Two sets of artisan distillers from different parts of the county are setting up shop in a renovated mill along the so-called "Cultural Corridor."
iBerkshires.com   reports Ryan Max Riley was looking for something different when he brought his rum distillery to Greylock Works from the high mountains of Colorado.
The rum distillery's cocktail lounge was in the process of being put together and will be open on Wednesday for a joint Williamstown and North Adams Chambers of Commerce mixer.
Riley and his wife, Emily Vasiliauskas, had been looking for an appropriate space in the Berkshires for Ski Bum Rum after she was offered a teaching position at nearby Williams College.
"It could have been in a number of towns. But the old mills here, they're so beautiful," he said."And they're empty — but there's such potential. So this seems like the coolest mill with the best vision behind it."
Matt Brogan described Riley's actions as a "leap of faith," and one that inspired he and his wife, Katherine Hand, situate their cidery from the urban environs of the Big Apple to Greylock Works in the bucolic Berkshires.
The distillery operations are part of the long-term vision for the former Greylock mill, a sprawling 240,000 square-foot complex being redeveloped by New York developers and designers Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry.
Riley's one-man operation was approved last year to continue producing his award-winning rum.

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