July 18, 2024

A combination distillery, whiskey tasting room, retail store and whiskey/cigar lounge is coming to downtown Sioux Falls.

BlackFork Farms, which is near Brandt in eastern South Dakota, will expand its enterprise, taking over the former K Restaurant space along the boardwalk of 8th & Railroad Center for BlackFork Farms Distillery and the Pronghorn Club.

“We’re excited to be coming into Sioux Falls and to bring some of the finest whiskey made in South Dakota to Sioux Falls,” said Gordon Ommen, whose family has farmed north of Brandt since 1889.

BlackFork Farms started the large-scale craft whiskey and bourbon distillery 10 years ago, growing artisan grains such as Native American corn and legacy German dark rye for it on a small portion of the Ommen family’s 2,500-acre corn and soybean farm.

“We have nine styles of premium (whiskeys), predominantly bourbons,” Ommen said. “They use different grains, finished with different woods.”

The spirits are double-pot distilled in copper stills imported from Italy. One is called Poppe J. after Ommen’s great-great-grandfather who started the farm, and the other is Henry P. after his grandfather.

In addition to the field-to-glass distillery on the farm, there’s also a tasting room that’s open by appointment. It’s more frequently open during pheasant hunting season.

BlackFork also has a tasting room on Main Street in Deadwood that’s inside West River Whiskey Co.

The Sioux Falls location will have more extensive offerings.

The back patio will be turned into the Pronghorn Club, which will be the whiskey and cigar lounge, Ommen said. That likely won’t be available year-round; “maybe three-season rather than four is the better goal,” he said.

“We’re keeping the kitchen part of it,” he said of the former restaurant space, “so we can do some small plates and what we call pop-up events. We’d love to have chefs come in and do special dinners using our bourbons in the sauces.”

K’s former dining area will serve as the tasting room and bottle shop. BlackFork Farms bourbons and other whiskeys are already sold in Sioux Falls, at liquor stores such as JJ’s Wine, Spirits & Cigars and the ones in Hy-Vee.

Remodeling work has yet to be done inside the space, so Ommen is envision a soft opening in September that might be just on the patio.

The site will be an active distillery, he said. “We’re looking at a small still there. … We’ll have full barrels aging on-site, and we’ll do some blending.”

Hours for the tasting room haven’t been determined yet. “We’re trying to figure out what hours will be,” Ommen said. “We’re not a bar; we’re a tasting room. Most of the activity will be in the afternoon and early evening, unless there’s a pop-up event that will be longer.”

His daughter, Shannon, is moving from Dallas to Sioux Falls to be involved in the operation, and hiring will begin later.

Rendering by Studio MPLS

Getting to Sioux Falls has been a goal of BlackFork’s, Ommen said.

“We think it’s a really great spot,” he said of the location. “We had always been waiting for the right time and place. This is where we are.”