Spirits · Three Oaks, Michigan
Journeyman Distillery
Organic grain whiskey made inside a restored 1880s Michigan factory.
- Founded
- 2011
- Founded by
- Bill Welter
- Based in
- Three Oaks, Michigan
Making it since
2011
Their story
Bill Welter grew up in Valparaiso, Indiana, expecting to run the family bank. When the bank was sold, he went another direction, traveling and working in distilleries to learn how spirits are made before coming home to build his own.
In 2010 he bought the old Featherbone Factory in Three Oaks, Michigan, a building E. K. Warren put up in 1883 to make buggy whips and corsets from featherbone. Warren was a prohibitionist, which makes the building's second life a little ironic. Journeyman opened there in the fall of 2011.
The factory's past shows up on the shelf in names like Last Feather Rye and Buggy Whip Wheat Whiskey. The distillery has since grown its production and added a second site, The American Factory, in Valparaiso.
How it's made
Journeyman works with organic grain from Midwestern farmers, stored in on-site silos and milled at the distillery. The range covers rye, wheat and bourbon-style whiskeys plus a single malt made from 100 percent two-row malted barley.
I bounced around distilleries learning as much as I could about manufacturing spirits.
Why we carry them
We like Journeyman for its organic Midwestern grain and the history baked into every label. Start with the Last Feather Rye for an easy introduction.
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