You know how sometimes the places you’ve been meaning to visit end up being right in your backyard? That was Noble Cut Distillery for me. It’s been sitting in an industrial park in Gahanna, practically in my backyard here in central Ohio, and despite talking about visiting for months, my wife and I finally made it happen yesterday. We met up with another couple to check out what this local operation was all about.

Spoiler: it’s a lot bigger than you’d think from the outside.

Finding Noble Cut: It’s Not Exactly on the Beaten Path

Noble Cut sits tucked away in the back of an industrial park—one of those areas with boxy, non-descript buildings that all kind of look the same. You’re not going to stumble across it by accident. But once you pull up and walk inside their tasting room, the whole vibe shifts.

The space is huge. I’m talking industrial loft meets modern taproom, with seating for maybe a hundred people, a sizeable bar, and an honest-to-God arcade filled with modern pinball machines off to one side. There’s even a dart room. The whole setup felt neat and open, way more expansive than I expected from a craft distillery tucked into an industrial park.

They’ve got craft cocktails featuring their spirits, a solid selection of local craft beers, and food service—primarily pizza, though I didn’t dive too deep into the full menu. Interesting quirk: the food operation seems to be run separately from Noble Cut itself, so you order and pay for food at a different spot than your drinks. The bottle shop sits in one corner where you can grab bottles of their spirits, some branded merchandise, and book your tour.

First impressions? This place knows how to create a hangout spot.

The Tour: Compact Operation, Impressive Output

Noble Cut runs tours on Saturdays at 12:30 and 3:00 PM. We showed up just before the 12:30 tour and they had room for us without a reservation, but the couple we were meeting hadn’t arrived yet. We opted to grab the vodka sauce pizza, have a drink and a flight, and catch the 3:00 PM tour instead. They accommodated us without any issues, though prebooking might be advisable on busier weekends—we lucked into availability.

Once it was time, we made our way through the arcade (yeah, through the pinball machines) into a smaller, more intimate tasting room. Leather couches, a bar, room for maybe twenty people. Our guide—didn’t catch his name, unfortunately—kicked things off with a PowerPoint presentation covering Noble Cut’s history, their product lineup, and the fundamentals of how whiskey and spirits are made.

Here’s where the family story gets interesting.

Prohibition-Era Roots and Italian Heritage

Noble Cut was founded in 2014 by Tony Guilfoy along with Ben Vause and other partners, though it took until 2018 for licensing, construction, and production to come together before they could start selling spirits. The name itself comes from the distillation process—”noble cut” refers to the “hearts cut,” the most desired portion of the distillate when a distiller separates unwanted alcohol from the final batch. That hearts cut is the only spirit used in any Noble Cut product.

But the spirits-making tradition in Tony’s family goes back a lot further than that. Tony’s maternal grandfather, Frank M. Bottchen, was making wine, whiskey, and moonshine during Prohibition and “distributing” it via U.S. mail. Being a natural-born German speaker working for the postal service, Grandpa Frank had routes between Kentucky, Illinois, and Oklahoma before eventually settling in St. Louis. Tony took what he learned from Grandpa Frank and bottled it in every bottle of whiskey Noble Cut produces.

On the other side of the family tree, Tony’s maternal grandmother, Nana Sarah, brought a limoncello recipe that dates back six generations from two different parts of Italy: Naples and a tiny village outside of Turin called Cuorgne. Her family immigrated to central Illinois in the 1920s, and that limoncello was reserved for Christmas and birthday presents. Now it’s one of Noble Cut’s flagship products, winning awards internationally.

Six generations. That’s older than sliced bread. Literally, sliced bread was invented in 1928.

Inside the Distillery Floor

After the presentation, we moved into the production area to see the mash tun, fermenters, still, and bottling operation. Here’s what caught me off guard: the equipment is surprisingly compact. I’ve been on distillery tours where the stills tower over you like something out of a sci-fi movie. Noble Cut’s setup is efficient, almost modest in scale.

But here’s the kicker, they’re producing up to 60,000 cases of spirits annually out of that compact operation. That’s impressive. They’ve got to be running an incredibly tight, efficient ship to hit those numbers with the footprint they’re working with.

Their whiskey mashbill runs 70% corn, 20% malted Vienna barley, and 10% winter rye. The limoncello process is where things get serious: they mix grain neutral spirit with hand-zested lemons and let it rest for 90 days. Then they add inverted simple syrup, let it rest another 2-4 weeks, and bottle it at 80 proof. That’s patience. That’s craft.

The tour gave you an up-close look at the whole operation, and our guide seemed genuinely knowledgeable about both their products and processes. For a local distillery tour experience, this delivers.

The Tasting: Where Noble Cut Really Shines

The tour wrapped with six small pours, and this is where you figure out what Noble Cut does best.

We sampled their two vodka varieties, one made with corn (VoHio, which is one of the top-selling Ohio-made vodkas as of 2025), the other with wheat. And here’s a clever bit of branding: Noble Cut has created state-specific vodka lines like VoPenn, VoTenn, and VoTucky, and others, each subtly branded with packaging colored to match major college sports programs. It’s a smart play that makes their vodka particularly attractive to college bars across multiple states. Both vodkas we tried have earned double gold at the SIP Awards, and they’re featured at several celebrity-owned bars in Nashville and Pigeon Forge, including spots licensed by Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, and Jason Aldean. The wheat vodka? Really solid. Smooth, clean, exactly what you want vodka to be.

Then came the flavored whiskey, their salted caramel, and this was my favorite pour of the day. The sweet and salty flavors hit a balance that wasn’t cloying or overdone. Viscous, smooth, almost soothing. Would I drink it straight again? Probably not straight. But would I use it in a cocktail? Absolutely. I could see this playing really well in something creative at home. Flavored whiskey was actually the niche Noble Cut set out to fill when they started, and according to Tony himself, converting people who say “I don’t drink whiskey” into fans is what he lives for.

We also tried their Creekside Bourbon (their whiskey mashbill expressed as bourbon), the limoncello, and for the sixth pour I went with their premixed Old Fashioned.

The Limoncello Experience

Full disclosure: I’m pretty sure this was my first time trying limoncello. I expected it to be sweeter than it was—almost like a liqueur. It wasn’t quite my thing, but I could absolutely see the appeal for others, especially knowing the family history and six-generation recipe behind it. There’s something cool about drinking something that’s been handed down through that many generations of one family.

Beyond the Tour: The Full Noble Cut Experience

Before the tour even started, we grabbed a flight at the bar—$7 for four pours, which felt like a solid deal. My wife ordered a Holy Smoke cocktail from the bar, and I had to sample it. Spot on delicious. Their craft cocktails are legit, and I’d absolutely go back just for those.

We also split a vodka sauce pizza topped with Italian sausage. The sauce was made with Noble Cut’s vodka, and it was excellent, tasty, well-prepared, and came out surprisingly fast. It’s worth mentioning that the food here isn’t an afterthought. It complements the whole experience.

The tasting room itself has that versatility you want in a local spot. You could bring friends for a casual hangout, catch a game, play some pinball, throw darts, or just post up at the bar with a cocktail and unwind. It’s got that neighborhood feel, even if the neighborhood happens to be an industrial park.

Who Should Visit Noble Cut Distillery?

If you’re in the Columbus, Ohio area and you’re looking for a local distillery tour experience, Noble Cut delivers. The tour guide was knowledgeable, you get an up-close look at the production process, and the tasting gives you a real sense of what they’re producing.

That said, this is a distillery that knows its lane. If you’re a fan of flavored whiskeys, limoncello, or craft vodka, you’ll find a lot to appreciate here. Their specialty products, the ones rooted in family recipes and award-winning formulations, are where they really shine. The flavored whiskey lineup was the niche they carved out from the beginning, and that salted caramel proves they know what they’re doing. The vodka is smooth and well-regarded (hence the celebrity bar placements and VoHio being one of Ohio’s top sellers), and that limoncello carries genuine heritage dating back six generations.

The public tasting room makes it more than just a tour stop. It’s a legitimate place to gather with friends, enjoy quality cocktails, and spend an afternoon. Between the drinks, the food, the games, and the welcoming atmosphere, there’s enough here to make it a repeat visit kind of spot—not just a one-and-done tour.

Final Thoughts

Noble Cut Distillery isn’t trying to be everything to everyone, and that’s part of what makes it work. They’ve carved out their niche with award-winning vodkas, a limoncello recipe that predates the Great Depression, and flavored whiskeys that show real craftsmanship. The family legacy woven through their flagship products gives the whole operation a sense of authenticity you can’t manufacture. Their products have expanded beyond Ohio into five other states, and they’re even producing custom cellos for Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, a testament to the quality they’re putting out.

Is it worth a visit? If you’re local to Columbus and you appreciate craft spirits, especially flavored whiskey, vodka, and limoncello, then yes. The tour’s informative, the tasting room’s a great hangout, and those craft cocktails are reason enough to come back.

Just don’t expect to spot it easily from the road. It’s hiding in plain sight, which somehow feels fitting for a distillery with Prohibition-era roots.

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Plan Your Visit

Noble Cut Distillery
750 Cross Pointe Rd, Suite K
Gahanna, OH 43230
Phone: (614) 532-9888
Website: noblecutdistillery.com

Hours:
Wednesday–Friday: Noon–5:00 PM
Saturday: Noon–5:00 PM
Sunday–Tuesday: Closed

Tours run Saturdays at 12:30 PM and 3:00 PM. While walk-ins may be accommodated, prebooking is recommended on busy weekends.

For more information about Noble Cut Distillery, check out their listing in our distillery directory.

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