Mammoth Distilling staff said they have obtained 200 kiwi plants from a Michigan State alumni turned kiwi grower in Washington. Mammoth Distilling

CENTRAL LAKE, MI – A Michigan spirit maker is going the extra mile to create a unique product in the future.

Mammoth Distilling announced it is in the process of planting a kiwi orchard with the long-term goal of creating a kiwi liqueur and kiwi-infused vodka for the market by 2025.

The company launched in the Northern Michigan community of Central Lake in 2016 and now has six locations in the state, including a tasting room in Grand Rapids that opened in late 2023. Mammoth also has locations in Traverse City, Bellaire, Bay Harbor and Adrian.

“Not all kiwi is from the tropics,” a news release said. “Like us, you are probably surprised to learn that kiwi could be grown in Michigan at all. Turns out that there is a unique and hardy variety called “Michigan State kiwi” which have adapted to survive in harsher climates than the tropical fuzzy variety we are all more familiar with.”

The kiwis are smaller and less dense, a little juicier and have no fuzz. Mammoth staff said they have obtained 200 of the kiwi plants from a Michigan State alumni turned kiwi grower in Washington.

Mammoth staff said they plan to use his vines to start a small orchard in Central Lake.

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