Wilmington, NC is known for being a craft beer hub, but the Port City has been booming with distilleries as of late. Since 2020, almost a half dozen have opened in the area. Find out all about them in The Complete Guide To Distilleries In Wilmington, NC.
If you’re planning a trip to the area, check out all of our Wilmington, NC posts.
Wilmington, NC has over a dozen craft breweries in the area. So it just feels natural that the city is now home to a half dozen distilleries too.
Well, almost a half dozen. It’s getting there. Which is wild since in 2020, the Wilmington area’s first two distilleries opened. Before that, there were none. So a half dozen in two years feels like a boom.
Generally with these sorts of lists, we wait for a location to be open for a year before we add it to the list. In this case, we’re taking our chances and listing them all so that this can be a complete guide to Wilmington’s distilleries.
Planning a trip to Wilmington?
There’s more to do than drink at the distilleries. Figure out what else the Cape Fear region has to offer in this Wilmington, North Carolina Travel Guide.
The Complete Guide To Distilleries In Wilmington, NC
Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.
We don’t have any association with any of these distilleries, and our information on hours is based on the most up to date information we can find online.
Be sure to double check the hours before you head out.
End Of Days Distillery
Address: 1815 Castle St.
Phone: 910-399-1133
Hours: Wednesday and Thursday: 11 am to 9 pm; Friday and Saturday: 11 am to 10 pm; Sunday: noon to 6 pm; Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Website
End of Days Distillery was Wilmington’s first official distillery and the first with a tasting room. The distillery opened in February 2020, which ended up being rough timing. We were actually able to get there the second weekend it was open, before it pivoted to make hand sanitizer
The distillery makes rum, vodka, and gin, plus canned cocktails. All are available at the shop at the location, so you can purchase those and leave or you can stay and enjoy one of the craft cocktails on the menu.
What’s very cool, for people like me who don’t drink, are nine of the cocktails can be made non-alcoholic. So you can enjoy a fancy drink and still drive home.
And, since opening, the Concept Kitchen Co. has been added on the property. It’s a pop up kitchen where chefs come and cook, often trying out new menu items. The chefs and menu rotate all the time, so it’s a really fun (no pun intended) concept.
Check out our full End of Days Distillery review.
Momentum Distillery
Address: 318 Nutt Street; Wilmington
Phone: 910-599-4999
Hours: Monday to Saturday: 10:30 am to 6 pm; Sunday: noon to 5 pm
Website
Momentum, as a brand, may sound very familiar to anyone who has visited Wilmington because it started as a skate and surf shop on Front Street in Downtown Wilmington. There was a long progression from the skate and surf shop, with a stop at owning a popular music venue, to opening the distillery.
Momentum Distillery began in 2020, but didn’t open until a soft opening until April 2022.
The distillery currently sells vodka, limoncello, and bourbon, some of which comes in very cool North Carolina-shaped bottles.
Wilmington Distillery
Address: 12 Dock St.; Wilmington
Phone: 910-399-1495
Hours: Wednesday: 5 pm to midnight; Thursday: 3 pm to 1 am; Friday: 3 pm to 2 am; Saturday: noon to 2 am; Sunday: noon to midnight; Monday: 3 am to midnight; Closed Tuesday.
Website
Wilmington Distillery is the brain child of a Wilmington resident who owns IZZYz, a white rum distilled in Jacksonville. He started selling it back in 2018 and it can be found in local ABC stores.
Wilmington Distillery will be the first storefront for IZZYz. It sells rum (white and spiced), vodka, and moonshine. You can purchase bottles at the distillery or sit at the bar at have mixed drinks there.
Whenever we’ve stopped in, the staff is nothing short of fantastic. As a consensus, though, we always say we should just grab some bottles and take them home to make our own drinks rather than getting some at the bar.
Wilmington, NC Distilleries: Frequently Asked Questions
As of 2025, there are six distilleries in the Wilmington, NC area.
End of Days Distillery is the oldest distillery and tasting room in Wilmington, NC. It opened in February 2020.
Blue Shark Vodka opened before End of Days, but it is located in the Wilmington area, not Wilmington proper.
Distilleries Near Wilmington, NC:
Blue Shark Vodka
Address: 206 Causeway Drive; Wrightsville Beach
Phone: 910-399-5199
Hours: n/a
Website
Blue Shark Vodka was Wilmington’s first distillery. Except it’s technically in Wrightsville Beach, but on the border of Wrightsville and Wilmington.
Blue Shark Vodka sells, you guessed it, vodka. The bottles are adorable because there’s a tiny shark suspended in the bottle. Sort of like the worm in mezcal, but not alive and not moving. So, maybe not like the worm. But still, an animal in a bottle.
Anyway.
Blue Shark Vodka doesn’t have a taproom, so you can’t go there and enjoy some cocktails. But you can pick up Blue Shark Vodka in local ABC Stores as well as in huge places like Las Vegas. Seriously. It’s sold there. And it was started here. Wild.
Four Hounds Distilling
Address: 1202 N. Lake Park Blvd.; Carolina Beach
Phone: 910-945-0880
Hours: Wednesday to Saturday: 12 pm to 8 pm; Sunday: 12 pm to 5 pm
Website
Four Hounds Distilling is in the Wilmington area, but not Wilmington itself. It’s in Carolina Beach, which is Wilmington-adjacent.
Four Hounds opened in the fall of 2021 and within a year moving into its second location because it outgrew its original location. So that’s amazing.
The distillery has three flagship craft rums (only one has a dog-related name), which you can drink as is or in cocktails with house dried fruit. You can purchase the rums to bring home, plus things like rum soaked smoker chips, which is just a cool souvenir to bring home if you’re visiting on vacation.
Mason Inlet Distillery
Mason Inlet Distillery hit the Wilmington scene very shortly after End of Days Distillery, and brought a new product to the area: brandy. Since Mason Inlet Distillery used fruit, not sugar, it technically made brandies.
But, here’s the thing. As of June 2025, I can’t figure out if it’s still open. It’s Facebook page hasn’t been updated since December 2020 and it’s website redirects to a clothing brand.
Which distillery in Wilmington, NC is first on your list? Let us know in the comments.
Shannon at FitLifeTravel
Thursday 26th of May 2022
Really informative article here! North Carolina is on our radar to visit some family in the Davey County area. Looking forward to it!