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- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Food | Agriculture
The Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians and Heritage Distilling Co. are set to open a craft spirits tasting room at Angel of the Winds Casino Resort in northern Washington, marking the first such venue in a tribally-owned casino in the Pacific Northwest.
The tasting room, scheduled to open on October 25, 2024, will offer Heritage's whiskeys, vodkas, gins, and rums, along with guided tastings and specialty cocktails. It will also feature the Gig Harbor, Wash.-based distiller’s cask club membership program and a seasonal food menu.
This partnership is part of a Heritage initiative to collaborate with Native American tribes on developing distilleries, brands, and tasting rooms in tribal casinos and entertainment venues. The new venture reflects the tribe’s commitment to providing “unique local experiences and allows us to share our passion for quality spirits with the wider community,” Stillaguamish Tribal Chairman Eric White said in a statement.
Spirits production and sales represent a major avenue for financial growth among tribes, according to Justin Stiefel, CEO and co-founder of Heritage. Partnering tribes can benefit from sales margins, tax capture, and generate funds for social and economic initiatives, while increasing employment and creating brands that celebrate tribal characteristics, according to the statement.
This partnership follows other collaborations between Heritage Distilling and tribal nations. In 2020, Heritage partnered with the Chehalis Tribe in Washington to open the Talking Cedar brewery and distillery, after successfully lobbying to repeal a federal ban on liquor production in Indian Country. The company is also working with the Tonto Apache Tribe in Arizona on a distillery project.
More recently, the Coquille Indian Tribe in Oregon announced plans for that state's first tribally-owned distillery, also in partnership with Heritage Distilling. Set to begin construction in late 2024, the Coquille project is expected to create over 30 new jobs and generate revenue to support tribal services.
These developments reflect an emerging trend of tribes entering the craft beverage industry as a means of economic diversification and sovereignty assertion.
