Distillery Tours in North Carolina

About distillery tours in North Carolina

North Carolina pours one of the most characterful drams in the American South, and its distilleries carry a story that runs far deeper than the recent craft boom. Long before licences and tasting rooms, Scots-Irish settlers in the western mountains were turning surplus corn into spirit with copper pot stills, and Wilkes County earned a reputation as a moonshine heartland. Statesville, meanwhile, was a genuine liquor capital in the late 1800s, with hundreds of stills sending whiskey and fruit brandy across the region by rail until the town went dry in 1903. That heritage of self-reliant, grain-to-glass making still shapes the spirits you taste today.

Two decades ago the state counted only a handful of licensed distillers; now there are dozens, ranging from mountain moonshine specialists to sleek modern gin houses. In and around Asheville you can visit Eda Rhyne Distilling Company, working with foraged Appalachian botanicals, and the grain-to-glass single malt and genever makers at Oak & Grist Distilling Company. The Piedmont and Triangle bring a more urban, design-led scene, led by Durham Distillery and its cold-distilled Conniption Gin, the organic spirits of TOPO Distillery in Chapel Hill, and Chemist Spirits in Asheville's River Arts District.

Expect tours that genuinely teach. Most walk you among fermenters and stills with production staff, explain local grain and water, and finish with a guided tasting — whether that is the corn whiskey legacy at Broadslab Distillery, the bourbon and rye at Southern Distilling Company in Statesville, or Blue Ridge Distilling Co.'s Defiant single malt.

What to expect on a tour

North Carolina tours tend to be hands-on and conversational rather than theatrical. A typical visit runs roughly 30 to 60 minutes and follows the spirit from grain to glass: you will usually see the milled grain or local fruit, the fermenters, and the stills, often guided by someone who actually runs the equipment. At grain-to-glass houses such as Oak & Grist Distilling Company and Southern Distilling Company, expect detail on mash bills, copper pot versus column distillation, and barrel ageing. At the gin- and botanical-focused producers — Durham Distillery, Chemist Spirits, Eda Rhyne Distilling Company — the emphasis shifts to botanicals, infusion and, in Durham's case, a distinctive cold vacuum distillation.

Nearly every tour ends with a seated tasting of several spirits, frequently with a souvenir glass or a bottle available to take home. Moonshine-leaning distilleries like Broadslab Distillery and Howling-style mountain producers often pair samples with snacks or mixed sips so you can taste the unaged corn spirit as locals traditionally drank it. Booking ahead is wise, as smaller tasting rooms cap group sizes.

Getting there & around

North Carolina's distilleries cluster in three broad areas, and how you travel depends on which you choose. The mountains around Asheville are the densest and most scenic, with Chemist Spirits, Eda Rhyne and Oak & Grist all within easy reach; Asheville Regional Airport serves the region and the city itself is very walkable, making it the best base for visiting several without driving. The Triangle and Piedmont — Durham Distillery, TOPO Distillery in Chapel Hill, Doc Porter's in Charlotte — are spread across larger cities reached via Raleigh-Durham or Charlotte airports and best navigated by car or rideshare.

Further afield, Southern Distilling Company sits in Statesville off Interstate 40 between Asheville and Charlotte, Mother Earth Spirits is in Kinston to the east, and Weldon Mills Distillery lies near the Roanoke River up by Interstate 95. Because distances between regions are significant, most visitors pick one cluster per trip. If you intend to taste, plan a designated driver, a rideshare, or a guided distillery tour so nobody behind the wheel is sampling.