Chicago Distilling Up, Running, and Open

By Richard Thomas

Following in the footsteps of the brewpub — a micro-brewery cum bar — a handful of joint micro-distillery/cocktail bar outfits have started up in the last year or so, combining urban micro-distilling with the mixology craze that has driven the renewed American interest in spirits to such a large extent. Chicago Distilling Company, which opened its doors on North Milwaukee Avenue last month, is the second such outfit in Chicago.

Chicago Distilling is a family operation, run by Victor and Jay DiPrizio, and Jay’s wife Noelle, who claim their great grandparents as Wisconsin North Woods moonshiners. They currently have a white whiskey and a corn-based vodka, and will soon introduce a gin, all made using a German-built pot still inherited from Koval Distillery. The corn-centered white whiskey will have to tide over Chicago-area whiskey fans while the DiPrizos age their bourbon and rye.

“We are open Thursday to Sunday to the public, but working every day mashing and distilling to ramp up our production” explained Noelle DiPrizo. The bar, which sports an industrial, warehouse-like sense of style, keeps appropriate hours, being open until 11pm on Thursdays and Sundays, and to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. To see the distillery side of things, visitors must book a spot on one of the regularly scheduled, $10 tours.