When history is handmade, that’s when the real magic happens. Detroit City Distillery, located in Eastern Market, creates small batch artisanal whiskey, gin, and vodka using the finest local ingredients sourced directly from Michigan farms. It was this dedication to local that attracted Woodward Corner Market to Detroit City Distillery – and piqued our interest to do a collaboration bourbon whiskey, available exclusively at our market.
A FRESH TAKE ON THE PROCESS
“We try to make what we want to drink. That’s really our only rule.”
In the roaring twenties, Detroit fueled prohibition and an entrepreneurial spirit that didn't follow the rules. A century later, eight childhood friends started a small distillery to make alcohol the old fashion way.
Starting with the best quality ingredients sourced from local Michigan farms, their master distiller crafts their classic spirits from scratch in wooden barrels.
Each bottle is filled in their distillery located in the heart of Detroit, labeled by hand and marked with the aging length of the spirit inside. The result is a drink of distinction made for the revolutionaries rewriting the history of a great American city.
FROM A SINGLE BARREL
The barrel that was bottled was handpicked by our team through a blind tasting earlier this year on a carefully organized Zoom call with our spirits experts at Woodward Corner Market and our sister stores in Grand Rapids and Lansing. There is really no bad barrel from Detroit City Distillery, but we put our palettes together to decide that one was too hot, one had too much butterscotch, and one (barrel no. 4) was just right. This barrel was just coming up on its second birthday, a requirement to earn the name Whiskey Bourbon.
The distillery describes it as a sweet, smoky nose of toasted oak, campfire, and butterscotch. It has a robust body of cinnamon, honey, and new leather. You’ll discover more with each sip, but the finish is spicy and citrus-y with pink peppercorn, toasted hazelnut, and clementine.
The mash bill is 68% corn, 27% rye with 5% specialty roasted barley malts from Washtenaw and Kent counties.
Available now at Woodward Corner Market, Bridge Street Market (Grand Rapids), and Capital City Market (Lansing), our collaboration Bourbon Whiskey was aged for two years before being bottled just a few weeks ago.
BECOMING PARTNERS
Partnering with the Detroit City Distillery is something that the market has wanted since our grand opening in the historic 2020 year. The distillery has been well known for its innovative collaborations with a variety of local makers and creators.
From New Palace Bakery in Hamtramck for Paczki Day Vodka, to Bees in the D for the classic Honey Bourbon finished with honey from beehives on the rooftop of the Whiskey Factory, and even the Detroit Foundation Hotel on their Foundation Gin crafted in collaboration with Chef Tom Lents for the Apparatus Room, the distillery has made in impact and name for itself in Detroit.
With all of the distillery's collaborations, we had to find a way to get into the action and give back to our bourbon-drinking customers seeking a limited edition bottle. Stop by the market and pick-up your small-batch artisanal bourbon whiskey while supplies last, as we guarantee this barrel is too good to miss.