Clean Spirit.
Fast Results.
Internal Consumption Only.
How to Enjoy
End of the day.
Start of the night.
A quick,
clean start.
Pack light.
Stay ready.
Small. Strong.
Reliable.
Keep it
close.
| Proof | 104 (52% ABV) |
| Format | 50 mL |
| Type | Neutral Spirit |
| Origin | Richmond, BC |
| From | BC Wheat |
Clean. Unyielding. Functional.
In the 1940s and 50s, George Hartley Jr. of Jasper, Alberta, was carrying out distillation experiments in tunnels he had dug beneath the town. Working with a custom-built still, his focus was simple: produce the purest alcohol possible.
He came from a long line of distillers. His father, George Hartley Sr., was the first Presbyterian pastor in British Columbia and, at the same time, a moonshiner. The family had left the United States during Prohibition, looking for more freedom and a quieter life in Canada.
Hartley Sr. was known for his obsession with juniper. Hartley Jr. took a different direction and became focused on purity. Over time, he refined a process that produced high-potency, exceptionally clean alcohol.
That alcohol had another property. It was highly flammable.
At some point, he began experimenting with it as a fuel. He converted an early-1920s Dodge pickup to run on alcohol. Around town, he was known for demonstrating that the truck could run on water. What he was pouring into the tank looked like water, but it was his distilled alcohol.
Jasper winters being what they are, getting an engine started was not always straightforward. Hartley carried a small bottle with him to prime the carburetor when needed.
That bottle is the origin of FAST START 104.
Alongside it, he developed a higher-proof neutral spirit, now produced as Proof Beyond. FAST START 104 came out of the same work, a slightly less volatile product that was easy to drink at a high alcohol level and practical to carry.
Small-scale production continued within the family through the 1960s. The packaging from that period set the tone for what you see today: functional, direct, and built to communicate purpose without explanation.
At some point, production stopped.
The reasons were never formally documented. What remained were the formulas, the equipment, and the knowledge, passed quietly through the family.
For a number of years, FAST START 104 was simply not available.
The rights to the formulas and methods remained within the Hartley family. After years of discussion and no clear direction, the decision has now been made to produce them again.
FAST START 104 is based on that original work.
The current packaging reflects both the original design language and the period in which it was last produced. It is not a recreation. It is a continuation.
George Hartley Jr. is widely recognized as the basis for the character Fraser McKillop in John McLay's On Mountaintop Rock (2001). The setting, the vehicle, and the personality align closely with how he was known in Jasper.
A 1920s Dodge pickup, weathered and practical, was exactly the kind of vehicle associated with him. It remains part of the local history.
There are still aspects of Hartley's work and life that are not fully understood, even within the family. What is clear is the outcome: a set of formulations built around purity, strength, and practicality.
FAST START 104 carries that forward.
The Evidence Behind The Legend
Local accounts often claimed that George Hartley’s truck could run on water. The idea persisted for years and became part of Jasper folklore.
Contemporary reporting tells a different story.
When the vehicle was examined after leaving the Hartley estate, there was no indication that it had ever operated on water. What observers found instead was a complex system of fuel storage, ignition, and modification that did not align with conventional gasoline engines.
What Hartley was working with was exceptionally pure, high-proof alcohol.
Clear and colourless, it could easily be mistaken for water. In demonstrations, that distinction was not always made.
What mattered to Hartley was not how it appeared, but that it worked.
FAST START 104 comes out of that same approach: high purity, high potency, and practical use.
Contemporary reporting documented Hartley’s modified Dodge and the strange mechanical systems that baffled even antique auto experts.
The article described a vehicle with unusual fuel systems, ignition modifications, and claims that local talk had confused with water-powered operation.
George Hartley Jr. was known throughout Jasper as an eccentric inventor and experimenter. In the 1950s, he reportedly dug tunnels beneath his property where he carried out distillation and engineering projects.
Decades later, municipal work uncovered evidence supporting long-standing local stories about the underground passages.
Distilling, experimentation, and unconventional engineering were part of the Hartley story long before FAST START 104.
The formulas, techniques, and knowledge passed quietly through the family for generations before returning to production today.
It all started in the garage. Simple. Honest. Built to get your motor running when it mattered most. No frills. Just results.
We went bigger. Brighter. Louder. A new decade, a new attitude. Same formula. More presence.
Performance took center stage. Cleaner design. Sharper lines. Built for speed. Trusted by racers.
A sharper, more modern identity for a new generation of machines. Same trusted additive. New era of engines.
Clean. Technical. Purpose-driven. We focused on what matters most — getting your motor running.
Pushing limits. Maximum performance. Built for extreme conditions and high-octane lifestyles.
Time tested. Customer trusted. We've returned to our roots because the original formula never left. The legend continues.