South Mountain Distilling Company

I have been on a bourbon kick lately. On my way to Asheville for a weekend trip, I stopped by to visit South Mountain Distilling. Donald Smith was super nice and gave us the overview of his family history in distilling. We tasted 3 whiskey's that he produced, the Sinister, Dignified, and Cherry Bounce. These are either family recipes or in the case of Cherry Bounce a famous recipe of Amos Owens who bought/owned Cherry Mountain. I bought 1 bottle each mainly to just support him and his vision for making great whiskey. It is tough to get started in this business, since you need to age the whiskey for years. I think Sinister was aged just 2.5 years, Dignified 3.5 and can't recall on Cherry Bounce. Don also showed us Old Bessie the still he designed. Its a great visit and worth stopping in to see on your way down I40.

What a great locally family owned distillery! Not only do they have very good quality liquor ( whiskey, rum and a moonshine) Owners Don, his Mom and Wife along with David "Doc" , are really down to earth friendly people that will gladly give you the family history on moonshining. Everything is done in this one building, the mash, the brew and the bottling. It's also a nice gift shop that sells shirts, hats, glass wear, canned goodies like jams and sauces. They offer tours and tastings for $10. It was really cool being able to see the mash cooking away. What other Distillery can you do that at? One thing that is an absolute thing to do, is they have a program where you can do your own bottle. They show you ( and you do the work) from start to finish until you have bottled your own liquor with your name on the bottle.

Fantastic distillery owned by down to earth friendly folks. Lots of history in the building with the Distillery and gift shop. Products are excellent and worth a sample and purchase. Skip ABC and buy direct and support a local business.