One Eight Distilling in Ivy City was the second distillery to open in DC since before Prohibition and released the first completely made-in-DC bourbon in decades. Now, though, owners Alex Laufer and Sandy Wood are calling it quits—the latest in a string of local distillery closures. Their District Made brand of whiskeys, gins, and vodka will be available through March 31.
Laufer says “a million different things” contributed to the decision, which has been a long time coming. The distillery hasn’t been filling new barrels for the last two years, and the tasting room hasn’t been open regularly since September. Laufer is currently the only employee.
Among the issues: foot traffic to the Ivy City tasting room has dropped off dramatically since the pandemic. Pre-Covid, 200 to 300 people might drop by on a Saturday. The last Saturday Laufer worked, only six people came in all day. “We’ve seen a lot of businesses leave Ivy City. I think that just the explosion in Noma, Union Market has stopped people from going any further east,” he says.
More broadly, though, Laufer says it was difficult to compete with the mega corporations that dominate the industry with their massive marketing budgets for giving away product, merch, and influencer trips. He says One Eight struggled with its own marketing: Initial bottle designs were too delicate to get noticed, and expensive rebrands never successfully told their story. “I think there is room for the small nano distillery—I would certainly do that again,” says Laufer, who hopes to stay in the spirits industry. “But I would not try to be a mid-sized craft distiller. I don’t think there’s success in that avenue.”
The decision to focus primarily on whiskey was also very expensive, given the time needed to age the spirit. Laufer, the head distiller, insisted on sourcing local heirloom grains and corn, making production even pricier. “It didn’t feel right to buy commodity corn that’s used for animal feed and high fructose corn syrup production, and that’s what most bourbon is nationally,” he says. “One of our downfalls, I think, was spending too much on our ingredients and not buying the commodity cheap stuff. It just wasn’t what we are.”
The spirits won numerous national awards, but that didn’t always translate to sales: “I think there’s only one or two other gins that are ranked higher than our barrel-rested gin. It’s our worst seller,” Laufer says.
Wood, a former immigration attorney, and Laufer, who previously worked in the biotechnology and neuroscience fields, launched One Eight in 2015. It came fresh off the heels of Green Hat Gin maker New Columbia Distillers, which was the city’s first modern distillery and helped change DC laws to allow on-site tastings and direct sales to customers. One Eight started out with vodka and white whiskey then released its Rock Creek Bourbon in 2017. The distiller’s portfolio of bourbons, ryes, and gins grew over the years, including more experimental, small-batch “Untitled” creations.
As business took a hit in the wake of the pandemic, One Eight tried to find investment, then looked for a buyer. But ultimately, the landlord wants to sell the building. Laufer says they still have more than 1,360 barrels—about $3.5 million worth of spirits—that they’re trying to rehome. For individuals who just want to grab one last bottle, online ordering will be available through the end of March and retail visits to the distillery are available by appointment only.
The closure is just the latest piece of bad news for Ivy City’s distilling scene. In early 2020, New Columbia Distillers was acquired by mega-spirit company MGP Ingredients, which shut down the DC facility in 2022 (but continues to sell the Green Hat Gin brand). Two weeks ago, another Ivy City distillery and tasting room, Bo & Ivy, announced that it will be closing at the end of March. The military veteran owners had taken over the stills of Jos. A Magnus just a few years ago after that distillery moved operations from DC to Michigan in late 2020.
One silver lining: rum distiller Cotton & Reed will be moving into Bo & Ivy’s facility to expand its production. It will continue to produce some rum in Union Market too, but will focus more on its cocktail bar. Cotton & Reed says they’ll also offer barrel warehousing services in the 12,800-square-foot Ivy City space, so other local brands have a place to age their spirits too.
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
