Tattersall Distilling closing Minneapolis cocktail room at the end of 2024

It's been a roller coaster of an ending for one of Minneapolis' first distillery taprooms, and now Tattersall Distilling announced Monday that it will leave its original location at 1620 Central Av. NE. at the end of the year.

The move comes on the heels of accusations of unpaid rent, halted eviction proceedings, a wave of local taproom closures and chatter surrounding the high-profile drinkmakers.

In a statement to the Star Tribune, Tattersall co-founder Jon Kreidler said: "In early January of 2024 it came to our attention that the rent payment we had made did not go to our landlord due to its IT system having been hacked. Both Tattersall and its landlord are still trying to recover the paid rent, but we have resolved and ended the eviction process and have agreed to continue moving forward with our existing lease while still pursuing the missing funds through authorities and insurance."

Kreidler told Mpls.St.Paul magazine that Tattersall was wiring rent funds to a fraudulent account.

As part of the deal between Tattersall and its landlord, Tattersall also agreed to leave the space when its lease expires at the end of the year. But Kreidler told the Star Tribune that Tattersall will be looking for other Minnesota options for its cocktail room and distillery (it also operates a distillery, cocktail room and restaurant in River Falls, Wis.).

Tattersall Distilling opened in Northeast in 2015, led by Kreidler and noted Twin Cities craft cocktail leader Dan Oskey. The two established the cocktail room in the revamped warehouse space as a destination for drink aficionados, where all of the spirits and cordials were made on-site.

The bar was often packed, with affordable and creative cocktails on the menu. The distillery expanded its footprint within the building in 2016, and eventually added event space, using every inch of room to age barrels and experiment with special-run collaborations, like local beers aged in whiskey barrels.

Their products with the distinctive plaid labels spread to bars and liquor stores beyond Minnesota and quickly grew in popularity. With national distribution of spirits like gin, rye, rum and aquavit, the distillery was soon butting up against Minnesota's caps on small company alcohol sales.

When the pandemic hit, Tattersall, like many local distilleries, shifted to making hand sanitizer, while many of its bar staff were laid off during the mandatory shut down of 2020. Workers voted to unionize, eventually winning recognition as the first unionized distillery in Minnesota.

In 2021, the distillery shifted primary production to the new, massive River Falls site that also included a full-service restaurant, cocktail room, event space and a gift shop where visitors were allowed to buy full-size bottles of their spirits, something not allowed in Minnesota.

At the time of that announced shift, Kreidler said the company had no plans to leave its original site. "Minneapolis will always be the heart and soul of Tattersall," he said.

Tattersall's product line kept expanding in River Falls, including the addition of canned cocktails, and the Minneapolis location continued to draw cocktail fans to the taproom.

But earlier this year, the distillery's Minneapolis landlord filed an eviction case alleging that Tattersall Cos. hadn't paid more than $120,000 in rent, real estate taxes, late fees and other monthly expenses since August 2023. At the time, Kreidler said, "It appears that our landlord's IT system was hacked and caused issues for the landlord in receiving our payment."

Now begins the long Minnesota goodbye to the groundbreaking Northeast cocktail room. In his statement, Kreidler went on to say, "We look forward to making the most of our 10th and final year in our original home and are excited to see what the future brings."