Knightdale rum distillery Lassiter Distilling Company announced they’d be closing their North First Avenue cocktail lounge next month after being acquired by another North Carolina distillery.
Gentry and Rebecca Lassiter, who started the business in 2016, shared the news in a Facebook post last week.
Gentry Lassiter was tight-lipped Monday, saying the deal was still being worked out with the other company. He hopes some of his products will continue to live on after the acquisition and is excited to take on a more creative, strategic role with the new company.
“It’s not a new distillery. It’s one that’s been around a little bit,” Lassiter says.
Lassiter’s spiced amber rum can be found in ABC stores throughout the Triangle. They also distill a white rum and a special coffee-flavored rum.
Lassiter was one of the distillers pushing to reform the state’s liquor laws and was elated last year after the North Carolina General Assembly voted to allow the sale of mixed beverages at distilleries. He opened up a cocktail lounge, Knightdale’s first, hoping to revamp his business model.
Closing the lounge, “is kind of a bummer,” he said.
“We really have had a great time running the Tiki bar,” Lassiter said. “I had so much fun with it, I can see myself getting back into that.”
The cocktail lounge will continue to be open through February 16. The distillery will shut down operations on January 31.