DULUTH — Duluth Whiskey Project Owner and CEO Kevin Evans is busy wiping the dust from oak barrels containing batches of the bourbon he laid seven years ago.
“My wife, the poor thing, bought me a home-brewing kit 25 years ago, and that's how this all started,” Evans said. “We moved to Duluth, and she says, ‘OK, how long 'til you make money?’ I told her, ‘12 years.’”
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Evans is making good on that promise to his wife, Colleen Evans, who has worked as a gynecologic oncologist at Essentia since moving to Duluth in 2013 while Evans pursued his whiskey distilling dream.
“She’s been very supportive of me because this has not been a money-making scheme,” Evans said with a chuckle. “Her handle on Instagram is actually ‘whiskey financier.’”
The couple met while attending St. Olaf College. After serving in the Marine Corps for five years, Evans returned to college to earn a Master of Business Administration degree.
Although Evans had established a career in finance, corporate life wasn’t his cup of tea (or, his shot of whiskey). So Evans quit his job to begin focusing on his true passion.
At the time, the “Surly Bill” was being passed, which dropped licensing fees for distilling from $30,000 to $1,000 a year and allowed breweries to sell alcohol where it is made. Craft distilleries and taprooms began popping up statewide.
Before coming to Duluth, Evans reached out to then-Mayor Don Ness to inquire about starting a distillery in 2012. Ness suggested he meet with the Vikre family, who had a distillery project also gaining momentum.
“I connected with Joel and Emily and told them I'd love to collaborate, and just went to work helping them get that started,” Evans said.
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Over the next five years, Evans worked closely with the Vikres as he gained knowledge about distilling and eventually began using their equipment to lay down bourbon of his own.
In the meantime, Evans crafted Uff Da! Vodka for distribution, as well as Duluth Whiskey Project’s young, flavored whiskeys (which don’t require aged bourbon).
“I did those for the first year, always with the passion for doing an appropriately aged whiskey,” Evans said. “It's finally that time. Bourbon is turning seven, it's about ready to come out to prime time.”
A limited amount of Duluth Whiskey Project’s seven-year bourbon will be released each week at the distillery once the lounge is open and sold statewide through C&L Distributing.
There are 30 barrels of bourbon total to be released in phases, currently ranging in maturity from three to seven years.
In addition to flavored whiskey, bourbon and vodka, Duluth Whiskey Project has plans to offer gin, rum and agave-based spirits.
“We're going to have the capacity to be pretty experimental,” Evans said. “Minnesota has more peat than just about anywhere in the world. One of my goals is to try to get to a point where we can make a malt whiskey that's peated and aged appropriately. It ages really fast, too, which is kind of a bonus.”
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After honing his brand from Vikre Distillery in Canal Park for several years, Evans is ready to pour into the next step of his business venture: a brick-and-mortar location.
Duluth Whiskey Project’s new restaurant, cocktail lounge and distillery is anticipated to open in the Lincoln Park Craft District by year-end. It is located at 2224 W. Superior St. in the building shared with the On The Limit embroidery and screenprinting business.
In this endeavor, Evans has recruited the help of friends, Ryan King, who will serve as general manager, and an eight-year Navy veteran, Max Butler, who will be the sales director.
Duluth Whiskey Project is working on a limited release of "challenge coins" and will offer veterans a 10% discount.
“We're working every one of our entrepreneurial muscles in our brain,” Evans said. “We have to.”
King moved to Duluth in 2013 and started a CrossFit gym where he and Evans first met. Two years ago, he signed on to help manage the Duluth Whiskey Project’s front-of-house.
“I just keep telling Kevin, you just make the whiskey with a pretty face and I'll take care of everything else,” said King, who has enjoyed the interior design aspect of the build-out.
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Once the 3,500-square-foot future cocktail room and lounge are complete, there will be seating for up to 102 people in the front lounge, with the distilling equipment in the back. The atmosphere will be a mixture of rustic lodge-meets-speakeasy with nailhead Chesterfield sofas, leather furniture, a fireplace and chandelier.
Duluth Millworks will supply reclaimed wood sourced from Superior’s 1893 Globe grain elevator for the bartop, beams and flooring. The decor will also give a nod to the area’s history with black-and-white photos, tied in with modern elements such as TVs to watch sports and a music stage.
Having met Evans six years ago after nearly a decade in the hospitality industry, Butler will be charged with creating the cocktail menu.
“We're looking to appeal to everybody,” said Butler. ”We have a wide range of products top to bottom, whether you want the super-fancy martinis or you just want a whiskey Coke.”
Butler said if he were a drink, he’d be a poor man’s margarita, with just a shot of tequila and a splash of sour.
“I’m half Cuban, so that probably ties into my heritage a little bit there,” he said.
As for King, he’d be a vodka grapefruit. “Something simple,” he said.
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Then there’s Evans, who would be an Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond. “Standard, super great whiskey," he said. "Very ‘you know what you’re getting,’ and it’s delicious.”
The drink menu will feature Duluth Whiskey Project’s three flagship bourbons, flavored whiskey, Uff Da! Vodka and a variety of cocktails, with alcoholic, non-alcoholic and THC options as well.
The food menu ranges from $7-$15 with sharable options such as wings, charcuterie boards, sausages, mac n’ cheese, cupcakes and pizza popovers.
King estimates there will be 10-15 full-time employees and a few part-time bartending and serving positions.
However, their priority is getting the stills running, Evans said, which he anticipates will be by early March. In the interim, smaller stills will be used to meet the 50% threshold required for products made on-site.
“Eventually, Phase 2, we will expand and potentially take over more of the building,” Evans said. “Get a proper whiskey factory going, some big steam-powered stills — kind of like you see down in Vikre. Then, the sky's the limit at that point.”
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