Joel Kath

Proof Artisan Distillery

Joel Kath was born on November 13, 1961, to Alan and Sheila Kath. Joel has a younger brother named Jay. The Kath family made their home in winter-tough but midwestern-friendly Fargo, North Dakota. From his early years, Joel was steeped in a milieu of engineering and technical work. His father, Alan, held a long career in business systems and copier service. His home environment fostered a respect for mechanical systems, industrial processes, and problem-solving.

Quite naturally, then, as an adult, Joel trained as an electrical engineer and quickly built a parallel career in engineering consulting. He founded a firm called J K Engineers in 2004, and over time, developed expertise in industrial systems, including design work where agriculture meets engineering in potato processing and sugar‑processing plants. Meanwhile, he realized that he had also developed a deep passion for fine spirits, so in about 2009, Joel began following the micro‑distilling movement; he visited a number of tiny distilleries, learned from seminars, and mentally sketched what a craft distillery might look like. Over the next few years, he refined that vision, and by 2012, Kath resolved to go ahead and launch one himself.

In the aughts, planning and licensing any distillery took time. But in the interim and confident in his plan, Kath selected a downtown Fargo location, purchasing and renovating a historic 1920s building that was once used as a Cadillac dealership and later as the municipal courthouse. He ordered a copper still from Germany, which took over a year from fabrication to arrival, and in April 2015, he stood proudly beside it in his still room, preparing for production. Finally, Joel and his team at last secured their domestic distillery license and began operations, marking Proof Artisan Distillery debut into the whiskey and spirits world. Thus, in 2015, Proof began producing North Dakota’s first legal whiskey (and other spirits) since Prohibition.

Though Proof is known for multiple spirits, its whiskey work became a flagship focus. The distillery crafts Glen Fargo American Malt Whiskey and Crooked Furrow Bourbon Whiskey, North Dakota’s first bourbon labeled as such. The name “Crooked Furrow” itself comes from a memory from Joel’s childhood: his grandfather had told him that one could get more yield from a crooked rather than a straight furrow in farming, demonstrating it with a winding string. That imagery became a metaphor for creativity and locality in the bourbon’s name. Proof Artisan’s whiskeys are aged in Minnesotan oak barrels and matured over years, with the maturation interactions in wood adding color and flavor.

In its first years, Proof quickly earned acclaim. Seven months after beginning operations, Proof received two gold medals at the 2015 Spirits Festival in Portland. Over time, the distillery collected over 50 national awards across its portfolio. In 2020, Proof’s whiskey lines (Glen Fargo, Crooked Furrow, Harvest Blend) were added to Brew Pipeline’s national distribution program, expanding reach beyond their home markets.

Kath has involved the family deeply in the whiskey efforts. His brother Jay Kath serves as Master Distiller and operations manager. Moreover, Joel notes that the tasting panel for quality control comprises himself, Jay, and Joel’s sons, Jamison and Jarek, keeping his sons part of the whiskey sensory evaluation. Throughout, Joel has also emphasized the local nature of his whiskeys: all grain (corn, malted barley) is sourced within 130 miles of Fargo; all fermentation, distillation, maturation, and bottling is local. Only the glass bottles depart for external suppliers. 

Joel Kath and his team show without a doubt that great spirits can be made in North Dakota. With rugged, resilient North Dakota spirit, quality ingredients, and family support, spectacular whiskey need not come only from below the Mason-Dixon line.

Sources:

  1. Fargo INC!, “10 Questions with Joel Kath…”, John Machacek, November 28, 2023

  2. Fargo INC!, “From North Dakota to Arizona: How Proof Artisan Distillers Has Played the ‘Local Card’ To Perfection”, September 9, 2019

  3. InForum, “Proof spirits now distributed in Arizona”, Helmut Schmidt, August 24, 2019

  4. InForum, “Proof Artisan continues to thrive as Fargo’s lone craft distillery”, Thomas Evanella, September 30, 2022

  5. Emerging Prairie, “Proof’s Joel Kath explains the magic…”, emergingprairie.com

  6. Craft Spirits Magazine, “Proof Artisan Distillers Expands…” craftspiritsmagazine.com, August 19, 2020

Some photographs courtesy of  Brandy Drake/FargoINC!

Contributed by:

Scott Meske, Bismarck, North Dakota, and Tracy McLemore, Fairview, Tennessee