Although Death's Door Spirits sought bankruptcy protection from creditors, company officials said a Chicago-area buyer is interested in the business.

"We already have an interested buyer who has submitted a bid," said Margaret Ebeling, Death's Door marketing director. "We're super optimistic that we will come out of this stronger than before."

The company is fully operational during the court action, she said.

Death's Door Spirits LLC filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors on Nov. 21 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. The filing indicates it has less than 50 creditors, less than $1 million in assets and about $5.2 million in debts.

RELATED: Police searching for missing Door County man

RELATED: Sturgeon Bay woman who fell 34 feet onto cement shares story 9 years later of hope, thanks

Court filings indicate one of Death's Door's largest liabilities, $3.6 million, is to Serralles USA, a Texas-based maker of Don Q rum that signed a partnership with Death's Door in 2011 to provide sales and marketing assistance. Death's Door officials told spirits industry websites the partnership with Serralles had come to an end.

The Middleton-based distillery was founded in 2005 and included a plan to work with Washington Island farmers for harvest of wheat used in the distillation of spirits.

The company also hosted Death's Door Juniper Harvest in Washington Island, which included bar industry professionals from around the nation learning about the role of wild juniper in making gin and harvest the berries. The annual event included a two-hour stint of volunteer work for participants at the community school.

"We're going to continue to be a mainstay (in Middleton) and Washington Island," Ebeling said.

Death's Door takes its name from the body of water that separates Washington Island from the Door County peninsula. Sudden squalls and converging currents from Green Bay and Lake Michigan caused hundreds of shipwrecks with the early French explorers naming it Porte des Morts, or Door of Death.

News of the bankruptcy was surprising and saddening, said Doug DeLaporte, owner of Nelsen's Hall Bitters Pub, Washington island. The pub stocks Death's Door products.

There's pride among the community to have an association with businesses that develop products based on Washington Island, DeLaporte said.

"Tourists will see we carry Death's Door gin and vodka and specifically ask for it. They make good products and we're proud to carry them," DeLaporte said.

The bankruptcy protection allows the sale of the assets to a buyer who will have the necessary liquidity and capital to take the brand to the next level, Ebeling said.

The company ended it's sales and distribution relationship with Serralles USA and has re-registered through USA Wine West.

The connection to Washington Island is integral to the Death's Door brand, Ebeling said.

"The relationship with Washington Island is part of our ethos, part of our story that we'll continue," she said.