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Townshend’s Distillery to close after five years
US spirits producer Townshend’s Distillery will close next month after the company was unable to afford the “exorbitant cost” of relocating to a new site.
L-r: Head distiller Seth O’Malley and president Matt Thomas with bottles of Townshend’s Spice Tea Liqueur
Townshend’s Distillery, a botanical spirits producer based in Portland, Oregon, announced on Instagram yesterday (27 November) that it would be “ceasing production for the foreseeable future” from 23 December.
The producer said it had begun to “stretch the seams” of its current site in the Brooklyn neighbourhood, which is “no longer suitable for our operations”. As a result, Townshend’s said it is “unable to sustain the exorbitant cost of relocating to a new facility”.
The post read: “Five years ago, we set out on an ambitious journey to create a unique portfolio of spirits, created from and inspired by our love of tea and botanicals. We took a step into the unknown, carving our own niche in the spirits world, featuring novel and unusual ingredients, and using an unprecedented production method.
“We found a community of adventurous folks who were willing to step into the unknown with us and to try new expressions of old world-styles of spirits, unbound by the well-worn path of tradition.”
Townshend’s spirits are made from a vacuum distillation of kombucha. The distillery’s range includes Townshend’s Gin, Townshend’s White Rose liqueur, Bluebird Alpine liqueur, Spice Tea Spirit and the experimental Idle Hands Collection.
‘Unflinching support’
The post continued: “For you who have supported us, we love you and thank you. You watched us progress from a startup distillery with a single black tea liqueur to what we are today: innovators, genre benders, and explorers of a new frontier of botanical spirits.
“Knowing that our products lean toward the esoteric and novel, we are grateful to have found you: the bold, the passionate, the expressive, those with a gaze to the horizon. Your unflinching support was the foundation that made all of this possible in the first place.”
The distillery added that it hopes the closure would be temporary. “This isn’t goodbye; it’s simply a ‘see you later’. At this moment, we go into the wilderness, to look for new investment, search for a new home, and stoke the fire that drives our creativity,” the post read.
“We look forward to the future when we are able to reopen and once again continue to explore what could be, instead of what has always been.”
Townshend’s Distillery will continue to welcome guests to its tasting room and events throughout December for “one last drink together and to help stock your cellar”.