ソーントン・ディスティリング（Thornton Distilling Co.）蒸溜所

Thornton Distilling Co. is a craft distillery and brewing operation founded in 2014 by Andrew Howell and Jake Weiss, located at 400 East Margaret Street in Thornton, Illinois—a south Chicago suburb. The distillery operates from the oldest standing brewery building in Illinois, a historic structure built in 1857, which lends the operation a sense of deep local heritage.

Thornton Distilling is the maker of Dead Drop Spirits, a brand name drawn from Prohibition-era bootlegging terminology—a "dead drop" was a secret location where barrels of whiskey were left for pickup, outside the reach of authorities. The brand honors that clandestine craft tradition with a lineup of carefully curated bourbon expressions.

The signature product is Dead Drop Straight Bourbon Whiskey, a blend of high-rye straight bourbons bottled at 47% ABV (94 proof). The selection emphasizes complexity and fruit-forward baking spice character. Thornton is also recognized for producing Illinois's first single malt whiskey to use locally sourced Illinois peat, making it a genuine pioneer in regional malt whiskey innovation.

Additional Dead Drop expressions include Dead Drop Pecan Whiskey—a collaboration with the last remaining pecan farm in Illinois, bottled at 43% ABV—and a special Barrel 185 release of six-year straight bourbon finished in Oregon clover blossom honey barrels at 94 proof, limited to 230 bottles. The distillery hosts tastings on-site and is distributed across Illinois and neighboring states.