CINCINNATI – March First Brewing, Cincinnati’s only brewery, cidery and distillery today announces plans to expand its distilling operation for its Sycamore Whiskey brand by opening a standalone distillery in the 14,000sqft. complex of buildings formerly known as the Millcroft Inn in downtown Milford. By expanding to a dedicated distillery, the firm can more adequately address growing demand for its whiskey and bourbon products, and further increase brand awareness.

The Sycamore Whiskey brand was launched in 2016 and features a Bourbon, an American Whiskey, and Ohio AppleJack all available throughout the state of Ohio. Sycamore also has single malt and cinnamon whiskeys in the pipeline for release in 2019. You can learn more about Sycamore’s products on SycamoreWhiskey.com

The Sycamore name was chosen in 2016 based on the distillery’s current colocation with March First Brewing in Sycamore Township. The inspiration comes from being the second distillery in the township’s history. In 1794, Christian Waldschmidt, a veteran of the American Revolution, started a new community at a site on the Little Miami River in Sycamore Township. There he built a general store, a blacksmith shop, a paper mill and the area’s first distillery.

The Sycamore Distilling logo depicts the image of Waldschmidt’s homestead general store which still stands today as a Civil War museum open to the public in Camp Dennison. The Millcroft Inn lies just 1.5 miles from the Waldschmidt settlement. Construction on the “Millcroft Inn” was started in 1812 and completed in 1828 by Waldschmidt’s eldest daughter Catherine and her husband Matt Kugler. The Kugler-Waldschmidt family owned and operated much of the industrial processing center in Old Milford in the mid-1800s including a large distilling complex on Mill Street in Milford, some of which still stands today.

“There is no more historically fitting location on the planet to expand Sycamore Distilling than at the Millcroft site. The shear symmetry of moving our distillery back into Old Milford at the hallowed Kugler-Waldschmidt Millcroft Inn is incredibly inspiring for our team.” said Mark Stuhlreyer, the firm’s president.

The 206-year-old Millcroft property is being developed to support multiple businesses including “Sycamore Distilling” while carefully preserving and enhancing the key historical elements of the site.  A separate full service 100+ seat restaurant and bar, professional offices and a museum are all planned for the development.

Sycamore Distilling at the Millcroft will feature a large column still, public tasting room, special event center, VIP barrel room, rooftop patio with 360-degree views of the city and a full kitchen with a small plates Americana menu. The distillery tasting room will be set in the existing stone stable finally reviving a once popular and important local gathering place.