New Saxonburg distillery a hit with public
SAXONBURG — Roughly two years ago, Gary and Michael Bastin saw a need in the borough and decided that they were the ones to fill it by opening a microdistillery — Bastin Distillery — on North Isabella Street.
“All the liquor licenses were being sold to Cranberry (Township),” Gary said. “We both grew up in this town, and really, there was only one bar here.”
According to Gary, his brother Michael already been pursuing brewing as a hobby. With the opening of Bastin Distillery, the two decided to turn that hobby into their full-time jobs.
“We looked around and bought a piece of property, and we were able to go through and get a microdistillery license,” Gary said.
Bastin Distillery opened in August. So far, Gary and Michael say the Saxonburg area and Butler County have embraced the newest watering hole.
“Everybody's very excited to have a new place to come hang out,” Gary said. “And the borough has been very, very supportive.”
Bastin family members purchased the building on North Isabella Street in 2022. Gary said it took more than a year and a half for them to turn the property into what it is now.
“When we bought it, it was a vacant building,” Gary said. “We spent all of 2023 and the beginning of this year building it in conjunction with Bricker Construction. They were tremendous in helping us remodel it and get to where it was a very attractive building and safe to be in.”
In addition to the ground floor, which features both the main bar and the liquor production facilities, the distillery also features an extra event space on the upper floor, which boasts a dartboard.
“Right now, it's for overflow,” Gary said. “When we get really crowded, people will go up there and play darts and whatnot. Some people will rent it out as a banquet space. People have come to use it for a meeting room.”
Bastin Distillery is a bar and a brewery tucked into one space. Nearly all of the alcoholic beverages sold at Bastin Distillery are distilled and bottled in the building. According to Michael, their top seller is That Tea, a blackcurrant-flavored spirit with 5.6% alcohol by volume. Other drinks on the menu include Dogshine and White Tornado, which are offered in bottles “to go.”
One of the drinks that the distillery is cooking up is called the Special Exemption, so named because of the special exemption that the borough of Saxonburg granted the business to operate. Michael describes it as a spirit that is almost bourbon, but not quite.
“It tastes like bourbon, but we can’t call it bourbon because there’s no corn in it,” Michael said. “We use sugarcane as our base.”
Eager drinkers will have to wait to get a sample of it, as the first batches are still aging and won’t be released until July.
Already, the distillery is building up its staff, a portion of which is made up of the Bastin family, including Michael’s wife, Dawn, who is serving as kitchen manager and is extending the distillery’s reach in the Saxonburg business community.
“Dawn is having us join both the Saxonburg Rotary and the Saxonburg Area Business Association, so we can be part of the activities within Saxonburg.” Gary said. “It gives us an opportunity to give back a little bit to the community.”
