CLEVELAND, Ohio — Towpath Distillery may have only started selling its full line of spirits from its facility inside of The Merchant Tavern in Akron in 2022. But the family history of the brand traces back to the Prohibition days, with roots on the Towpath Trail that the distillery is named after.
Anthony Piscazzi founded Towpath Distillery during the COVID-19 pandemic. His family history of distilling traces back to 1918, when his great-grandfather Rocco Piscazzi made his way to Northeast Ohio from Southern Italy. He teamed up with Dick Percocco, known as Whiskey Dick in Akron, to make illegal whiskey out of Orville for folks in the area.
The stories from the Piscazzi family sound like they’re made for a classic mob film. Percocco worked as a bail bondsman, which helped the pair avoid trouble with the local crime family syndicates, which were the main competitors in the counterfeit booze business. The folks in the crime families relied on help from the bail bondsman to avoid jail time, so they teamed up.
“They would use the towpath to ship things back and forth,” Anthony explained. Today, you can walk on the towpath from the distillery and see family landmarks like his great grandfather’s old house or former family restaurant.
Anthony had an interest in distilling since he was little as he grew up hearing his grandfather Joe Piscazzi tell stories about the family lore. Piscazzi has been a winemaker himself for 65 years, which undoubtedly helped pave Anthony’s future path as a wine distributor and later distillery owner. For example, Towpath Distillery uses wine barrels that Anthony and Joe use in their at-home winemaking operations to age the brand’s Wine Barrel Bourbon, a distillery-exclusive product.
The Piscazzi family has also had restaurants in some form since the 1930s, so it wasn’t a surprise that Anthony opened his first restaurant, The Merchant Tavern, in 2013. At the time, the restaurant prioritized stocking Ohio-made spirits, with Anthony always thinking about creating his own in the future.
“It was kind of a mix of something I was interested in,” Anthony said. “And we had the space – we had the opportunity.” He added that at the time, there were no other distilleries in the Akron area.
More from the Spirited Women Ohio series
The Merchant Tavern had a sizeable empty room that Anthony realized would make a great distillery. After learning about the process and shadowing a distillery in New Orleans in 2019, he began the process of building his own. The COVID-19 pandemic gave him some downtime to transform the restaurant’s bonus room into a distillery. By 2021, he released his first products to the public.
“I think we might have one of the smallest distilleries in Ohio,” Anthony laughed.
Towpath Distillery’s first product was its vodka, which makes sense due to its quick turnaround time and large customer base. Due to Anthony’s quick moves, the brand was able to start its bourbon early and release it by 2022.
The bourbon has been an explosive product for Towpath Distillery, with the spirit neck-and-neck with vodka as the brand’s best-seller. Towpath rents out another space just for producing its whiskey while making everything else, and bottling, onsite. Its whiskey barrels are aging in various warehouses in the area for the sake of saving space.
Attention to detail is key for Anthony and Towpath’s head distiller David Sheffer. For example, Sheffer does micro distillations of individual botanicals when researching the flavor profile for Towpath’s gin expressions. It’s not just a whole lot of science – Sheffer and his crew can be seen in the space hand-scrape vanilla beans for spiced rum during production.
Sheffer is a fellow Akron native who spent time in the wine business before landing in distilling. He and Anthony met during their wine business days before Sheffer moved to Napa Valley to become a winemaker.
He moved back to Northeast Ohio during the pandemic with a changed perspective on life. “It was a natural time to look back home,” Sheffer explained.
With his background in studying biochemistry and making wine, a head distilling gig working for his old friend Anthony seemed like a perfect fit for his next phase of life.
Sheffer spent some time reorienting his winemaking skills to apply them to distilling. He spent time with a friend, who is also a distiller, in Mississippi to learn the ropes. From there, it’s been a lot of trial and error for Towpath Distillery to end up with its core line of award-winning spirits.
“The Venn Diagram overlap between winemaking and distillation is pretty strong,” Sheffer said. “There’s a lot of similar skills and technical knowledge.”
Towpath Distillery may only be a few years old, but Anthony already has his sights set on moving the operation into a bigger space. The idea would be to have all operations, from whiskey production to bottling to barrel aging, all under one roof. The new space, which Anthony is still scouting a location for, would have a tasting room.
“The plan was to outgrow it, but it’s a good starting point,” Anthony said.
Aside from trying Towpath Distillery’s spirits, The Merchant Tavern is, itself, a dining destination. The pub and restaurant has an elevated menu, with standout dishes like pork belly poutine, coconut curry mussels and country-fried pork. The cocktail menu also highlights the house spirits, with delicious takes on classics like a Ramos Gin Fizz or Merchant Manhattan.
Towpath Distillery’s products can be purchased in several retail stores across Ohio and in Louisville, Kentucky. Its colorfully-labeled products are also easily spotted behind fellow Northeast Ohio bars and restaurants.
Aside from its core spirits, releases like the Holiday Spiced Rum and Winter Gin are memorable sips. Towpath Distillery also does retail sales out of the restaurant space.
“We’re loving the reception from Northeast Ohio mostly so far,” Anthony said. “We’re really trying to dig our roots deep here, being guys who were born and raised here, left and came back.”
Know Before You Go
Where: Towpath Distillery inside The Merchant Tavern, 1824 Merriman Rd., Akron
Hours: 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday; 4 p.m. to midnight, Friday; Noon to midnight, Saturday; 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday
Contact: (330) 865-9510
Dress code: Casual
Seating: Bar seating, tables and booths
Vibe: Relaxed bar and restaurant
Entertainment: None
Food: Upscale bar food lunch and dinner
Parking: Lot
At Cleveland.com, “Spirited Women” Alex Darus and Paris Wolfe are on the job exploring Northeast Ohio distilleries. The duo will visit distilleries throughout the region and share histories, vibes, spirits, prices, menus and entertainment. Follow their adventures on the Spirited Women page on cleveland.com, on Instagram at DineDrinkCLE. You can also hear them talk spirits on the DineDrinkCLE podcast.
Alex Darus writes about food, dining and drinking for Cleveland.com, check out her latest posts here. You can reach her with story ideas at adarus@cleveland.com. Follow her on Instagram @alex_darus.
Ad Choices