A new place to enjoy locally-made craft spirits is now open in southeast Grand Rapids!

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Eastern Kille Distillery Opens New Cocktail Bar EK Wealthy

Earlier this summer, we shared with you that Eastern Kille Distillery planned to open a new tasting room on Wealthy Street.

Well, it's here!

Eastern Kille shared to Facebook that EK Wealthy is open as of Friday, Sept. 1.

Opening hours will be Monday through Thursday 4p.m. to 12a.m. and Friday through Sunday 4p.m. to 2a.m.

Last month the distillery shared the progress on the new cocktail bar.

I gotta say, I'm loving the color scheme and it looks like a cool place to grab a drink!

Eastern Kille first opened at 700 Ottawa Ave NW back in 2016 as "Gray Skies Distillery". After a trademark dispute with Skyy Vodka the GR distillery renamed itself "Eastern Kille" ("Kille" is middle-dutch for “riverbed” or “waterway”), which is in reference to their location off in the Monroe North neighborhood, on the eastern bank of the Grand River.

And now the award-winning distillery has opened the new tasting room, EK Wealthy at 634 Wealthy St. SE. The other half of the space is occupied by Rowster Coffee Inc.

EK Wealthy accommodates 36 to 48 people and will have a "different vibe" than the distillery's original location; Eastern Kille co-owner Brandon Voorhees told MiBiz:

Some of my favorite businesses reside (on Wealthy Street). We’ve always had an eye on that area. We share similar clients with the restaurants, businesses and shops there, so it felt like a natural fit for us as we determine the next steps for Eastern Kille and how we want to grow and how to best serve our clientele.

Eastern Kille Distillery Leaving Grand Rapids Monroe North Neighborhood

As we shared last year, Eastern Kille's Ottawa Ave. location was purchased by Spectrum Health. The health system, which paid $3.5 million for the property, is planning to build a new eight-story office tower in the area.

Eastern Kille, Facebook
Ottawa Ave. location - Eastern Kille, Facebook
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MiBiz reported that Eastern Kille will continue operating on Ottawa Ave. neighborhood through the end of 2022.

After that the plan is to move to 16 acres recently purchased near Rockford, and eventually open an outdoor cocktail garden. But that doesn't mean Eastern Kille won't still have a presence in the North Monroe neighborhood. Voorhees tells MiBiz they are looking into opening a tasting room near the original location:

We love this neighborhood so much. It was the right thing we believe for the city and growth of Eastern Kille to go through with that (sale) to Spectrum, but at the same time we still want to have a presence here in the Monroe North corridor.

Keep up with Eastern Kille's future plans on Facebook and Instagram.

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