Friends Pia Carusone and Rachel Gardner founded Republic Restoratives in 2015 and opened a 7,000-square-foot distillery in the Ivy City neighborhood of Washington, DC, in May 2016. Much of the money came from small backers: a 30-day Indiegogo campaign raised more than $119,500, and the company calls itself the largest crowdfunded distillery in US history. On site it distills Civic Vodka, Assembly and Dissent gins, and Chapmans apple brandy, fermented in Ivy City from Pennsylvania orchard fruit and billed as the first apple brandy made in DC since Prohibition. Its whiskeys are distilled elsewhere and selected, blended and bottled in DC: Rodham Rye blends Tennessee ryes, Madam marries bourbon with rye, and Borough Bourbon is finished in unusual casks. The founders have been open about the sourcing since launch. The company is women-owned and women-led, and many bottles send part of their sales to political causes such as EMILY's List.