Small batch, exceptional #whiskey and #gin handcrafted to perfection using seeds and flowers from the cannabis sativa (hemp) plant. sono1420.com

Connecticut’s newest distillery timed its debut open house for Sunday, Feb. 3, the 100th anniversary of the state declining to ratify the 18th Amendment authorizing Prohibition — with its whiskey and gin blends including ingredients derived from hemp.

SoNo 1420 American Craft Distillers is located in a stand-alone building at the new 19 Day Street development of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, located a few blocks south of South Norwalk’s restaurant row on Washington Street.

Founder Ted Dumbauld built the distillery after experimenting with hemp-based whiskey recipes, with SoNo 1420 planning weekend hours of 12-5 p.m. going forward. Dumbauld told Hearst in 2017 that the idea occurred to him while attending a cannabis industry conference in Kentucky.

With degrees from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and the MIT Sloan School of Management, Dumbauld spent a career on Wall Street and  running a Connecticut financial firm called Trident Advisors. He became aware of the new FDA rules on hemp during a period when he was an investor in and subsequently CEO of Curaleaf, which sought to create a medical marijuana dispensary in Simsbury.