Sam Odrowski
The Cantilever Distillery held a launch celebration Friday afternoon in Rainer, Mn. to outline plans for a 31-room boutique hotel, craft distillery, cocktail room, and rooftop patio/bar.
The project, located at 2078 Spruce St. in Rainer, is set for completion by next summer.
Marty Goulet, one of its four founders, said he’s looking forward to serving both sides of the border while attracting new tourists to the area.
“We want to market the area and the bridge symbolizes that–it’s connecting two countries,” he remarked.
“There’s a lot of commerce that can go back and forth, and we want to bring people to this area to see Rainy Lake.”
Fellow founder Duane Cridland is looking forward to adding some Fort Frances flare to the distillery with the specially-designed “Flint House”-style restaurant that will be located in the Cantilever building.
It will feature a different menu than what’s currently offered at the Flint House on Scott Street here to match the distillery experience, Goulet noted.
“We will take their restaurant experience and design a menu that fits our project,” he explained.
“I think it’s going to end up being a lot of tapas; smaller bite-size stuff that people can eat in the distillery a little easier.
“They’re designing the menu to fit the space,” he added.
Once built, the distillery also will feature a treatment room, where people can get massages or enjoy a hot tub, sauna, and other spa-like amenities, in addition to a yoga studio.
It also will feature a couple of different brands of alcohol made from local ingredients.
One will be the Cantilever brand, which will feature two malt whiskeys (one peated and one non-peated).
There also will be a bourbon, gin, and a rye whiskey which currently is in the works.
The Woody’s Fairly Reliable brand also will be offered there, featuring rye whiskey, whiskey, Northwoods gin, and icebox vodka.
The Cantilever distillery, meanwhile, is very unique in it’s design, Goulet noted, adding there’s not many projects like it elsewhere.
“I don’t think there’s anything like it anywhere,” he enthused.
“It’s pretty unique in this country [U.S.] and I think we’ll get a lot of people coming to see it.”
The property for the project is right on the lake and within walking distance of local amenities.
The gears for the project began turning in 2014 when local laws changed to make building a small-craft distillery more favourable in Rainer.
Since then, the four founders–Goulet, Kalan Wagner, Cridland, and Patrick Bracken–have worked together to realize their dream that will be the Cantilever project.
Goulet is looking forward to completing construction and welcoming people from both sides of the border come summer.
