End of Days Distillery

eoddistillery.com
Year Founded: 2020
No. of Employees: 27
Top local officials: Shane and Beth Faulkner, co-founders

End of Days in Wilmington is nowhere near calling it a day.

The distillery continues its effervescent march into new markets, according to End of Days co-founder Beth Faulkner.

“We have seen a huge increase in the ready-to-drink canned cocktail market,” she said. “There is also a large increase in the tequila sector, so our Castillo 1815 Blue Agave Spirit is a huge hit. These products help round out our portfolio, allowing End of Days Distillery (EOD) to fully support any bar, restaurant and our growing customer base.”

Founded in 2019 with a grand opening in early 2020, just before the pandemic hit, the 4,800-square-foot distillery with a cocktail bar, lounge tasting room and event space is housed in a WWII-era Quonset hut that sits snugly and efficiently on Castle Street amid bungalow homes, an auto repair shop and – implausibly – a church.

Faulkner said EOD has taken on additional space in recent years with the purchase of a warehouse on the corner of Newton Street and Wrightsville Avenue to “support the production, packaging, barrel aging and canning of each of our products (and) to give us the space we need to have a fully separated packaging facility.”

In 2020, when the spread of COVID-19 had people worldwide scrambling for ways to prevent infection, EOD began producing its own hand sanitizer. The distillery also won a Business Journal MADE award in the food and beverage category in 2021.

Faulkner credited like-minded businesses, especially Wilmington’s craft beer and beverage community, and the Port City’s business-friendly environment for EOD’s ability to expand its product and brand.

“Wilmington is home to many progressive-thinking, creative entrepreneurs that fully support the growth of our city and each other,” she said.

And not unlike EOD’s big reveal of new ready-to-drink cocktails in recent years – the Hurricane, consisting of rum, passion fruit and citrus, and the Cargo Mule vodka, ginger, lemongrass and citrus – the statewide distributor of spirits is positioned to surprise once again.

“We have some exciting licensing agreements and collaborations that we can’t wait to release,” Faulkner said. “Stay tuned.”