As the season of spirits manifests into full bloom, it’s fitting that another type of spirit is set to be unleashed in Bristol’s booming Unity Park.

The O’Brien & Brough Distillery and Tasting Room is set to open on Nov. 19, and whiskey connoisseurs and novices alike are sure to be in for a treat when they step through the doors.

“I've been interested in spirits my entire life, and I've spent a lot of years studying, brewing and distilling and trying to learn as much as I could about whiskey and tasting every single whiskey that I possibly could,” said Adam O’Brien, a Barrington resident who founded the distillery in 2020 alongside his wife, Natalie O’Brien-Brough. “At some point I just realized that I had to try to do my own thing, and this is the form it took.”

The culmination of a long-time dream, O’Brien & Brough strives to create wholly unique experiences for patrons, whether they’re looking for a warm, seasonal cocktail or a perfectly crafted old fashioned.

While they have a single still for some small-scale production distilling of their own, the key to success for the entrepreneurial young couple, they believe, is all in the process of blending and maturing existing spirits into sensory perfection.

“We figured there's a ton of great distilleries already around doing the distillation portion,” Adam said. “So we thought, why don't we just focus on getting cool whiskeys from places around the country, Canada, hopefully the world, bringing them here, and doing what we can to make them even better?”

Initially, they look to craft one whiskey, which will be used for a variety of cocktails — something for every kind of palate.

“Whiskey can be intimidating sometimes too,” said Natalie. “And we want to make this an inviting place open for people to ask questions and try different cocktails.”

O’Brien is a passionate student of finding unique blends for whiskeys. He spent years in his former career as an A/V engineer for Suffolk University (where he met Natalie, who was a theater major turned contracts and intellectual property lawyer after graduating from Suffolk Law in 2019).

“A lot of what the A/V world is is signal flow,” he said. “It's piecing together things in a process, and distilling and blending is the same thing. It's just completely different materials.”

Unity Park evolution continues
Looking for spaces to open a distillery is no easy task, the couple said. They estimated they are only the 10th licensed distillery in Rhode Island, and finding the right combination of legal zoning and attractive location was tricky. But when they saw a sign advertising space at Unity Park, they knew it was meant to be.

Through a little Rhode Island magic — Adam’s mother lives in Bristol, and helped them get in touch with Unity Park owner Joe Brito — they signed their lease in September of 2021.

But the small world of Little Rhody made itself even more apparent after they began the process of building out the space.

“We found out later that this used to be M&L Traps,” Adam said. “My mom worked there years ago, when I was a kid. And we had no idea.” Natalie recalled Adam’s mom walking in and remarking, “Oh yea, I’ve been here before,” with a laugh.

The couple has already found the arms of fellow Unity Park businesses to be wide open. There’s already talk of collaborations with Borealis Coffee and Pivotal Brewing. “Everyone here has just been awesome,” Natalie said.

Guests who visit the distillery can expect a warm, cozy atmosphere with plenty of seats for mingling — a classy decor with exposed brick and plenty of modern, industrial finishes pays homage to the building’s long history. As much as they want to provide a unique, delicious whiskey experience, Adam and Natalie want to provide a memorable experience.

“I've been wanting to make my own whiskey forever, but I never thought it would be a realistic career option,” Adam said. “This is definitely Adam’s dream,” added Natalie.