Just ask Victor Harvey, founder of Victor George Spirits, and survivor of a business catastrophe that led to years of recovery.
“It cost me everything,” Harvey says, “like millions of dollars.”
Having launched V Georgio Vodka in 2007, Harvey found himself at the helm of the fastest-growing spirits brand in the state. Formerly a boutique hotel and entertainment entrepreneur, he saw only success on the horizon of his newer venture. Then his attorney and business partner got involved in a Ponzi scheme that triggered the collapse of his company.
“But I was able to build it back and sell it in 2011,” Harvey adds.
The story of his successful rebound efforts and ongoing expansion as one of the first Black-owned vodka companies in America has helped inspire others seeking to launch their own spirits brands. Inspired by the history and determination of Black Floridians, Harvey is also seen as a trailblazer in his own right.
“There is a significant number of people who are in the industry and are attempting to get into the industry, and it’s exciting for me to see that,” Harvey says. “They call me, and some of them I don’t even know.”
Following the 2011 sale of the company, Harvey turned his attention to the business plan that would eventually become the newly branded Victor George Vodka.
“Once I got back in it, in 2017, a lot of things had changed,” Harvey says. “I said we’re gonna start out with vodka because that’s what I knew.”
In just a few years, the COVID-19 pandemic that devastated countless businesses of various types proved fortuitous to the alcohol industry. The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 set off a ripple of corporate investment and redistribution of resources, including “the call to support Black-owned brands,” Harvey says. His product soon expanded from Florida into 44 other states.
In 2022, Harvey bought Palm Beach Distillery, doubling its size and making additional strides toward his overall goal of celebrating the legacy of Black achievers while simultaneously building a legacy of his own. Victor George Spirits recently broke ground on what will become the Victory Building, a 13,000-square-foot facility in Fort Lauderdale. Scheduled to open in time for Black History Month of 2026, the building’s name and location on Sistrunk Boulevard will salute a former landmark in a district that was frequented by Black residents seeking entertainment during racial segregation. The new building will host a cigar bar and the Menage restaurant, where Harvey’s son, Victor Jr., will serve as executive chef.
Harvey’s daughter Jolyn is vice president of marketing for the company, which has 10 employees, including a sales crew, social media team and office staff.
“We run it like a family,” Harvey says of the Fort Lauderdale-based brand.
An Ohio native, Harvey has also come to regard the wider community of Black Florida and its ancestors as family. Victor George’s Fort Mosé 1738 Bourbon Whiskey brand has donated part of its proceeds toward the Fort Mosé Society’s effort to build a replica of the original fort that served as a settlement for formerly enslaved Blacks who fled British colonies in the South. About 100 Africans lived as free residents after surviving the trek through swamps and peril in a route regarded as a predecessor to the northern underground railroad to Canada.
“Our story resonates with that story, because it’s the fight for freedom, right?” adds Harvey.
He’s inspired to succeed as an independent business owner by stories like that of the Fort Mosé residents and their determination to define their future.
“That’s what we’re doing,” Harvey says.
Having secured distribution in Ghana, Harvey says his brand will expand to Africa. Puerto Rico will see a product launch by this spring.
Harvey sees his comeback from the disastrous loss of his earlier spirits brand as reflection of the Black historical achievers who’ve gone before him.
“A lot of what I do is historically driven, and people notice that,” he says. “They ask me about it.”
His response: “I tell them I’m out to make history!”