The story of John Pentilla, Finnish Bootlegger

Pentilla Vodka is the story of John Pentilla. Raised in Finland, as a young teenager, he met and later married his wife Edla and made a home on the border between Finland and Sweden. 

The nearby border guards would get very cold at night. So Edla and her sister invited the guards inside for hot cocoa and to warm by the fire. It was convenient for the enterprising John to smuggle his handcrafted vodka from Finland to Sweden and Norway. 

As the popularity of the vodka grew, the authorities started getting suspicious. So John and Edla fled Finland, and came to America, bringing the family recipe.

The brown bear links the past to the present. The bear, Finland's national animal, also known as the grizzly bear, once thrived in the Rocky Mountains where Pentilla Vodka is now distilled with crisp Rocky Mountain waters.