NEWPORT, Ky. — Newport’s New Riff Distilling completed renovations on The Aquifer — a $3 million project that transformed a former private event space on the distillery’s third floor into a tasting and cocktail bar.
Customers now have unimpeded views of the Cincinnati skyline from The Aquifer, with the bonus of being able to walk around the outdoor patio that borders the bar. There is also a private room that’s available to rent.
The bar’s namesake is derived from the underground aquifer that sits directly underneath the distillery grounds. New Riff pulls water from that aquifer and uses it to distill spirits.
“It’s great to have a place where anybody can come and have a drink and really taste everything that that New Riff has to offer,” New Riff Director of Marketing Bobby Straka told LINK nky.
New Riff selected Schumacher Dugan as the project’s general contractor. Firms such as Platte Architecture + Design, Luminaut, HAWA Inc, KLH Engineers, Goodfire Design, and Durham Studios were involved with other aspects of the project, such as design and planning.
The Aquifer was previously located on the first floor in New Riff’s gift shop area. Relocating The Aquifer was only one aspect of the project, though, as the first-floor gift shop, welcoming station, and pre-tour waiting were also overhauled. Renovations to the first floor were completed last July.
Renovations kicked off last April, with New Riff remaining open throughout the project. Straka said the project was completed “on schedule.”
From a business perspective, Straka said moving The Aquifer to the third floor allows the distillery to attract more customers during the weekends, specifically on Friday and Saturday when people are doing the distillery tour.
“What’s cool about this space is it gives us a place to host people any day of the week, so we get a lot of visitors to Cincinnati into Northern Kentucky and when they come here, they want to experience some of the things that are unique to Kentucky like bourbon,” Straka said. “Now have a space that visitors, locals — anybody can come and grab a drink.”
