TC Whiskey Co. to Grow

By Craig Manning | Nov. 5, 2022

Northern Michigan’s biggest craft distillery is about to become even bigger. Traverse City Whiskey Co. has announced plans to turn the former Cherry Growers Inc. facility in Elmwood Township into its new headquarters. That $20 million expansion will generate an estimated 100 jobs and is supported by a $750,000 Michigan Business Development Program grant. TC Whiskey has been circling this particular project for quite some time; in early 2020, Chris Frederickson—the company’s president and co-founder—told Northern Express sister publication Traverse City Business News that TC Whiskey had purchased the 31,000-square-foot Cherry Growers property and was in the process of “retrofitting and reviving” the facility. The building will ultimately include space for processing, packaging, administrative offices, and a visitor center/tasting room, as well as significantly expanded distilling operations. Our most pressing question: Does this mean they can make twice as many batches of their Premium Cocktail Cherries? We shall see.