Over the last few years, craft beer exploded in Tampa, but now craft spirits and liquor wants its turn.

Craft rum distillery 82 West Distilling, opened a few months ago in Seminole Heights and recently celebrated its grand opening with neighbor Wine Bar Cafe on Saturday (Oct. 27).

Longtime friends Kevin Casey and Joey Boochby shared a passion for craft liquor and often wondered why there weren't any in Tampa already. They soon realized it was because there was not any zoning for it.

So they worked with the City of Tampa on zoning to allow craft distilleries and began construction March 2015 at 6430 N Florida Ave at the corner of Lambright St in the space previously home to Larry Jackson Automotive.

"We picked Seminole Heights because it's such a big local, supporting area," said co-owner Kevin Casey.

"The neighborhood really embraced us, we learned a lot and saw the direction the community was going. We saw people investing and a huge support for small business, local people coming in and putting their heart and soul into the community. So it was nice to see an older part of Tampa coming back to life."

The distillery features three different rum flavors, two spice rums and one more traditional spice rum called Paradise. 82 West Distillery prides itself on sing real spices in its rums, as opposed to a liquid.

They offer free samples, and bottles of rum range from $25 to $45. For more information visit 82westrum.com/.

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