Northern Latitudes Distillery holds grand opening, Oct. 24
Photo: Mark and Mandy Moseler proudly hold their new sign.
From staff reports
The wait is over in Lake Leelanau.
Northern Latitudes Distillery will hold its long-awaited grand opening at its new location on M-204, just east of the village of Lake Leelanau (7150 E. Duck Lake Rd.), on Friday, Oct. 24, from 12-7 pm. Northern Latitudes staff invite the public to “come raise a glass in our beautiful new space—built for friends, community, and great spirits.” Business hours going forward will be 12-7, Monday-Saturday, and 12-5 pm on Sunday.
“We’re elated. It’s so much fun to be able to finally share this place with everybody,” said co-owner Mandy Moseler (pictured here with husband Mark). “We’ve been working so hard for so long.”
Mandy describes the new location as big and airy, with tall windows, a big bar and plenty of room. The building is 11,800 square feet. Northern Latitudes’ previous location in the village was approximately 5,000 square feet.
“We finally have a production area that fits our needs and will allow us to broaden our product list of drinks. Now we have a designated barrel room. We’ve been aging a gin in Serbian juniper wood. We only have so much of it because our space was limited. The sky is the limit now.”
Mandy’s husband Mark and their son-in-law Martin Holst are the distillers; their daughter Zoey is in charge of distribution. Shawn Botruff, a longtime Northern Latitudes employee who has also worked in food service for 25 years, is the operation’s new chef. Botruff will offer a rotating menu of shareable items, small plates, soups and salads.
“That’s super exciting for us,” said Mandy. “People haven’t been able to have a plate of food with us before in our previous location.”
Northern Latitudes held a soft opening last weekend.
“It was so fun to finally have people in here. We have worked so hard for so long, and finally sharing it with people who really care about the company and us was amazing. We offered a buffet of food. Mark and Martin did personal small tours of every room in the place.”
The distillery will offer live music on Fridays (Loose Change plays on Oct. 24), as well as a Halloween party the following weekend. Follow their Facebook page for details.
Northern Latitudes’ Suttons Bay location at 310 St. Joseph Street—next to the red British phone booth—remains open, 9 am-7 pm, offering free tastings, cocktails and bottle sales.
