Phil Casey discouraged any glum faces Sunday as hundreds of visitors stopped in his establishment to mark the last days of Frankfort Spirits.
“We wanted it to be like an Irish wake, where we come and celebrate what we’ve accomplished,” he said. “There are no tears here today. Everyone’s really happy.”
Casey and his brother, Dan, opened the 15th licensed distillery in Illinois in 2014 at the CD & ME building owned by their business partners Dean Vaundry and Chuck Jabaay in Frankfort.
Casey said he and his brother originally wanted to open a microbrewery, but soon realized there were thousands of microbreweries in the country and didn’t like their chances of earning a market share.
So, they specialized in making an aged bourbon called Emil Stimple, named for a prominent German whiskey distiller in the Frankfort area in the 1800s, according to Casey’s research.
Casey also produced vodka and rum at the distillery.
“They have a lot of great events here,” said customer Brian Craig on Sunday. “We always have a good time.”
Customer Helene Craig said the Sunday tastings were always a hit and she enjoyed coming out for Derby Day in May when people dressed up and women wore big hats.
“It’ll definitely be missed,” she said of the establishment.
Sunday’s “last call” included tastings and live music entertainment.
“There’s been an overwhelming amount of support for what we’ve created,” Casey said.
He said the business was doing well and sales had continued to rise., but Casey blames Springfield for forcing him to close shop.
“The regulatory uncertainty … caused us to suspend operations,” he said.
Casey said a bill that has been stalled would have legalized special licenses for small distilleries like his to be able to sell directly retail stores, as microbreweries are able to do, or open his own off-site store.
As it is now, he said he has to sell to a distributor, but a business like his is too small for those companies to take an interest in.
Casey believes lobbyists are against the bill’s passage, especially after seeing what happened with the beer industry and craft beers and not wanting small distilleries to eventually eat into the market.
He said a proposed tax also would increase his burden by 50 percent, so he felt now was a good time to bow out.
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Casey said if laws should change in favor of small distilleries he might consider reopening sometime in the near future.
For now, he said most of the distillery equipment and spirits will be placed in a storage facility.
Frankfort Spirits will remain open until Wednesday and customers have until then to purchase it small batch spirits at 23320 S. LaGrange Road.
Frank Vaisvilas is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.