In the beginning, the building was the Walter’s Blacksmith shop, a marine blacksmith shop that produced ironworks for the shipbuilders, for example, anchors and chains.
When they opened in 2010, owners Lynn MacKay and Pierre Guevremont didn’t plan to offer rum. Local sugar cane was non-existent, and they were steadfast in remaining with local products.
The issue was during Prohibition Lunenburg was a rum-running town, so everyone kept asking about their rum.
After some problem-solving, their house-made rum evolved distilled from Canada’s Crosby’s molasses, a product from Nova Scotia’s neighbor New Brunswick.
Ironworks Distillery’s signature spirits include vodka made from apples grown in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley and liqueurs made from local berries.