Wilmington and whiskey: More local distilleries expanding their lines
Wilmington’s distillery scene is still relatively young. End of Days Distillery recently celebrated its third-year anniversary and Blue Shark Vodka has been gradually increasing its brand’s footprint since they sold their first bottle in 2019. But with new spirit-makers opening just last year, there’s still a lot of room to grow.
And they are, by adding bourbons and whiskeys. EOD started this local brown-spirit boom and released its second batch of the Survivor’s Cut bourbon in November. Now, look for more from Wilmington makers.
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Wilmington Distillery’s Regulator
Matt “Chewy” Karn is the distiller behind Von Vodka and IZZYz Rum. In January, he and his wife Nicol Karn hosted a release party at the distillery at 12 Dock St. in downtown Wilmington for this blend. Karn is working on his own in-house aged spirits but because that is a time-intensive process, he's also partnering with the distillery business of a longtime family friend in Minnesota. The Regulator is his own creation, though one that is mostly bourbon with a small percentage of whiskey. He's got more in the works, too, like a berry moonshine and apple brandy.
Momentum Distillery’s Rye Whiskey
Hunter Ford, who recently opened Momentum in the Cotton Exchange at 318 Nutt St. in downtown Wilmington has also been adding more options from gin to limoncello. Earlier this month, he introduced his Rye Whiskey. He is also working with a third party for the base product, one created to his specifications. But he is doing an additional aging with a Brazilian hardwood onsite.
Ford, who also started the Momentum Surf and Skate shop, is keeping with the theme of using surf-inspired art for the bottles. Meanwhile, he is also aging other spirits onsite, and has introduced his signature North Carolina-shaped vodka bottles into coastal ABC stores.
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Stede’s Reserve
Before they started selling Blue Shark Vodka, the Bloomquist family were also working on other spirits, including those from new sister company Hacienda Chactun Tequila. They’ve also been aging a limited bourbon release for six years. It has a bit of Lumberton peaches, too, for subtle fruit notes. It's also from a sister company, Pirate Rums, said Bloomquist, a former Seagram's executive. It's a nod to the rich pirate history of the Carolina coast, he said.
Lately, he's also been working on Blue Shark's TAP program where a staff mixologist creates a signature drink to be submitted to the state’s ABC board for approval. So far, they have such cocktails in Stoked in Carolina Beach, Elijah’s in downtown Wilmington and Jimmy’s and Lumina Resort in Wrightsville Beach. The latest is a partnership with S.C.-based chain Vicious Biscuit to be in all of their locations. And, yes, an aged rum from Barbados is coming in 2024.
Allison Ballard is the food and dining reporter at the StarNews. You can reach her at aballard@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington distilleries are adding bourbons and whiskey
