The Whitetail Story. How We Started Crafting Premium Alternatives
What started with helping smokers quit cigarettes led me to spend two years testing every leaf imaginable to create something unprecedented - a premium, handcrafted tobacco alternative that actually works.
I never set out to disrupt the tobacco industry. Back in 2007, I was just a guy selling items on eBay, making daily trips to our local post office in Johnson Creek, Wisconsin. But a chance conversation with the postmaster changed everything. She mentioned two guys who came in daily, shipping multiple small packages, who needed help. Those guys turned out to be pioneering the first American-made vaping liquids, before most people even knew what vaping was. Little did I know, that conversation would lead me down a path to helping thousands quit tobacco through premium, handcrafted alternatives.
Within two years of joining that small vaping company, we were making e-liquid for most of the major e-cigarette companies and I had worked my way up to Chief Product Officer. We were getting daily emails from people describing how our products helped them quit smoking when nothing else worked - not patches, not gum, not prescriptions. But I knew we could help more people, especially those trying to quit chewing tobacco. The problem was, vaping didn't translate well for dip users. They needed something different.
When big tobacco came knocking with a buyout offer, I saw my chance. I took my exit and spent the next two years in my home lab, testing every natural leaf imaginable. The early versions were horrible - just ask my brother who was my main taste tester. We tested everything – taste, texture, lip feel, buzz, and even packability. Finally, after countless revisions, we hit on something special. My brother's exact words were "It's perfect. Don't change a thing."
Today, eight years later, we're still handcrafting every batch in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. While we've grown into our fourth facility, our process remains the same. I personally oversee every batch that goes out our doors. We're not interested in mass production, big machinery, cheap ingredients or cutting corners. Our focus will always be on hand made, premium quality, small-batch craftsmanship, and helping people quit tobacco with products they can actually trust. We control every step of the process, in house… leaf to lip.
Our competitors think the only way to make alternatives is to job out production, or even worse… have it made overseas. But we're proving them wrong every day, one small batch at a time. If you're ready to try a premium, handcrafted alternative that actually works, click the link below to check out our website.