How Michigan's Whiskey Industry Actually Got Started

Michigan's craft whiskey scene looks like a recent trend, but the real story goes back much further, and one specific law is responsible for most of it.

A long dry spell

Michigan banned alcohol sales in 1916, years before Prohibition became national law, and after Prohibition ended in 1933, the state never built much of a legal distilling industry. Licensing rules made small-scale production impractical for decades.

The law that changed things

In 2008, Michigan reduced its small distiller license fee from $1,000 to $100 and allowed distillers to sell spirits on-site without a distributor. The same change repealed an old rule limiting craft distilling to fruit-based spirits only, finally opening the door to whiskey.

The growth since

Michigan had 36 craft distilleries in 2016. That number more than doubled within a few years, and the state is now home to more than 80, according to the Michigan Craft Distillers Association.

Why whiskey specifically took time

Whiskey needs years in a barrel before it's ready, unlike a lot of other spirits that can reach the shelf much faster. Michigan's whiskey scene is still working through that aging curve, which is part of why more genuinely aged, barrel-driven releases keep showing up now compared to a decade ago.

Ask us about the Michigan-made whiskey currently on our shelf. It's a young industry with real momentum behind it.