Watershed Distillery
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Watershed Distillery is a
microdistillery A microdistillery is a small, often boutique-style distillery established to produce beverage grade spirit alcohol in relatively small quantities, usually done in single batches (as opposed to larger distillers' continuous distilling process). W ...
in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
founded in 2010 by business partners Greg Lehman and Dave Rigo. The distillery was the second distillery opened in Central Ohio after
prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
, and Watershed brought to market the first legally distilled
bourbon whiskey Bourbon () is a type of barrel-aged American whiskey made primarily from corn. The name derives from the French Bourbon dynasty, although the precise source of inspiration is uncertain; contenders include Bourbon County in Kentucky and Bourbo ...
in Central Ohio post-prohibition in 2012.Weese, Evan
"Watershed bourbon ready for Halloween debut"
''
Columbus Business First American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...
'', Columbus, 17 October 2012. Retrieved on 29 December 2016.
The distillery offers tours to the public and was the first distillery in Ohio to open a restaurant on-site in February 2017, following the passage of Ohio House Bill 351 in 2016. The distillery offers six spirits:
vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...
, two types of American style gin,
bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...
,
nocino Nocino is a dark brown liqueur from the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is made from unripe green walnuts. The walnuts and the liquor are handled using ceramic or wooden tools (to avoid oxidation) and placed in an alcoholic base. Aft ...
and a bottled Old Fashioned cocktail.


History

Business partners, Greg Lehman and Dave Rigo, began working on plans for Watershed Distillery in 2008. Seeing parallels between the microdistilling industry and the booming craft beer industry, Lehman and Rigo set out to start the first distillery in Central Ohio post-prohibition. On September 1, 2010, Watershed received its official Distilled Spirits Plant license (DSP) from the TTB and picked up the keys to the space on the same morning. The duo began work on the first two spirits they were bringing to market, Watershed Vodka and Watershed Gin, and sold their first bottles to the state of Ohio in December 2010. Due to Ohio being an
alcoholic beverage control state Alcoholic beverage control states, generally called control states, less often ABC states, are 17 states in the United States that, as of 2016, have state monopoly over the wholesaling or retailing of some or all categories of alcoholic beverage ...
, Watershed Distillery was now permitted through an A3 permit to sell bottles through the three tier state system, but they were not permitted to sell bottles on site at their distillery. In Ohio, from 2008 through the end of 2011, only one distillery in each of the three most populous counties (Hamilton, Franklin and Cuyahoga) could hold an A3-a permit. This permit allows microdistilleries to sell their products in an A3-a permitted shop on-site. Middle West Spirits, another microdistillery in Columbus, had applied for and obtained the permit for Franklin County a few months prior to Watershed. In an effort to create change for the industry in Ohio as a whole, Greg Lehman of Watershed Distillery, Ryan Lang of Middle West Spirits and Tom Herbruck of Tom's Foolery Distillery (Cleveland, Ohio), founded the Ohio Distiller's Guild to provide a legislative voice for the state's craft distillers as well as a professional organization that would allow for easier access and sharing of resources and information. Through the guild, legislation was passed in December 2011 that freed up all micro distillers in the state of Ohio producing less than 10,000 proof gallons of high proof spirits annually to qualify for an A3-a permit which allowed them to not only sell bottles on site but also to offer samplings. In October 2015, Watershed announced its plan to quadruple production capacity by adding a new American built still from Headframe Spirits in
Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...
. The new still was installed in June 2016. This announcement came in the midst of efforts by the Ohio Distillers' Guild to once again influence liquor legislation in the state. At the time, both Watershed Distillery and Middle West Spirits, were at risk of losing their A3-a license and the ability to sell bottles on site because they had experienced growth and were approaching the 10,000 proof gallon annual production limit imposed on their businesses by the 2011 legislative decision. Through the efforts of the guild, House Bill 351 was pushed through both the Ohio House and Senate with few objections and wa
signed into law
on June 28, 2016. House Bill 351 also allows Ohio distilleries to open an bar/restaurant by permitting them to apply for an A1A license.


Spirits


Vodka

Vodka from Watershed Distillery was first sold in 2010 and at the time was made from Ohio corn sourced from local farms. The recipe has since changed and the distillers now create their vodka by blending a distillate they make from fresh pressed Ohio
apple cider Apple cider (also called sweet cider, soft cider, or simply cider) is the name used in the United States and Canada for an unfiltered, unsweetened, non-alcoholic beverage made from apples. Though typically referred to simply as "cider" in the Un ...
with their original corn distillate. Vodka from Watershed Distillery is bottled at 80 proof.


Four Peel Gin

Four Peel Gin, formerly Watershed Gin, is the distillery's signature gin. The name was changed late in 2011 discovering another small distiller had a "Watershed Gin" in their portfolio. Four Peel Gin is an American style gin that is known for its citrus-forward flavor. It is made of eight botanicals including orange peel, lemon peel, lime peel, grapefruit peel, coriander, allspice, cinnamon and Juniper berry. Four Peel Gin from Watershed Distillery is bottled at 88 proof.


Bourbon Barrel Gin

Bourbon Barrel Gin from Watershed Distillery is a barrel-aged gin the distillery created by aging their Four Peel Gin in spent bourbon barrel for a full year. They released their first batch of this brown gin in 2012 and it has since become one of their most popular products. Bourbon Barrel Gin from Watershed Distillery is bottled at 88 proof.


Bourbon

Bourbon from Watershed Distillery was first released in 2012 and was two years aged at the time. Current Watershed Bourbon available on shelves is three years aged and the distillery's goal is to eventually have a six-year aged bourbon. They utilize a five grain
mash bill Mash ingredients, mash bill, mashbill, or grain bill are the materials that brewers use to produce the wort that they then ferment into alcohol. Mashing is the act of creating and extracting fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and flavor co ...
(corn, wheat, barley, rye and spelt) and age their bourbon in 53-gallon, char 4 barrels. Watershed Bourbon is bottled at 94 proof.


Nocino

Nocino Nocino is a dark brown liqueur from the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is made from unripe green walnuts. The walnuts and the liquor are handled using ceramic or wooden tools (to avoid oxidation) and placed in an alcoholic base. Aft ...
from Watershed Distillery was first launched in late 2014. The distillers learned how to make Nocino from a local physician who wanted to see Nocino produced commercially in the United States. Watershed's Nocino is a 48 proof, black walnut liqueur made from Ohio grown and harvested black walnuts, Watershed Vodka, vanilla bean, orange peel, cloves, cinnamon and sugar.


Bottled Old Fashioned

Watershed Distillery launched a pre-bottled Old Fashioned cocktail in November 2014. High quality, classic craft cocktails seem to be a growing trend in the industry that distillers are pursuing. Watershed's Old Fashioned is a signature blend of bourbon, orange and aromatic bitters, raw sugar and Ohio
cherry juice Cherry juice is a fruit juice consisting of the juice of cherries. It is consumed as a beverage and used as an ingredient in various foods, processed foods and beverages. It is also marketed as a health supplement. It is produced by hot- or co ...
blended and bottled at 70 proof.


Watershed Kitchen & Bar

In late November 2016, Watershed Distillery announced plans to open Watershed Kitchen & Bar. Watershed became the first distillery in Ohio to open a restaurant under the new law that allows distilleries to apply for the A1A or "brewpup" license in Ohio. The Executive Chef for the restaurant is Chef Jack Moore, formerly of Jonathon Sawyer's The Greenhouse Tavern, and the bar program was run by Alex Chien.Edwards, Erin
"Coming Soon: Watershed Kitchen & Bar to Open by February"
''
Columbus Monthly ''Columbus Monthly'' is a magazine that has been an important and influential voice in Central Ohio. The magazine which was created in June 1975 has a well-earned reputation for tweaking the local establishment, challenging the monopoly daily on ...
'', December 2016. Retrieved on 06 January 2017.


References

{{coord, 39, 59, 31.5, N, 83, 02, 13.0, W, region:US-OH_type:landmark, display=title Distilleries in the United States Companies based in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area American companies established in 2010 Food and drink companies established in 2010 Microdistilleries Food and drink companies based in Ohio Restaurants in Columbus, Ohio