The Distillery Complex Opens on the South Shore With Booze and Rooftop Views
The six–story building houses Big Spring Spirits, a bar and event spaces with a marketplace and cigar lounge to come.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
You can get cocktails and a bird’s eye view of Pittsburgh at The Finch.
The full-service rooftop bar, which opened July 28, is just one part of The Distillery Complex. The reimagined six-story building on the South Shore also houses a cigar lounge, event spaces and the Big Springs Spirits Distillery & Bottle Shop — with more to come.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
Since the Bellefonte, Pa.-based boozemaker purchased the historic property in 2017, partner Talleyrand Holdings has been transforming it into a vertically integrated entertainment complex. Located at 59 S. Second St. between Station Square and the South Side Flats, The Distillery Complex was home to the Joseph S. Finch & Co. distillery, which operated from 1856 until Prohibition.
Kevin Lloyd, founder of Big Spring Spirits, is happy to carry on the tradition in the old bones of the building.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
Visitors can purchase the company’s vodka, gin, rum, whiskey and other libations at the first-floor bottle shop. There are plans for a marketplace and deli above. The fourth-floor cigar lounge, The Drawing Room, is accepting private membership applications and will open to the public soon. The Reserve event venue on the fifth floor, which can hold up to 300 people, will host its first wedding at the end of July.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
While perched on the patio at The Finch, you can raise a toast to the commuters sitting in Liberty Bridge traffic. Speaking of vehicles, parking is available in the Station Square east lot or at The Highline — both are about a block away from The Distillery Complex. It’s located on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, making it easily accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists.
Big Spring Spirits’ satellite locations in Seven Fields and Sewickley are now permanently closed.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
Lloyd, whose professional background is in molecular and cell biology, opened the original Bellefone distillery, a former match factory erected in 1899, more than a decade ago. The Centre County town regularly wins Best Tasting Water awards for H2O that comes from its famed Big Spring.
