Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Blash
Mike, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
WineShine Distillery, now better known as Tin City Distillery was created by five friends who had an opportunity to distill brandy from locally sourced wines. We started with a non-existent budget, a tiny still, and a ton of effort. The early days saw us producing mainly brandies from acclaimed wineries such as Turtle Rock, Saxum, Herman Story, and many more. We managed to slowly grow our business and began to create a name for ourselves in the local market. In 2018 we decided to update our offerings and subsequently rename the business to Tin City Distillery. We began producing vodkas, gin, whiskeys, and some amazing canned products. Now entering our 10th year we are planning an additional expansion which will include food offerings and a much larger area of the distillery that will be dedicated to our various club members and guests. We are looking forward to many more fun things to come for us.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No smooth roads on the Distillery Trail! Owning and running a small business is often difficult. We are thankful that we have the opportunity to work hard with friends and family to produce these amazing spirits. There were a ton of struggles along the way, including the process of purchasing our still, growing distribution, learning how to make better products, and most importantly learning how to run a successful small business and keep those lights on! We’re fortunate to have tackled these issues as a team, equipping us for the expansion and new buckets of business.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a family owned distillery in Paso Robles, CA. I think something that defines us is our tagline which can be found on our website, it reads: “Wine Shine and Tin City Distillery is more than vodka or whiskey; it’s an idea, distilled down to its most passionate form. The idea that the Central Coast represents California in its purest sense, and our spirits are crafted to embody just that. Forged with intention and local wisdom, our brandy, vodka, gin, whiskey, and canned cocktails are created for you.”
One immediate attribute that we’re very proud of is our amazing customer service. We treat every guest like family and we mean it. We’re also very proud of our cocktail program, highlighting all of the spirits produced at the distillery. Some favorites include the Garden, Dirty Horchata, and La Abuelita. TCD is widely known to produce some of the best spirits coming out of the Central Coast of California today, from our gold medal Vodka, Chocolate Love and Gin, to our stunning lineup of brandies and canned products, the distillery is recognized as a leader in producing consistently quality spirits.
Brand wise, we are proud of all the products produced at the distillery. Standouts include our Chocolate Love vodka, canned lemonade cocktail, Premium Gin, and the Wine Shine Orange Brandy.
We would like your readers to know that we look forward to sharing some time and spirits with them. We love to see new faces at the distillery.
What’s next?
Yes! We have some fun things planned at the distillery for the future. Over the next year we will be building a kitchen to provide some much needed food service. We’ve all had a great time planning the menu and upcoming offerings. The tasting room and service area will also be reworked in order to allow for a better workflow moving forward. We just started a program which allows member to age a personal barrel of whiskey on-site, a launch that has been extremely successful right out of the gate. We’re on the way to increasing our production capacity which will allow us to create more spirits for all of those thirsty souls out there!
Pricing:
- Our offerings range from $16 for a 4 pack of cans to $120 for our Bottled in Bond American Single Malt Whiskey
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.TinCityDistillery.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tincitydistillery/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tincitydistillery/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wine-shine-and-tin-city-distillery-paso-robles
