The team at Oaklore Distillery has promising days ahead. The award-winning Charlotte-based producer of bourbon and rye whiskey is expanding their facility — with finishing touches on renovations nearly complete.
Up to now, production has been squeezed into a 1,000-sqft building at 11136 Monroe Road in Matthews. Change is on the way.
A newly renovated 6,000-sqft building on 1.5 acres — adjacent to the distillery’s current home on the corner of Monroe Road and NC-51 — will give the team more space to keep pace with production. Amenities include a warehouse, processing, shipping and receiving, a kitchen, and office space.
The building next to Oaklore on the corner of Monroe Road and NC-51 once housed a computer repair shop, a locksmith, and a barber shop built in 1952.
Photo via Oaklore Distilling Co.
“It’s a game changer because this helps us to be able to continue producing at the high quality we’re producing,” said Oaklore co-founder Matt Simpkins who created the local distillery with Thomas Bogan and Travis Masters in 2017. None of the founders are from the Charlotte area, but all fell in love with the Tar Heel State.
“It’s important for us to highlight the beauty of North Carolina,” added Simpkins who added North Carolina holds one of the best environments for whiskey aging in the United States. “We truly have the best of both worlds. It gets cold abnormally and then it’ll get warm again. And we’re able to utilize those temperature changes to get the variants and subtleties out of the wood that we want.”
Expansion comes as demand for the local distillery is only going up. Oaklore Four Grain Bourbon and North Carolina Straight Rye Whiskey are now available in more than 60 bars and restaurants, and more than 50 ABC stores across the state.
Oaklore Distilling Co. hopes to eventually add tours to share behind-the-scenes visits with guests, including how the product moves from barrel to bottle.
Photo via Oaklore Distilling Co.
The next step in the renovation process will involve barrels being moved in for additional aging and eventual processing. Plans for expansion into new counties will move forward once the new production facility is complete, which is expected in the next month.
Simpkins told CLTtoday he looks forward to this next chapter of his distillery serving as a gateway to the community he loves. “We couldn’t be in a better place surrounded by better people.”