Medium & Craft Distillery Founders
Southern U. S. States
Mississippi & South Carolina
(NOTE: FOUNDERS ARE LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
1
Scott Blackwell
High Wire Distillery
Scott Blackwell is the co-founder, distiller, and driving creative force behind High Wire Distilling, located in Charleston, South Carolina. Alongside his wife, Ann Marshall, he has built a distillery that weaves together craft entrepreneurial energy, agricultural heritage, and food-industry experience into spirits with character and place.
2
Trey Boggs
Palmetto Distillery
In 2011, the Boggs brothers founded Palmetto Distillery in Anderson, South Carolina, with the original intention of producing moonshine, making it one of the first legal distilleries in South Carolina since Prohibition. It wasn’t long before the Boggs brothers turned their full attention to bourbon.
3
Austin Evans
Cathead Distillery
In 2008, the seed of Cathead Distillery took root when, at the Sunflower Blues Festival in Clarksdale, MS, Austin Evans and his future co-founder Richard Patrick sat among fans and players and began to imagine a brand that would honor Mississippi’s blues tradition as readily as it would make vodka and whiskey.
4
Jim Irvin
Firefly Distillery
Jim Irvin didn’t just want to create any whiskey; he wanted to craft something uniquely Lowcountry, a spirit that spoke to the region’s heat, humidity, and the slow maturation that comes with coastal aging. He understood that the transition to great whiskey involved a profound understanding of the climate’s impact on the final product.
5
David Szlam
Virgil Kaine
David Szlam started his career as a trained chef. Szlam worked in fine dining across the Southeastern United States. His specialty was in culinary innovation, pairing ingredients with intent and precision, which naturally led him to consider distillation science and ultimately, to co-found Virgil Kaine Distillery in 2011.
6
Billy Watterson
Burnt Church Distillery
Burnt Church Distillery is the fruit of Billy Watterson’s vision. From its physical building to its mission, the founders have aimed for something more than just making spirits. Billy sees the distillery as a way to bring Lowcountry history to life, to give back to the community, and to honor local culture.