Opening a micro-distillery wasn’t the plan when Carlo Catucci and his wife went on a Rhode Island brewery tour two years ago. But after seeing the converted spaces, an idea took form.
One of the Pawtucket brewers, Crooked Current, was moving to a bigger site, leaving behind a functioning processing location. “That got us thinking, maybe we could open up a distillery,” said Catucci.
Up until then, his distillery was in the basement and garage at home, where he made homemade whiskey, rum and vodka. Last April, White Dog Distilling opened at the Lorraine Mills, incorporated as CAVE LLC.
The location at 560 Mineral Spring Ave. in Pawtucket includes space for several 50-gallon distilling tanks and a tasting room. The small batches sold on-site include bourbon, rum, white whiskey and flavored moonshines. One of the most popular drinks is a limoncello, a lemon-flavored liqueur, Catucci said.
Business has been so brisk that White Dog Distilling has embarked on an expansion into a larger retail store at the Lorraine Mills.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
