Author: By Madalyn Blair – Intern, Cincinnati Business Courier
A Cincinnati craft distillery has been listed for sale, opening the door for new ownership in the spirits market.
Karrikin Spirits Co., located at 3717 Jonlen Drive in Fairfax, is looking for a new owner to continue to run the 30,000-square-foot distillery as owner Dan Hueber moves toward retirement.
Cincinnati commercial real estate firm 3CRE has the listing. The property is being offered for $4.5 million.
“I need to move it on to somebody that’s got more horsepower than me, because I’m here six days a week, working 14 hours a day, and I’d rather be doing something different,” Hueber told the Business Courier. “I’m thinking this is just going to continue to grow.”
Karrikin opened in December 2018 with an initial lineup that featured two gins, an apricot brandy, an apple brandy, a vodka, a white rum and an agave spirit reminiscent of mezcal. Its restaurant served dishes ranging from burgers to oysters.
In 2022, the distillery closed its restaurant and reduced its taproom hours as it shifted focus to private events. Hueber bought the business assets from his five former partners in March 2024.
During transition, Hueber continued to focus on private events while working to obtain additional beverage licenses, including a hemp processing license.
“(Covid) just hammered the heck out of the business,” he said. “There was no real revenue from the restaurant side, and (the partners) were producing hand sanitizer and giving it away and that doesn’t work. (The distillery) got far enough behind that it really looked like the time for me to step in, and (the others) were done.”
Although Hueber said he wouldn’t be opposed to the new owner transforming the distillery into something else, he thinks there’s a lot of potential in the space, location and employees for new ownership to continue growing the business.
“It’s truly a state-of-the-art facility. It’s designed to be a distillery, brewery, taproom, retail space as well,” Nick Pesola, senior adviser at 3CRE, told me. “There’s a lot of room for growth. We do think that the buyer will come from the industry, either potentially wanting to keep the same brand, but potentially it’ll be a new brand, or a new location for another brand. We’re looking nationally, regionally, locally.”
The real estate holds the majority of the value, Pesola said. The 4.5-acre property also includes a 4,600-square-foot auxiliary building. All of the distillery’s business assets, including recipes, everything inside the buildings and existing employee contracts are included in the sale.
He said constructing something similar to Karrikin from the ground up would potentially cost double the amount.
“If somebody comes in and says, ‘I’m buying it based on multiple of your financials,’ that’s not my guy,” Hueber said. “They have to be able to come in and say, ‘I see the potential, I see the vision for where we’re going and let me take this ball and run with it.’ I’ve got the team in place to do it.”
Hueber did not disclose revenue. He said he’s practically starting the business over and wouldn’t have a projection until about six months from now. Hueber said he took over ownership because the business was unable to produce prior.
“The business was not open and operating and producing anywhere close to its capacity because of the transitional ownership and (transferring) licenses,” Pesola said.
Karrikin is about a 10-minute drive from Hyde Park, Oakley, Mariemont and Indian Hill. It also is about 10 miles north from downtown Cincinnati.
While in the process of looking for a buyer, Hueber plans to continue to run and grow the business, including a major remodel of a bridal and groom suite overlooking the brewery on the second floor.
Karrikin has capacity for 350 people, with seated event space for around 250, according to Hueber.
