Good Neighbor Podcast: Pittsburgh

E73: Riverside Rooftop Revival: A Spirited Journey Crafting Community in a Historic Space

• Leila Carter & Tony Mazzarini • Episode 73

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What makes Tony Mazzarini with The Distillery Complex a good neighbor? 

Tucked along Pittsburgh's riverside stands a brick and wood structure with a remarkable story spanning nearly two centuries. When real estate developer Tony Mazzarini acquired the vacant 25,000-square-foot building in 2018, he uncovered its hidden legacy as the Joseph Finch Whiskey Distillery—once among the world's largest rye whiskey producers. Rather than simply developing the property, Tony embraced its spirited past, partnering with chemist-turned-distiller Kevin Lloyd to create The Distillery Complex, a multifaceted destination reviving Pittsburgh's craft spirits heritage.

The Distillery Complex offers what Tony calls a "vertical experience" with something special on every level. Visitors start their journey in the lobby-level tasting room, where knowledgeable ambassadors introduce them to Big Spring Spirits' impressive lineup of 42 different alcohols. From whiskeys and bourbons to vodkas, gins, rums, and even authentic tequila, their products share a commitment to local sourcing and quality ingredients—especially their signature spring water that gives the spirits their distinctive character. Their popular Talleyrand Cream Bourbon represents the perfect introduction for those new to spirits appreciation.

Beyond spirits tasting, the building houses The Finch rooftop bar with unparalleled city views, an elegant Drawing Room cigar lounge, and a fifth-floor event space featuring a breathtaking 300-degree panorama of Pittsburgh's skyline. This thoughtful preservation of history combined with modern craft and hospitality creates a destination unlike any other in the city. Whether you're a spirits enthusiast curious about production methods or simply seeking a unique place to gather with friends, The Distillery Complex offers a multi-sensory journey through Pittsburgh's past and present.

Discover this riverside gem for yourself by visiting thedistillerycomplexpgh.com or following their social media channels to witness how a forgotten whiskey landmark has been transformed into one of Pittsburgh's most distinctive destinations.

To learn more about The Distillery Complex go to: 

https://www.thedistillerycomplex.com/

The Distillery Complex

(412) 930-0213


Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Lila Carter.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a really cool place to hang out in Pittsburgh? One might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, tony Mazzarini, with the Distillery Complex. Tony, how's it going?

Speaker 3:

I'm doing great, Lila. How are you doing today?

Speaker 2:

Very well, thank you. We're excited to learn all about you and your business, so please tell us about your company.

Speaker 3:

We're excited to share the new complex that we've built along the riverfront here in Pittsburgh under the Big Spring Spirits brand called the Distillery Complex. It's located down on 2nd Street and McKean Street in the south shore of Pittsburgh, right up the street from Station Square, right alongside the Liberty Bridge. We are an 11-year-old spirits brand that was founded out in the central part of Pennsylvania, in Bellefont, PA, and we've expanded rapidly across the state and now in my hometown, which is Pittsburgh. We're excited to share the brand and this exciting new building, which has so many things to offer Pittsburghers. You know we can't wait to show it off and have people come down and enjoy it.

Speaker 2:

How did you get into this business, Tony?

Speaker 3:

It was actually through an interesting journey. I am, by trade, a real estate developer and I acquired the building, which was a about a twenty five thousand square foot brick and all wood structure back in twenty eighteen. And once we discovered the story behind the building because the building was sitting vacant for many years we discovered that it was a whiskey distillery. 180 years ago, the Joseph Finch Whiskey Distillery was one of the largest rye whiskey distilleries in the world at the time and, yeah, it was fascinating to me and I'm like, wow, how do we tell this story again?

Speaker 3:

I actually just went out looking for a tenant to bring in to tell the story and bring it back to the building. Looking for a tenant to bring in to tell the story and bring it back to the building, met my now current partner, kevin Lloyd, out in Belfont, pa, who was already manufacturing Big Spring Spirits. He was about six years old at the time, maybe five, but I really liked Kevin. I loved the product that he was making and when he saw the building, he really loved the building and I think he liked me as well. So we put it all together, formed a company and now I'm in the distilling business and he's in the real estate development business as well, so it's a lot of fun.

Speaker 2:

Very good, and I understand that the rooftop part of the building is called the Finch. Is that to honor him?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely, it's a throwback to the original spirits manufacturer in the building. Absolutely, it's a throwback to the original spirits manufacturer in the building. It's also a play on words for the rooftop crow's nest the bird, the finch. So we kind of had a couple creative marketing folks come up with that name and it's I really love it. I love the name, I love the homage back to Joseph Finch, the original user of the building.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's excellent. So are there any myths or misconceptions in your industry that you'd like to discuss today?

Speaker 3:

I think there are, uh, quite a few actually. Uh, one is, um, you know, all whiskeys are made the same and uh, you know, when I got into this business I had absolutely very little knowledge. I I just knew I enjoyed drinking alcohol when I drank, and I primarily do drink dark alcohol, so whiskeys and bourbons. But when you actually find out what it takes to manufacture it and make your own special recipe, there's a lot of things that go into making it special and unique and how you age it, how you blend it, so many neat things about it. But yeah, I think a lot of folks just think you know, you make a whiskey, you stick it in a barrel and out comes magic. But there's a lot that goes into it.

Speaker 3:

And you know, we at Big Spring really take pride in our sourcing of the products. We do it all with local farmers. We also do all the purchasing of the barrels we age in locally and we also use what's most critical in our method the Big Spring source of body of water. So you know, alcohol has a lot of water in it. When you get it off the still it's about 140 plus proof. But by the time it's drinkable in a quality taste, you have to proof it, and all that proofing is done with water. So the water is so important to us, and having the big spring as our source of water has really set us apart from some of our competitors has really set us apart from some of our competitors, very nice.

Speaker 2:

So whenever we think about marketing as the heart of any business and you're attracting your target market, is this people who are specifically interested in those darker liquors like you were talking about, or is it something else? Who is your target demographic and how are you attracting them to the distillery?

Speaker 3:

We're so fortunate that it's just the darker. Spirits are just one of our many products that we manufacture, so we make a full product line 42 different types of alcohols. We do have clears as well, so our vodkas, our gins, we have rums. We have our own tequila line. We have which is authentic tequila that comes into the United States concentrated through our, our producer down in the agave region of Mexico, and then when we get it again here in Pennsylvania, we proof it down with our great water and it becomes a really very, very palatable tequila.

Speaker 3:

But we target, our target audience is everybody from 21 years and above, because I think we have something for everybody. We also carry out product that is one of our largest sellers is called Talleyrand Cream Bourbon, hence the name of our holding company that owns all the assets underneath it. Talleyrand is a really palatable cream bourbon that has a perfect use of either an after-dinner drink or a before-dinner drink. It's not real high in alcohol content but just a beautiful flavor to it and just one of many things that we can attract, maybe someone who isn't a real strong spirits drinker but likes to have something different than just beer or wine. But again, we have so many different things. We can attract ages of all type and all flavors and all people that love to enjoy any kind of social drinking.

Speaker 2:

Very nice. It sounds like you have a really refined approach and there's so much to learn about all these different types of spirits so have you ever thought about possibly starting your own podcast to discuss them actually we would love to do that.

Speaker 3:

It would be a lot of fun. I would love to have my partner, kevin, on, who is the actual master distiller. I'm I'm more the business side of our business, but he would be thrilled, I'm sure, to join me someday, or join you someday, in talking about the actual processes and all the things that go into the different recipes. And now, his story is very interesting as well. He was a. He was a PhD in chemistry out of.

Speaker 3:

Penn State and worked in the testing lab industry for a while and then sold that business and found himself looking to do something else, and making spirits was what he landed on, and, fortunately for me and for the rest of our team, we're excited that he did that, because now we're all together.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, he sounds like a great asset to your team. Oh, no doubt.

Speaker 3:

He's the guy that makes all the juice, so it's so important to have a person like that a good character, great knowledge and super hard worker. So, yeah, I love Kevin and we've been together now almost five years, and so it's been a wonderful journey to grow the company to where we're at now.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely Now outside of work, Tony, what do you do for fun?

Speaker 3:

I have a beautiful family and I love to spend time with my wife and my children and my grandchildren. Now I have three wonderful grandchildren, one in New York City and two here in Pittsburgh, but yeah, the kids are great. I also enjoy my probably my biggest hobby is golfing outside of work. So I love to golf and fish and do that in a variety of places, and I also love to travel. My wife and myself have been blessed with the ability to do that. I think I instilled that spirit of travel into my kids as well. So my son just got married over in Portugal and we all made the journey over there. I've been able to see a lot of the world as a result of our love of travel as well.

Speaker 2:

Oh, very nice. So whenever you're not traveling the world, you're working on your swing right? Oh yeah, no doubt very nice. So whenever you're not traveling the world, you're working on your swing right?

Speaker 3:

oh yeah, no doubt, and I'm actually working on my swing even when I'm traveling the world, because I uh, I played twice over in europe when we were there. I played once in portugal and then we got to go over to the south of spain for a couple days and played there as well. So it's uh, it's fun to see different golf courses and how they're designed around the world too. So I enjoy, I enjoy that, yeah.

Speaker 2:

What a beautiful experience there. So what is one thing that should stick with our listeners about the distillery complex?

Speaker 3:

I think the experience that we provide here is a vertical experience. When you walk into our building here on 2nd and McKean, you'll find a tasting room and a distillery on the first lobby floor level. You'll find a tasting room and a distillery on the first lobby floor level and you'll also be greeted by someone who, if you have any questions about it because we are new they'll be able to tell you about the building and what we have to offer. But the vertical experience starts right there. So you can go into our tasting room, be introduced to Big Spring Spirits we have a knowledgeable ambassador of our brand down there on the first floor to be able to tell you all about it, give you a free sample of what you might want to try or to take home eventually, because we can also sell direct to the consumer our bottles with our licensing.

Speaker 3:

That's one of the big advantages of craft distilling in Pennsylvania.

Speaker 3:

But then from that point there, whatever other destination you want to find in the building, that is something you enjoy, whether it be the rooftop bar, which is a tremendous place to catch a view of Pittsburgh like you've never seen before, or if it's our drawing room cigar lounge, which is just an absolutely beautiful, unlike any other cigar lounge I've ever been in around the world very comfortable, very private setting with a tremendous view. Again or up to our event space, which we have on the fifth floor, which is a 300 degree view of the city of pittsburgh, and I I know there's going to be so many people that start their lives there together, celebrating weddings and christenings and baptisms and everything else that might go along with that event space. We have a great, great number of people coming out and contracting with us to use that space. So there's just so many things to do inside the building once you get here with us to use that space. So there's just so many things to do inside the building once you get here.

Speaker 2:

I think that's the thing to make sure that you leave yourself enough time to enjoy the mall. Wow, that location sounds like a gem. I'm sure, as a real estate developer, you were just thrilled to be able to invest there. So how can our listeners learn more about the Distillery Complex?

Speaker 3:

listeners. Learn more about the Distillery Complex. You can go to our website, thedistillerycomplexpghcom. You can also follow us on Instagram. We're also on Facebook and the YouTube channel at all of our Distillery complex pghcom landing pages. But you can also go to bigspringspiritscom. Our bigspringspiritscom website is a really nice website and tells you all about the history of our brand and our our current location here in pittsburgh our new location, but also our existing location up in belfort, pa. It's a very, very space as well. We have a tasting room up there and the Penn State relationship up there has been great. It's about 10 miles northwest of Penn State College and we, just we love Center County.

Speaker 3:

Pennsylvania, where we started as well. So you're going to learn all about us on all those multiple locations.

Speaker 2:

Very nice. Well, we are so happy to have you in Pittsburgh and thank you so much for your time today on the show. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.

Speaker 3:

Thank you so much, Lili. It was really a pleasure to join you and hope to do it again.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnppittsburghcom. That's gnppittsburghcom, or call 412-561-9956.