Southern Distilling Company
Statesville, North Carolina 
Time-honored tradition distilled into exceptional bourbon and rye whiskeys
The Southern Distilling Company in Statesville, North Carolina, has abandoned the grand-standing façade that many boutique distilleries sport and instead produces small-batch bourbon and rye that earn a place in your glass without pre-tobacco hype.
Local farmers supply the grain – not some contrived “farm-to-barrel” touristic slogan – and every pot, mash and mash-tune is crafted by hands that actually know their grains.
Their Southern Star Double Rye is the real kicker: straight rye blended, then aged in bourbon barrels until the character sits on the tongue like a fine, no-fluff argument. Smooth, robust, and honest enough to win a cup of tea in any comparison.
The facility is so clean it could double as a white-washed ballroom, and the staff are the only people you can find who are erudite without being pretentious. They’ll serve cocktails made from house spirits and, during the tasting, explain bourbon lore like they’re giving a lecture to a former accountant who finally realised “yes, I was right.”
A short tour and a glass of their own whiskey is proof that quality still survives in a country that loves to over-blown itself.
