In the middle of Monroe's social district, a local couple has quietly turned more than $500,000 into copper, glass and fruit. Their project, Vetus Distillery, is a new downtown operation bottling Bulgarian-style rakia and other fruit brandies while trying to lure Charlotte-area drinkers into a 6,500-square-foot production and tasting space. The idea is simple but ambitious: marry Old World Balkan recipes with North Carolina-grown fruit, spotlight regional farms and give Monroe a fresh nightlife draw.
Big Money, Small Batches
The more-than-$500,000 investment was first reported by the Charlotte Business Journal, which detailed how the couple used the funds to buy equipment, renovate the downtown space and scale up production. The outlet covered the investment on May 4, 2026 and noted that the owners are positioning Vetus as a niche producer in a region that usually leans toward beer and bourbon.
What They're Making
Inside, Vetus Distillery is focused on fruit-based brandies modeled on Bulgarian rakia, including fig, plum and peach expressions, along with vodka and rum made from local ingredients. The business bills itself as a family operation that "brings the Spirit of the Balkans" to Monroe, using local fruit and traditional distilling cuts to shape its lineup.
According to the distillery's website, the tasting room and shop run on a limited public schedule, and visitors can book guided tastings online. Vetus Distillery outlines the products on offer and how to visit.
Official Paperwork and Owners
State records confirm the operation behind the bar. Vetus Distillery LLC holds active distillery and tasting permits issued June 14, 2025 and lists Katerina (Kate) Kercheva and Diyan Mitev as company officers. The North Carolina ABC Commission's permit page shows the business's downtown Monroe address and its active permit types, matching the couple's public profile as founders and operators. The North Carolina ABC Commission provides the permit details and officer names.
Why It Matters For Drinkers
For Charlotte-area drinkers, Vetus offers something you do not see on every back bar: a distillery tasting experience centered on an Eastern European style that few U.S. producers touch, according to Craft Spirits Magazine. The publication covered Vetus's 2025 debut and highlighted both the founders' guided tasting format and the roughly 6,500-square-foot production space.
All of this is happening while the broader craft spirits world is feeling the squeeze. The American Craft Spirits Association has reported a cooling market, with sales declines and rising pressures on small producers. The American Craft Spirits Association's 2025 data project lays out those headwinds, which makes a seven-figure-adjacent local buildout stand out even more.
Right now, Vetus runs public tastings on select days and sells bottles online, with booking and hours listed on its site. Vetus Distillery details the schedule and tasting options. For neighbors, the Balkan-style brandy operation might be the downtown twist needed to boost evening foot traffic and send more business toward local farms. Whether this Monroe-grown experiment ends up on shelves far beyond the region is the next chapter to watch.
