Michigan-based Traverse City Whiskey Co. officially broke ground on the future site of its new whiskey production facility, in Traverse City.

The company’s rapid growth has exceeded its current distilling capacity, which resulted in a portion of its annual production to be outsourced to out-of-state partners. The new distilling campus in Michigan will enhance the company’s current production facilities and tasting room located at 201 E. 14^th St. in downtown Traverse City, which has become a popular destination for tens of thousands of area residents and visitors since 2012.

Set on 35 acres of land in the countryside, the new facility will accommodate every step in the whiskey production process (mashing, fermentation, distillation), allowing the company to significantly increase production of its portfolio of premium whiskeys and bourbon, to as many as 24,000 barrels of whiskey each year. Part of the property will also be dedicated to growing grain to be used in the company’s various distillations. The facility will also help to meet increasing demand for TCWC’s portfolio of products, which includes its Premium Cocktail Cherries and Cocktail Crate craft mixers.

The 70,000-square-foot campus, which will be built in partnership with Mathison Architects and Erhardt Construction, will feature a state-of-the-art traditional rack house, dedicated processing and packaging spaces, administrative offices, a visitor center and tasting room, and indoor and outdoor hospitality spaces. The new facility will also create approximately 100 new jobs for the surrounding community and afford TCWC the ability to support other Michigan distillers in need of capacity for their own growing brands.

“We’re thrilled to break ground on this incredible new facility which will allow us to expand operations and exclusively produce our award-winning whiskey right here in our hometown of Traverse City,” Chris Fredrickson, Co-Founder and President of Traverse City Whiskey Co., said in a news release. “Our new headquarters will be an all-encompassing campus that will provide a unique immersion in whiskey culture and industry and will add a new experience to the thriving Northern Michigan agritourism industry. It will provide numerous jobs and attract new and returning visitors to our beautiful region. We can’t wait to welcome our friends into our new home.” 

Known as the “Whiskey of the North,” the 100% family-owned craft whiskey company produces straight bourbon and its signature cherry whiskey which have become top selling craft whiskeys statewide and across the U.S. The team draws upon its early family roots in the distilled spirits industry dating back to the late 1800s, sourcing all their grains (corn, rye and malted barley) from the Midwest. The distilling team, led by Chris Fredrickson, Jared

Rapp and Moti Goldring, makes an award-winning portfolio of quality products, inspired by patented distilling techniques invented by Fredrickson’s great grandfather that were approved by the US PTO during the prohibition era. In 2018, TCWC introduced its Premium Cocktail Cherries which have grown to be the leading premium cocktail cherry nationally, sold in all 50 states. In 2019, TCWC acquired Cocktail Crate premium craft mixers and opened its first tasting room in Metro Detroit: The Outpost, in Ferndale.

Traverse City Whiskey Co. products are available via the brand website and at on- and off-premise establishments in more than 30 U.S. States.

For more information, visit www.tcwhiskey.com.

(Renderings courtesy of TCWC.)