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In 2014, three friends, Chris Palmisano, Kyle Kettering, and Brian Idelkope, decided to throw their collective baseball caps into the distillery ring. Thus began two years of jumping through legal and logistic hoops and lots of dreaming, planning and engineering, all while working full-time jobs and spending what time was left with their young families. It’s been a long road, but after receiving a liquor license from the City of St. Louis Park in mid-October, Copperwing Distillery and cocktail room are just about ready for the masses. The micro distillery and cocktail room at 6409 Cambridge Street shares a building with Warehouse Winery, whose grapes are utilized in a few of Copperwing’s spirits.
The idea may have been born out of the trio’s love of whiskey, but Copperwing is also producing a vodka, vermouths and other specialty liqueurs, along with a very young whiskey distilled from bourbon mash (not technically a bourbon because of it’s young age) in barrels crafted from Minnesota grown oak. Eventually, the team plans on a rye and a corn whiskey as well, but for now, Copperwing is sticking with the classics in the products, while adding some oomph to the cocktail program with the help of oomph guru Jason Westplate from Big Watt Bev Co.
The window-less, cozy (as in around 50 seats max) cocktail room will be the first in St. Louis Park, who just last December passed an ordinance needed to clear the way for such additions.
According to Copperwing’s website, the cocktail room construction is complete and Copperwing Distillery will be opening its doors to the public in early 2017.
