Co-Owners Melissa and Lee Katrincic announced plans for Durham Distillery’s craft cocktail bar—Corpse Reviver. “Since opening the distillery in 2015, it has been our goal to showcase our Conniption gins in cocktails, but ABC restrictions have prohibited us from doing so; approval of this bill changes everything, and enables us to celebrate our brand in the fullest and most experiential way,” says Melissa Katrincic. “Corpse Reviver is a natural complement to our award-winning Conniption Gin brand and distillery, and will provide an opportunity for us to bring our premium Conniption Gin to life, just as other distilleries have done across the US.”
The passage of Senate Bill 290 on July 16 marks an historic milestone for distilleries in North Carolina, now enabling cocktails to be served at distilleries, therefore also making it possible for distillers to operate a bar in addition to the distillery. “We’ve been lucky to be a part of the downtown Durham scene for four years but it’s been in a limited capacity,” says Lee Katrincic.
These antiquated laws restricted Durham Distillery from not only operating a cocktail bar, but also from serving their signature canned cocktails during weekly Friday and Saturday distillery tours. Effective in September, tours will sample their newest Conniption Gin Rosé Spritz, as well as Gin & Tonic and Cucumber Vodka Soda released in 2018, in addition to their flagship Conniption American Dry Gin and Navy Strength Gins, as well as Cucumber Vodka and Damn Fine Liqueurs. This, coupled with the lifted restriction for the number of bottles which can be sold each year per customer further enables Durham Distillery—and soon, Corpse Reviver – to be a destination for discovering premium gin in the South.
Durham Distillery’s Corpse Reviver will be located on the ground floor beneath the distillery with an entrance and outdoor patio facing the historic train trestle. This will enhance Conniption Gin in a craft cocktail bar setting, modeled after the luxe, modern gin bars of London. Named for both the classic gin cocktail, Corpse Reviver #2 – composed of gin, absinthe, Cointreau and lemon juice—and its’ basement setting located in a former coffin shop, Corpse Reviver is designed to showcase Conniption Gins at their best. Art deco style, high end finishes and martini carts will lend to intimate social gatherings around this celebrated spirit. Corpse Reviver is slated to open in early 2020 as an extension of the award-winning Durham Distillery brand.
