Just like the other business owners in Freeport village, Luke Davidson and business partner Fred Farber have endured the slow times of early and midwinter.

Now, only two weeks from March, the owners of Maine Craft Distilling on Mill Street are ready to welcome more customers. FreeportUSA’s Flavors of Freeport couldn’t have come at a better time. Maine Craft Distilling, one of a slowly growing number of liquor distilleries in the state, will dovetail with Flavors of Freeport with a grand opening, from 5-9 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21. Davidson’s mixologists will offer free samples of high-end liquors, made mostly from barley grown in Aroostook County, and entertain their guests with live music.

Maine Craft Distilling has been on Mill Street for two months, and now Davidson, who lives in Freeport, and Farber want to kick it up a notch.

“Flavors of Freeport has been wonderful to us,” Davidson said. “They came to us with all these great ideas. We’re the newbies. We’re excited. The Rosemont Bakery from Portland is catering it, and we’re going to have a live band, Ethos, which plays modern bluegrass. My brother, Perrin Davidson, plays in the band.”

The establishment offers Alchemy Dry Gin, Black Cap Barley Spirit, Blueshine (a blueberry moonshine), Chesuncook Gin, Fifty Stone Whiskey, Queequeg Special Rum and Ration Rum.

Maine Craft Distilling makes its liquor in Portland, and transports it from there to Freeport.

Davidson, a former carpenter, said that Maine Craft Distilling is one of eight distilleries in Maine. Not unlike the craft beer movement that preceded it by two decades, craft distilling caters to people with discriminating tastes, and who appreciate a product made locally and with local products.

“We wanted to get in on the wave of the foodie movement,” Davidson said. “Craft brewing is a real boon to the Maine economy. Craft distilling is coming right on the heels of that. It allows you to have a cultural piece of the region. We’re close friends of them. We’re close cousins of the craft brewers.”

Davidson and Farber wanted to be in Freeport.

“I understand the value of Maine’s top retail exposure. I talked to (Economic Development Director) Keith McBride, who found this space for us.”

At the Maine Craft Distilling tasting room, a customer can have a small drink for $4.

“They’re a sample cocktail,” Davidson said. “They’re not a cocktail. The state does have laws around that. We keep it to a half-size pour, which is three-quarters of an ounce.”

Davidson, 44, grew up in Jefferson, and attended Lincoln Academy. He and his wife, Kim, were living in Boston, where he was working as a carpenter, when they moved to Freeport in 1997.

“I wanted to not be a carpenter anymore,” Davidson recalled. “Fred Farber and I decided to try something new.”

Maine Craft Distilling employs seven people at its Portland location, and three in Freeport. Lucas Ainsworth, who might be called a bartender in other establishments, is a mixologist at Maine Craft Distilling. The 24-year-old Portland resident, who went to Freeport High School, obviously likes what he does.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Ainsworth said. “This is probably the best job I’ve ever had. I love our products.”

Just as Davidson’s business is becoming established in Freeport, tastes are changing in the liquor scene. Whiskey has regained popularity, and Maine Craft Distilling offers two kinds of gin.

“Gin is an old-school drink,” Davidson said. “It’s gaining in popularity. We take unique products and make our own variety of gin.”

The stools at Maine Crift Distilling are made from tractor seats, and the de?cor definitely is rural Maine, with a stack of wood on one of the shelves.

“We are a farm-to-flask distillery,” Davidson said. “We are about the farm. Maine barley truly does make a unique spirit.”

They even make booze out of carrots.

“Distilled carrots is a sort of gin,” he said. “It’s called Botanical Spirit.”

Ainsworth doesn’t just pour drinks. He also is doing community outreach with videos he creates, and he’s going to help renovate the upstairs, which will feature a bar that, unlike downstairs, will offer craft beer. Davidson is working on his liquor license.

“We’ll call it the Husband’s Perch, for food and drink, while the wives shop,” Davidson said. “It will be a public house. We’re putting the ‘public’ back in the public house. The taps are going to be voted on every year.”

Maine Craft Distilling is open 11 a.m.-7 p.m., seven days a week. Davidson anticipates that the Husband’s Perch will stay open a little later.

“I’ve had many people come in and say, ‘Are you guys going to stay open later?’”

Lucas Ainsworth, mixologist, left, and co-owner Luke Davidson look forward to Maine Craft Distilling’s grand opening Feb. 21. Davidson says craft distilling caters to people with discriminating tastes. Staff photo by Larry Grard