disputes over liquor. There were allegations involving counterfeit money. There were accusations surrounding a suspicious fire. Time and again his name appeared in headlines and legal proceedings. Yet despite the controversy, despite the criticism, and despite the efforts of those who wanted him gone, G. G. Wilkins remained one of the most recognizable men in Pittsfield.

That is what fascinates me about his story.

Most businessmen spend their lives trying to avoid controversy. Wilkins seemed to walk directly toward it. Most businessmen try desperately to fit in. Wilkins appeared to have no interest whatsoever in fitting in. While respectable merchants quietly operated their stores and disappeared into history, Wilkins built a reputation so unusual that people are still discussing him more than a century after his death. The bear became a legend. The counterstamped coins became collectibles. The court cases became local folklore. The accusations became stories passed from one generation to the next. Love him or hate him, nobody forgot him.


The same stubborn independence that made Wilkins impossible to ignore is the same spirit that built America's distilling tradition. Long before factories filled store shelves with cheap imported products, craftsmen built equipment designed to last for generations. A good copper still was not something you bought every few years. It was something you handed down. It was a tool, an investment, and in many cases a livelihood.

That philosophy still guides everything we build today.

At Fort Wilkins we specialize in handcrafted copper moonshine stills, whiskey stills, bourbon stills, water distillers, essential oil stills, and custom copper distillation equipment. Every still begins with real copper because copper remains the finest material ever used in distillation. It heats evenly, removes sulfur compounds, improves flavor, and performs exactly the way generations of distillers intended. While others chase shortcuts and cheaper materials, we continue building the way craftsmen have for centuries.

Our patented Flame-Flow™ technology was born from that same refusal to accept the ordinary. After years of watching distillers waste propane, fight uneven temperatures, and scorch perfectly good mash, we decided there had to be a better way. The result was a design that directs heat through the body of the still itself, allowing fire to work with the still rather than against it. The result is faster heat-up times, greater efficiency, and better performance from every batch.

Perhaps that is why the story of G. G. Wilkins feels so appropriate today. He was never interested in doing things the conventional way simply because everyone else did. He challenged assumptions, ignored critics, and built his own path regardless of what others thought about it. Sometimes that approach brought success. Sometimes it brought controversy. It almost always brought attention.

Today, the fires still burn in Pittsfield. Copper is still being shaped by hand. New ideas are still being tested. New equipment is still being built. The spirit of American craftsmanship remains alive, even if much of the world has forgotten it.

The old ways were never dead.

Most people simply stopped looking for them.