A small whiskey distillery including a tasting room may be coming to the Gray’s Mill Estate development in Montgomery.
The Montgomery Planning and Zoning Commission recently recommended approval of a request for a special use for the facility, which would go into the proposed silo at the Gray’s Mill site at 211 N. River St. The Montgomery Village Board may vote on the proposal Monday night.
Gray’s Mill Estate already includes a wedding and event venue, a “speakeasy” bar and game room, a beer garden and more.
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Developer Phil Cullen said the H. H. Shufeldt Whiskey Co. is looking to put the microdistillery into the lower level of the proposed silo at Gray’s Mill along the Fox River.
The distillery would blend and bottle whiskey at the site, according to village documents.
The front portion of the space, including an enclosed deck seating area, would be used as a tasting room which would serve cocktails and flights using H.H. Shufeldt products. It would have a maximum capacity of 20 people, according to commission documents.
The rest of the facility would be used for the blending and storage of whiskey.
The plan is to have the distillery open to the public from 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 to 10 p.m. on Sundays. Special events may be held on other days at the distillery with village approval, according to documents.
The distillery itself would operate from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday for production and to prepare for its public hours.
The silo is to be designed to resemble a lighthouse and will sit along the Fox River, with glass doors and seating facing the river.
Cullen told members of the Plan Commission they are building the silo up so that the bottom is three feet about the 100-year flood stage of the Fox River.
Judy Pochel is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.