Bill Welter was in the family banking business in Valparaiso, Indiana. But when the family decided to sell the family business, Bill went and lived in Scotland for a few years and developed an interest in distilling.
When he returned home he moved just across the state line, 40 miles away to
Three Oaks, Michigan — because of the friendlier distillation laws — and established
Journeyman Distillery in
2010.
They’re producing small batch,
organic Spirits at the old Featherbone factory. Even though the company is fairly new, the facility is old — from the
130-year-old maplewood floor boards of the factory to the gleaming high-copper content still.
The factory itself was originally a factory built in 1883 for making
“corsets and buggy-whips.” Today they have no less than
nineteen products ranging from a variety of
Whiskies to
Rums,
Vodkas,
Gins, and a handful of specialty Spirits.