New whiskey distillery and restaurant planned for 14th and U

The ranks of D.C.’s locally made booze keep growing, with a third distillery in the planning stages.

District Distillery recently sought approval to open a combination distillery and restaurant at one of the city’s hottest intersections, 14th and U streets NW, according to plans submitted to the D.C. Zoning Administrator. The concept would encompass more than 7,000 square feet at 1414 and 1418 U Street, formerly home to Coppi’s Organic and Utopia restaurants, respectively.

The distillery and tasting area would be located on the ground floor, with the majority of the restaurant and bar — with more than 100 seats — located on the second floor.

District Distillery would be allowed to serve its whiskey in its own restaurant as well as distribute to other establishments through a wholesaler, as long as it distributed less than 50 percent of the whiskey it produced, according to a letter from D.C. Zoning Administrator Matthew Le Grant.

There’s a District Distillery Facebook page created in 2013 describing the business as one that would bring “the heritage of Mid-Atlantic rye and the traditions of Kentucky bourbon together to provide the modern drinker with a small craft whiskey to take pride in.” The company’s logo riffs on the D.C. flag, showing its red bars and stars with whiskey barrels in place of the stars.

I’ve emailed the contact on the website and reached out to the distillery’s attorney and will provide an update when I learn more.

District Distillery would be the fourth distillery in the District. New Columbia Distillers — the producer of Green Hat Gin — opened in 2012, liqueur producer Don Ciccio & Figli launched in 2013 and One Eight Distilling is hoping to open its doors in Ivy City in the next few months.

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