Two James Spirits
Our Take
For the first time since before Prohibition, Detroit has a licensed distillery — and it’s a beauty. Two James opened in 2013 in Corktown, the city’s oldest neighborhood, founded by David Landrum and Peter Bailey and named for both their fathers (each a James).
They make everything grain-to-bottle from Michigan ingredients in a 500-gallon copper pot still: the 28 Island Vodka (named for the Detroit River islands that bootleggers used as Prohibition hideouts), Old Cockney Gin, Catcher’s Rye, and Grass Widow, a Detroit whiskey brand they resurrected from the pre-Prohibition days. The stylish tasting room — concrete bar, reclaimed wood, craft cocktails made only with their own spirits — has become a Corktown anchor, and you can take a distillery tour and watch the still do its work. Detroit was once full of distilleries; Two James lit the pilot light again.