Thornton Distilling Co.

The house

The Bielfeldt brewery went up in 1857 on Thorn Creek — Illinois’s oldest standing brewery building, artesian well still on the property. Prohibition sold it; Capone used it as a bootlegging plant. Wine Enthusiast named it one of the country’s top haunted distilleries. The ghost the house names is Mr. Hunt, a night watchman and, in the telling, one of Capone’s security men, still seen in the doorway above the bar that used to be the malting tower. The distillery pours Dead Drop spirits, runs a cocktail bar and restaurant, and sells a weekend tour with a tasting. You do not need the tour to drink here. You should take it anyway.

A cocktail at the bar under the tower. Dinner if they are seating. The tour is the second pour. Thornton is the south-suburban distillery this guide was missing.

The Ghostly Gourmet