THREE OAKS — “Journeyman Distillery has a lot of fun stuff going on over the next two weekends,” said Tiffany Daugherty, brand ambassador for the distillery and restaurant located in Three Oaks. “I’m really excited!”

There’s a lot to be excited about, including a few first-time-ever events, like their Tarred, Whipped and Feathered President’s Day event on Feb. 17 and their Viking Fest on Feb. 22.

“This coming weekend, we have events happening every evening: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday,” Daugherty said. “Friday will be our Valentine’s Day Candlelit Cocktail night. It will be a very romantic evening.”

President’s Day Weekend Events begin the following day with the first public serving of Federalist 12, Journeyman’s new rye whiskey.

“On the Saturday the 15th, we’ll be having our Tarred, Whipped, and Feathered event,” Daugherty said. “We took George Washington’s original recipe for rye whiskey that he distilled while he was in office, and we distilled it on President’s Day one year ago. Now, it’s ready.”

The names of the event and the whiskey come from the Twelfth Federalist Paper. In that document, Alexander Hamilton advocated the taxing of whiskey. When his idea was enacted as law, the Whiskey Rebellion erupted, during which time tax collectors were tarred, whipped and feathered.

“At that whiskey release party, we’ll have entertainment from Peter Nye, the lead singer from Peter Nye and the Chicago Bluegrass Band,” Daugherty said. “It’s always the place to be when he comes to town.”

Robert Rolfe Fedderson will be playing at Journeyman on Sunday evening, and then the distillery will host a special VIP Distillery Dinner featuring their Federalist 12 Whiskey on the evening of Monday, Feb. 17.

“That will be a four-course dinner for $60 plus tax and tip. It’s from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. on Monday,” Daugherty said. “Our founder will be there, too. We’ve had a great response so far, and it should be a great weekend for Harbor Country.”

The fun at Journeyman will continue the following weekend with the Viking Fest on Feb. 22.

“This will be our first year for the Viking Fest. We’ve had to twist it a little bit because of some problems with liability insurance, but it’s still an indoor-outdoor, Viking-themed event,” Daugherty said. “We had to drop the team-games aspect, so, now it’s more of a Viking Fest.”

The all-day event will feature special menu items, a Viking-themed cocktail, indoor and outdoor games, and a costume contest.

“A lot of people love winter in Michigan. They come here to ski, to snowboard, to do lots of winter activities, and we want to celebrate that,” Daugherty explained. “Michigan is an all-seasons destination, not just a summer destination, and we’re emphasizing that. We want to encourage people to get outside and have some fun here.”

To that end, the distillery has obtained a permit to have a fire outside.

“We’ll be serving a special cocktail, our Journeyman mead, made with white whiskey honey for $5. That will be served along with several other hot cocktails,” Daugherty said. “Along with our regular menu, we’ll be serving some things that Vikings would have eaten—hearty, warm comfort food, like turkey legs and other things like that.”

In addition to games and foods, Journeyman has lined up an entire day’s worth of entertainment, with music provided by Jay Cook, Robert Rolfe Feddersen and Melanie Budd with Daniel Connolly.

“We’ll have bands playing all day long, from 12 until 10 p.m.,” Daugherty said. “People are encouraged to dress up and come in Viking costumes. We’ll have a contest, and they could win a prize.”

More information about these events can be found on Journeyman Distillery’s Facebook page, and on their website at www.journeymandistillery.com.