09-07-2025
Taos-based Rolling Still Distillery set to expand with the help of state funding
Jul. 8—Rolling Still Distillery is on a roll.
The Taos-based craft distillery is the recipient of $50,000 in state funding, the New Mexico Economic Development Department announced in a news release on Tuesday. The funds will be used to expand the company's workforce and manufacturing operations.
The business currently has 16 full-time employees and operates out of a 2,100-square-foot manufacturing space and two retail lounges in Taos County. With help from the New Mexico Local Economic Development Act, or LEDA, the distillery will relocate its manufacturing to a 5,500-square-foot facility in Taos and hire 26 new, full-time employees.
"It is pretty great that the state is actively trying to support small businesses such as ourselves in a rural area," said Dan Irion, a distiller and managing member. "It does enable us to do these projects. Without this kind of funding, we would probably be doing something completely different."
Irion said the company purchased the 5,500-square-foot facility back in 2023 but came across challenges as he and his team attempted to transform the space, a blighted former gas station that has sat empty for nearly two decades.
Irion said rehabilitating a "net negative in our community into a net positive" aligns with the company's values, but he found that restoring blight comes with added costs. The company anticipates spending roughly $850,000 on the project and completing it by May 2026.
"It's a much bigger project than just building something from the ground up," he said.
In addition to LEDA funding, the distillery was also awarded Job Training Incentive Program funds to train up to five workers.
JTIP Program Manager Patrick Gannon said he and his team will be in talks with the company over the next few weeks to determine the details of the new positions, the timeline to hire and what that funding will entail.
Rolling Still Distillery was started by Nicole Barady and Liza Barrett and their husbands, Scott Barady and Irion, in 2018. Today, the company distributes its craft spirits to stores in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.
"Giving growth-driving businesses like this a chance to thrive makes a huge impact on the community," New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Rob Black said in a statement. "Every job in these rural markets creates a ripple effect that supports families and strengthens our local economies."
