Too sweet to be true? Last year, “The Avengers” actor Jeremy Renner celebrated his recovery from a devastating snow plow accident by announcing his new role as co-owner of Sweet Grass Vodka, a Charleston-based craft distillery touting its use of locally sourced potatoes.
But less than a year later, the actor has distanced himself from the business as its founder gears up to file for bankruptcy, and investors and creditors seek to recoup losses through legal channels, according to a report by The Post and Courier.
Sweet Grass was launched in 2019 by Charlston entrepreneur Jarrod Swanger and Chicago native Brian Friedopfer. Its craft vodka hit the market in 2020, making its way into Total Wine stores in the Southeast; by the following year, the product was moving through distributors in six states and attracting investment from New York-based InterContinental Beverage Capital.
A Sweet Grass-branded lounge where the founders hosted events, tours with Renner, and Swanger’s social media posts of a luxurious lifestyle painted a picture of a brand on the up. Plans were underway to build a second location, a state-of-the-art craft distillery and bottling plant in Charleston’s Brewery District. But behind the scenes, individual stakeholders began inquiring about the health of their investments, with many of them never receiving their money, according to the report.
Scrutiny of Sweet Grass increased in March after the South Carolina Department of Revenue reportedly notified Swanger that he hadn’t filed his state income taxes in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and did not have liquor liability coverage. That same month Swanger’s liquor manufacturing license, along with permits to sell on-premise alcohol were denied by the state. The state’s Department of Labor is also investigating Swanger for allegedly withholding payment from his employees.
In addition, the brand’s sourcing claims began to crumble after its alleged supplier farm denied ever selling potatoes to Swanger. Instead, according to a dozen sources, the team bottled liquor distilled from neutral spirit grains like corn, wheat, barley or rye by a third party, which was proofed down with filtered water in a backroom of the Charleston lounge. Contract distilling itself is not uncommon, but appears far from the brand’s stated promise: “It starts on the field, where hardworking families grow the potatoes that eventually will become Sweet Grass Vodka,” read a press release in 2023.
Last month, Swanger hired a bankruptcy lawyer, and the landlord of the bottling facility said that Sweet Grass’s lease had been terminated in April, according to the report. The company’s website is “under maintenance.” Several investors and creditors have filed lawsuits.
As for Renner’s involvement: the actor was reportedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars and promised an equity stake in the company, but received his first scheduled payment late and never received the second. All associations of the brand have been wiped from his social media.
BevNET has not received a response to a request for comment from Sweet Grass Vodka.