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Iron Smoke Distillery, the Fairport maker of applewood-smoked bourbon, has bought the building it has rented since 2014, paying $1.75 million for its manufacturing space. The move comes as craft distillers across the country have faced declining sales and closures.
Through an entity called 59 Parce Ave Fairport LLC, the company purchased roughly 20,000 square feet at 111 Parce Ave. The sale closed Oct. 1, according to Monroe County property records. The seller was American Park Place LLC, which owns the roughly 400,000-square-foot former American Can Co. complex that houses the distillery.
Iron Smoke plans to invest $3 million in the property, including renovations to modernize its manufacturing space and increase production capacity. It hasn’t released a timeline for when that work could begin. The company says the project will retain 18 jobs and create six more.
“Today, we’re buying the building we call home, releasing some of our finest whiskeys yet, and continuing to push the boundaries,” says CEO and co-founder Tommy Brunett.
Public incentives
Iron Smoke worked with the Fairport Office of Community and Economic Development to secure sales tax and mortgage recording tax exemptions and a property tax abatement for the project. The value and duration of those benefits have not been disclosed.
The company has received public financial assistance before. When Iron Smoke moved to Fairport in 2014, the Fairport Local Development Corp. provided a low-interest loan toward an $850,000 project covering renovations, equipment, and other costs. In 2018, the agency provided a $150,000 loan toward a $380,000 equipment purchase, with additional assistance from the Monroe County Industrial Development Corp. Fairport’s development office said employment at the distillery nearly tripled following those investments.
Owning the building gives Iron Smoke more control over its long-term costs and makes it easier to invest in equipment and renovations. Chief Operating Officer Ron Kirshner says the company had reduced expenses by simplifying its operations and adopting lean manufacturing practices, putting it in a position to buy the property despite the industry’s challenges.
A difficult market for craft spirits
The purchase comes as the craft spirits industry has struggled. The American Craft Spirits Association reported that craft spirits sales declined for a third consecutive year in 2025. Sales volume fell 8%, while sales value dropped 3.7%, to $7.3 billion.
The association counted 2,131 active craft distillers as of August 2026, down 6.6% from a year earlier. Closures outnumbered new openings for the first time.
Selling directly to visitors has become more important to the industry. The association found that the share of craft spirits sold directly to consumers at distilleries rose from 14% in 2015 to 26% in 2025.
Iron Smoke has expanded beyond whiskey production into live music and festivals. Brunett helped launch the Hoochenanny Whiskey Festival in 2023 with Sean McCarthy of McCarthy Tents & Events. The event moved from Geneseo to Camp Eastman in Irondequoit in 2025 before relocating to Center Park West in Perinton this August. Organizers broadened its focus beyond whiskey and renamed it the Hoochenanny Festival.
A changing neighborhood
Iron Smoke’s purchase comes amid the redevelopment of Fairport, where former industrial buildings have been converted into spaces for businesses, restaurants, and recreation.
The former American Can Co. factory dates to the 19th century. It began as a shoe factory before housing other manufacturing operations and eventually becoming a can plant. The factory closed in the late 1980s.
Nearby, developers converted another former industrial building into The Cannery, a mixed-use development with restaurants and athletic facilities. Fairport has also invested in improvements along the Erie Canal waterfront. The village’s economic development office reported more than $40 million in private investment from 2015 to 2020.
The redevelopment has also brought disputes. In February, the village of Fairport sued American Park Place, alleging more than 200 building-code violations at the complex and seeking $4.4 million in civil fines. The allegations included blocked exits and fire alarm deficiencies.
American Park Place and entities associated with owner Douglas Calabrese have disputed the village’s enforcement actions. In a separate legal dispute, the property interests filed counterclaims alleging retaliation and abuse of process. A state Supreme Court judge dismissed those counterclaims in June, and American Park Place filed a notice of appeal in August. The court docket contains the filings. The appeal concerns the dismissed counterclaims, not the village’s underlying code-enforcement case.
Iron Smoke’s purchase does not resolve the dispute over the wider complex.
The distillery is marking its 15th anniversary with the Barrel House Collection, a limited series of three whiskeys: a five-year Maple Finish Bourbon, an eight-year Double Oaked and a 10-year Straight Bourbon. The company plans to introduce the 10-year bourbon at an anniversary celebration on Oct. 28.
Will Cleveland is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer. A former Democrat and Chronicle reporter, he writes about beer in the Finger Lakes region and Western New York on Substack.
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