We opened our doors in 2017 with a simple mission: to make damn good spirits and to have a damn good time doing it. Dozens of awards and a few hangovers later, we’ve gained a reputation far across the state. We love sharing our spirits with friends far and wide, but we’re most proud of being a neighborhood staple in our favorite place in Texas: Deep Ellum.
Deep Ellum Distillery is lead by owner and founder John Reardon, who’s no stranger to the industry. Our team of misfits has a passion for working hard and playing hard too. Located in the former Spirits Liquor Store building, we are creating spirits and keeping the spirits of Deep Ellum alive. As a founding member of the Texas Whiskey Association we are committed to producing quality products and helping educate consumers along the way.
With a rough and tumble past and a rich history that spans from Henry Ford’s Model T to Nirvana, Deep Ellum has always been a haven for visionaries, outcasts, miscreants and oddballs. One of the city’s first commercial districts to welcome African Americans and immigrants, Deep Ellum became a hotbed for early jazz and blues, with its pocked streets and narrow alleys dotted with domino parlors, seedy bars and secret clubs. Nightly, artists including Blind Lemon, Leadbelly and Lightnin’ Hopkins stomped and howled to growing crowds as their songs spilled from tiny stages out into the streets.
Today the bars, cafes, artist spaces and juke joints that defined Deep Ellum’s first heyday have resurfaced, making our home like nowhere else in Texas. Vibrant murals blend with industrial grit to form a dynamic neighborhood blending music venues and creative studios with restaurants, breweries and bars. Today’s Deep Ellum is a perfect evolution of the district’s original spirit— a vibe that artist Frank Campagna described as “creative harmony with a dash of perfect mayhem”.
