PHOTOS: Local distillery mapping out next moves as it preps for Mooresville opening

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Murto Made Distillery will ring in the new year with a second location.

The micro-distillery plans to open on New Year’s Eve at 166 N. Main St. in Mooresville. That spot was formerly a bar called Bathtub Gin.

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Murto’s first micro-distillery opened in Huntersville in 2018, with a focus on vodka. A cocktail bar followed in 2019 and helped raise the distiller’s profile. Murto Made now produces vodka, whiskey and bananas fosters rum on its 200-gallon still.

“I’ve always wanted to expand the business,” says Jon Murto, founder. “I don’t want Murto Made to be the vodka distillery when we can have a lot more things up our sleeves.”

He’s teamed up with Justin “Z” Zalewski on the 1,800-square-foot Mooresville project, which will focus on hand-crafted gin.

A 50-gallon hybrid still sits front in center in the storefront window on Main Street. Murto Made’s small-batch gin has orange and cinnamon notes that hit the palate first, followed by the more traditional juniper-based gin flavors.

That makes the spirit more approachable, Zalewski says. Plans also call for a cask-aged option.

Take a peek inside the space here.

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