Writer: Stephanie Maxwell Newton Photographer: Mandy Jayne
Delta Dirt Distillery takes a family farm in Helena to new levels
When Harvey Williams first heard the idea of turning sweet potatoes into vodka, he was intrigued. “I started thinking, Is that really possible? Can that be done? Can I create a business model out of that?” he recalls. A native of Phillips County, he had always intended to return to Helena and work with his father farming land that had been in the family for four generations. His career took off in another direction that led him to Tampa, Cincinnati, and Chicago, among other places, but all the while, he was looking for that thread that could bring him home. It was his brother, Kennard, who planted the seed. “He had been to a vegetable farming conference in 2016. I remember him coming back and sharing about all these things they were doing with sweet potatoes in other states—and one of those things was making vodka,” Harvey says.
Harvey visited distilleries, joined the American Craft Spirits Association, and read everything he could about the distilling process before buying a test still. Within a year, he’d purchased the building in downtown Helena that would become a production facility and tasting room.
After several years, what is now known as Delta Dirt Distillery was ready to release its first product: Sweet Blend Vodka. “When you taste it, most people are expecting the harshness of vodka—either the burn in the throat or the chest as it goes down. But you don’t get that from our vodka,” Harvey says, noting the sweet potatoes impart earthy notes and a floral aroma reminiscent of tequila. The smooth taste has not gone unnoticed. In 2024, Delta Dirt Distillery took home the platinum medal from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, one of the most prestigious honors in craft distilling. Soon after, they added Tall Cotton Gin to the lineup, followed by the first of their Arkansas Browns, a sweet potato-based take on a brown liquor. “We can’t call it bourbon or whiskey because we use sweet potato spirits, but it goes through the same process and meets every other definition of being a bourbon,” Harvey says. There are currently two Arkansas Browns in the line-up: Sweet Roots, a 96-proof that features Harvey and his wife, Donna, on the back label, and Deep Roots, a 106-proof whose label honors Harvey’s grandfather, UD Williams, who purchased the farm in 1949.
The family-forward nature of their story continues today. All three of Harvey and Donna’s children are involved: Donavan oversees operations while Thomas, who was the first to go to distilling school, now handles sales and marketing. Their daughter, Tahara, works remotely by answering customer service calls.
“This business is not strictly based on the local community coming out and buying bottles or buying drinks,” Harvey says. E-commerce was immediately part of the equation, and now their products are sold in four states, with four more being added to distribution in 2026. For Harvey, he hopes others might see the success of Delta Dirt in Helena and be inspired to follow suit and across rural Arkansas. “You can manufacture somewhere like this and then sell anywhere, as long as you have a strong, stable Internet connection,” he says. “We have world-renowned, award-winning products produced here, and that surprises people a lot. They’ll buy it sometimes for what it says on the side of bottle—Helena, Arkansas—which shows, I’m proud of where I’m from, and I’m taking this back to show people where I live now that, hey, this is made in my hometown.”
“This is our farm. This is our land. Our family.”
—Harvey Williams, Delta Dirt Distillery
Sweet potatoes are planted on the Williams’ farm in June, grow through the summer, and are harvested in the fall. Now 100 percent of the sweet potatoes from the farm are used for Delta Dirt Distillery.
Photos of farm and sweet potatoes, courtesy of Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism
