ROCKVILLE, MD — Nursing homes in Montgomery County, government offices in Frederick County, shipping ports in Baltimore City — they all want to get their hands on Twin Valley Distillers' hand sanitizer.

Amid shortages stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, the Rockville distillery has been turning its high-proof alcohol into hand sanitizer and is selling it to Montgomery County residents who need it — $4 for a four-ounce bottle and $6.50 for an eight-ounce bottle. But now, people from all over Maryland want to buy the sanitizer. "It's a little bit of chaos," Edgardo Zuniga, the owner and founder of Twin Valley Distillers, said in an interview with Patch.

Volunteers Step Up Zuniga says it has been difficult to keep up with demand, even before county government offices, medical practices, and nursing homes started reaching out to him.

Every day, Twin Valley Distillers gets 1,250 gallons of sugar fermentation and dilutes it to become alcohol for the hand sanitizer. The whole process, from barrel to bottle, takes about a week. "It's not like a gel, or gooey stuff that sometimes you find in the supermarket or pharmacy," Zuniga said. "It's more like liquid, so you can use it as a spray."

In an interview with Patch on Friday, Zuniga said he works nearly 24 hours a day to keep up with production.

On Sunday, Zuniga told Patch that he's moved production into the distillery's tasting room — to avoid cross contamination with his spirits — and now has volunteers to help out.

"My kids' friends from school and a parent are volunteering to label the bottles of hand sanitizer," Zuniga said. "Now there's a small assembly line on an L-shape table in the tasting room." With the help of volunteers, Zuniga says it now takes two hours — instead of eight — to label the bottles.