Manhattan’s first whiskey distillery in over 100 years open for business By Reuters

(Corrects story from Sept 17 to take away that Prohibition ended over 100 years in the past in paragraph 2)

By Roselle Chen

(Reuters) -Curls of smoke blanket a glass stuffed with bourbon whiskey and ice inside a 28,000-square-foot whiskey distillery within the stylish NoHo neighborhood in decrease Manhattan.

Nice Jones Distilling Co. is the New York Metropolis borough’s first and solely whiskey distillery since Prohibition.

The four-story distillery, which opened final month, was six years within the making and confronted many obstacles getting off the bottom.

“As a way to perceive what distilling is in New York Metropolis, you must perceive the zoning that it takes to be a distillery,” stated Nice Jones Distilling Co.’s mission supervisor Andrew Merinoff, 31. “After a yr and a half of looking, we lastly landed at 686 Broadway.”

Inside the distillery sits a 500-gallon pot made by Vendome.

“The room that this nonetheless is encased in is totally explosion proof,” stated Merinoff. “The air could be sucked out of it in 90 seconds, making it one of many most secure distilling rooms on the earth.”

Though the distilling occurs on website, getting older of the whiskey began at Black Dust in upstate New York 5 to 6 years in the past and can proceed to be despatched to Black Dust for the getting older course of.

“Whiskey undoubtedly is without doubt one of the tougher spirits to make,” stated Merinoff. “This can be a labor of affection.”

Nice Jones Distilling Co. is the brainchild of Juan Domingo Beckmann, chief govt of Jose Cuervo. The distillery features a cocktail bar, restaurant, occasion area and speakeasy.