Broad Branch Distillery

Broad Branch Distillery is a grain-to-glass craft distillery in the Arts District of Winston-Salem, NC, operating out of a 100-year-old former tobacco warehouse on North Trade Street. Founded in 2013 by longtime friends John Fragakis and Nick Doumas, Broad Branch handles every step on site — sourcing grain from North Carolina farmers, then grinding, cooking, fermenting, distilling, and bottling under one roof.

The distillery’s flagship is Big Winston, celebrated as Winston-Salem’s first legally distilled straight bourbon since Prohibition. The broader lineup runs from rye whiskey and rum through specialty infusions, including the blueberry-forward Smashing Violet made with hand-pressed Eastern North Carolina blueberries — one of our favorites from the tasting room.

Be sure to check out the pictures below to get a feel for Broad Branch Distillery before you go — or to relive the visit after.

The 2013 Founding and the Frank Williams Recipe

Broad Branch traces its origins to two longtime friends — John Fragakis and Nick Doumas — who spent years planning the venture before founding the distillery in 2013 and beginning serious production by late 2014. The distillery opened with a recipe carrying substantial North Carolina distilling lineage.

That first product, Nightlab 1.0, was built on a recipe from Frank Williams, a legendary third-generation distiller from Alleghany County. Williams cooked his first mash at age eight, ran his own still at twelve, and bought his first car at thirteen to run whiskey. Late in life, he approached Fragakis and Doumas about carrying the family recipes forward — a handoff that gave Broad Branch a direct link to the Scotch-Irish distilling tradition that shaped whiskey-making across the North Carolina foothills.

That lineage runs deeper than one recipe. Winston-Salem’s distilling history reaches back to 1774, when the Moravian Single Brothers’ Brewery & Distillery opened in Salem — operated by the unmarried men of the Single Brothers’ House, whose building still stands and is interpreted today at Old Salem Museums & Gardens. That operation ran for nearly 35 years, making Broad Branch part of a distilling story in this city that predates the Revolution.

Nick Doumas died in 2016, and when Fragakis’s health later forced him to step back, his daughters Anne Windham and Natalie Spinosa returned to Winston-Salem and took over day-to-day operations — Spinosa bringing a sales and marketing background, Windham coming from finance. The two continue to run the distillery today, working with head distillers to carry on their father’s approach.

The Spirits — Big Winston, Rye Fidelity, and Smashing Violet

Broad Branch’s approach centers on grain-forward, pot-distilled spirits that draw from both American whiskey tradition and old-world distillation technique. The distillery works with heritage heirloom corn varietals and custom fermentation protocols, and the founder’s stated philosophy was straightforward: good distillate, high-quality 53-gallon barrels, and a great deal of patience.

Big Winston is the headline release — Winston-Salem’s first legal straight bourbon since Prohibition, distilled from a low-rye mash (roughly 86% corn, 6% rye, 8% malted barley) that balances sweet against spice. It’s released as a single-barrel offering, so proof and character shift from batch to batch, and a Bottled-in-Bond version has appeared at 100 proof and non-chill filtered. A malt-finished variant rounds out the bourbon side.

The rest of the core lineup covers substantial ground. Rye Fidelity is a 100% rye mash whiskey. Sungrazer is an old-world-style coastal Carolina amber rum, with a Sungrazer Chai chai-spiced version in the core line. Supercollider is a pear rye whiskey. Frank’s Reserve (formerly Nobilium) is a three-barrel master blend named in honor of Frank Williams. And Smashing Violet is the craft infusion built on hand-pressed blueberries from Eastern North Carolina — the blueberry whiskey that keeps us coming back.

Broad Branch also releases special and limited bottlings throughout the year, including barrel picks and aged expressions, with a single malt among the more recent additions to the program.

Visiting the Tasting Room and Taking a Tour

The tasting room is open seven days a week for bottle purchases, and the adjoining cocktail lounge operates Wednesday through Sunday, serving classic and custom cocktails alongside beer and wine. Cocktails built on Broad Branch’s own spirits are the obvious move — the chai-spiced rum in particular shows up in some of the more interesting drinks on the menu.

Distillery tours run for roughly an hour and cover the full grain-to-glass process, along with distilling history and local lore, and finish with a tasting of several spirits. Tours have historically been offered on the first Saturday of each month with a modest fee, but scheduling changes — check the Broad Branch website or contact the distillery directly to confirm current tour times and to book. Private events and group bookings are also available.

One additional detail worth knowing: the tasting room now stocks hand-rolled cigars made locally by Mark Bullin of Salem Cigar Factory, using Dominican long filler, Nicaraguan binder, and a choice of two Honduran wrappers — one mild, one bold.

Broad Branch also has a convenient neighbor. Fiddlin’ Fish Brewing Company sits right next door on North Trade Street, which makes a spirits-then-beer afternoon about as easy as it gets — park once, taste through the Broad Branch lineup, and walk a few steps over for a pint without moving the car.

Good to Know

• Location: 756 North Trade Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101 (Arts District)
• Phone: 336-602-2824
• Founded: 2013 by John Fragakis and Nick Doumas; full production began late 2014
• Now operated by: Anne Windham and Natalie Spinosa, Fragakis’s daughters
• The building: A 100-year-old former tobacco warehouse in the Winston-Salem Arts District
• Production: Grain-to-glass — grain sourced from NC farmers, then ground, cooked, fermented, distilled, and bottled entirely on site
• Signature spirits: Big Winston (Winston-Salem’s first legal straight bourbon since Prohibition), Rye Fidelity (100% rye), Sungrazer (Carolina amber rum) and Sungrazer Chai, Supercollider (pear rye), Frank’s Reserve (three-barrel blend), Smashing Violet (blueberry craft infusion), Nightlab (the original Frank Williams recipe)
• Our favorite: Smashing Violet — the blueberry infusion made with hand-pressed Eastern NC blueberries
• Tasting room: Open seven days a week for bottle purchases
• Cocktail lounge: Wednesday through Sunday; classic and custom cocktails plus beer and wine
• Tours: Approximately one hour covering the distillation process, history, and a guided tasting; check the Broad Branch website for current schedule, pricing, and booking
• Also available: Hand-rolled cigars from Mark Bullin of Salem Cigar Factory
• Right next door: Fiddlin’ Fish Brewing Company — walkable from the Broad Branch parking area
• Hours: Check the Broad Branch Distillery website for current hours
• Best for: Whiskey and bourbon enthusiasts, craft spirits travelers, cocktail drinkers, NC distilling history enthusiasts, and anyone building a Winston-Salem Arts District afternoon
• Pair with: The full Winston-Salem food and beverage cluster; Fiddlin’ Fish Brewing Company right next door on North Trade Street; Mast General Store just down Trade Street in the Arts District; Incendiary Brewing Company at the Bailey Power Plant for another adaptive-reuse drinking destination; or Old Salem Museums & Gardens to see the Single Brothers’ House where Winston-Salem’s distilling history began in 1774

A Winston-Salem Highlight

Broad Branch makes a strong case for itself before you taste anything. A hundred-year-old tobacco warehouse in the Arts District, a founding recipe handed over personally by a third-generation Alleghany County distiller who ran his first still at twelve, and a bourbon that reclaimed a title Winston-Salem hadn’t held since Prohibition — that’s a lot of story packed into one building on North Trade Street.

The spirits hold up their end. Big Winston is the one that gets national attention, and the single-barrel format means each release has its own character worth comparing. But Smashing Violet is the bottle we keep coming back to — hand-pressed Eastern North Carolina blueberries turning a craft infusion into something that tastes distinctly like this state rather than a generic flavored whiskey.

Go for a tour if the timing works, since seeing the grain-to-glass operation in a century-old warehouse adds real context to what’s in the glass. Otherwise, the cocktail lounge is the easy version Wednesday through Sunday — settle in, order something built on chai-spiced rum, and take a bottle home on the way out. And with Fiddlin’ Fish Brewing Company right next door, you can turn a distillery stop into a full afternoon without ever getting back in the car.

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Broad Branch Distillery Website

Broad Branch Distillery Facebook

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