Northern Latitudes Distillery likely won't move to its new location in Lake Leelanau until spring, but will be vacating its current space this month to honor an expiring lease. Leland’s Whaleback Inn has hit the market. Check out these and other local business updates in the Leelanau Ticker’s first roundup of 2025.

Northern Latitudes

In the fall of 2023, Northern Latitudes Distillery broke ground on a new 12,000-square-foot tasting room and production facility in Lake Leelanau, just down the road from its flagship location at 112 East Philip Street. Construction on the new space was initially slated to finish by Memorial Day 2024, but delays on the project scuppered those plans. Co-owner Mark Moseler, who runs Northern Latitudes along with his wife Mandy, told the Leelanau Ticker last July the new goal was to have the new location open by the end of 2024.

Northern Latitudes customers will have to wait a little longer.

In a recent post on the Northern Latitudes Distillery Facebook page, Mandy Moseler wrote that the new building is still “not ready yet.”

“We will be in this spring, but until then we are preparing our move out of the old Thunderbird Gift Shop,” Moseler wrote, referring to the previous occupant of the 112 East Philip Street space. Northern Latitudes has leased that building since October 2012, but did not renew due to the pending move. The lease “is finished January 31, 2025,” Moseler wrote, and Northern Latitudes has been in the process of “packing up 13 years of stuff” so it can vacate by the end of the month. 

This Friday will mark the final day of beverage service at the existing Northern Latitudes' Lake Leelanau space, which Moseler said “will allow us time to move out some of our bigger items” before the lease terminates. Hours for the week are noon-6pm today (Wednesday) and tomorrow, and noon-7pm on Friday. Local band Loose Change will be on hand to provide live music from 4:45-6:45pm on Friday.

While bar service will end, Moseler stressed that Northern Latitudes will continue to operate its gift shop at the 112 East Philip Street building until the end of the month, including bottle sales and 40 percent discounts on all Northern Latitudes “clothing, barware, cocktail napkins, signs and food items.” Northern Latitudes will also continue to operate its satellite location in Suttons Bay.

In other Leelanau business news…

>Whaleback Inn in Leland went back on the market last week, with owners Drew and Nicole Warner asking $5.6 million for the 4.33-acre property. The listing includes the property itself, which sits on the shores of North Lake Leelanau, as well as “five buildings totaling 9,244 square feet” and 18 short-term rental units. The Warners bought the Inn in 2018 after Drew, a realtor himself, cold-called the previous owners and struck a deal. The pair previously listed the Whaleback for sale in 2020 for $3.6 million, but ultimately did not sell it.

>Also for sale is Peninsula Perennial Nursery, a 10.5-acre plant nursery just south of Northport that grows and sells “a variety of perennials, flowering shrubs and trees, ground covers, and ornamental grasses.” The $995,000 listing encompasses both the business and the real estate, which includes a “charming 3-level, 3-bed/2.5-bath custom-full-log-home” built in 2015, as well as a barn, a garage, and three hoop houses.

>Shady Lane Cellars recently announced the launch of a brand-new winter book club. The program will kick off from 5-7pm on Thursday, January 30 with a conversation about Murder in the Merlot by Michigan-based author Aaron Stander. That book is the eighth installment in Stander’s ongoing series about protagonist Ray Elkins, a sheriff who solves mysteries in rural northern Michigan. Those interested in participating can subscribe for updates via the Shady Lane website. Book club members will get 10 percent off wine purchases at Shady Lane. The winery has also partnered with Bay Books “so locals can purchase books in town.” Sessions will take place at the Shady Lane's Suttons Bay tasting room, with each book getting a curated wine pairing. For Murder in the Merlot, the pairing is Shady Lane’s Hartwick Red, described as “a red blend barrel-aged in French oak with expressions of dried cherry, espresso and earthy truffles.”

>MAWBY’s partnership with Mundos Coffee – which will eventually bring a MAWBY tasting bar to the Mundos 305 location in downtown Traverse City – is on hold. Mundos owner Dan Clark told the Traverse City Ticker earlier this month that the business “got word that wine service at Mundos 305 will not be approved by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission anytime soon,” though he remains hopeful approval could happen down the road. Despite the pause, MAWBY announced last week the flagship wine for the new collaboration, called the Mundos Cuvée, would be released anyway. That wine, infused with a small amount of Mundos’ espresso coffee blend, is now available in the MAWBY tasting room and via the winery’s website.

>Martha’s Leelanau Table in Suttons Bay is seeking a new head chef.

>Timberlee Hills marked its “first full weekend of tubing this season” over the weekend. Tubing tickets for the remainder of the 2025 season are available for purchase on Timberlee’s website.

>On a brief winter break since the beginning of the year, Two K Farms near Suttons Bay will reopen its tasting room for business this Friday, January 17.

>Today (Wednesday) marks the start of Farm Club’s Winter Rations Club, a six-week program of take-home dinners. Each Wednesday pickup includes a loaf of bread, a quart of soup, and either a 750-milliliter bottle or a six-pack of Farm Club beer or cider, “plus a special pantry item from the farm saved for these wintery moments.” Per Farm Club’s website, the rations in each category have been “thoughtfully paired to complement one another and create a special winter-eating experience.” The program runs today until February 19, and while registrations for the full six-week program have closed, Farm Club is also offering prorated memberships for customers that want to join in future weeks.

>Hop Lot is doing a “Family Day Sundays” promotion this winter, with free s’mores, free hot chocolate, and half-off prices for kids' menu items.

>Yeti Fest, the Suttons Bay Chamber of Commerce’s midwinter celebration, is scheduled for Saturday, February 15 10:30am-5:30pm. The event’s Yeti mascot recently made a pilgrimage to Detroit for a Lions game.