High Ridge Spirits Distillery

All great gen-x stories start with the phrase “I was in a bar….”. Well, I was in a bar and met Bubba; what a character he was. A true salesman with more charisma than you can shake a stick at and a tray full of shots of moon shine. How can you NOT love this man? As I sampled the many flavors (peach is my personal favorite) he sat down and we talked about how my grandfather made and ran shine back in the 30’s in Tallapoosa County. It was a family affair that included my grandfather’s brothers and brothers-in-law. He reciprocated by telling me the shine he was passing out was from a distillery named Stills Crossroads Shine which is owned by his friend Jamie Ray.  Stills Crossroads is the first legal moonshine distillery in Alabama since 1937. Jamie spent months of negotiations with the ABC Board before he was granted permission to open his distillery; it was no easy task for Jamie to obtain his license. Ironically, Jamie originally wanted to raise quarter horses, however, that endeavor fell apart in 2008 when the market crashed. So, what was one to do in Bullock County to make a living? Make moonshine of course! It also doesn’t hurt that Jamie is a brewmaster that has worked in Florida, Alabama, Key West and Miami. Moonshine was a smooth progression for such a talented man.

All good stills should be hard to find and this one was no exception.  Google has no idea where it is and three dry runs were make before this elusive building was located. Thank you David and Russell for your help! Once there, Jamie not only gave a great presentation on how shine is made but told us of his bigger plans for the distillery. Future plans involve expanding to gin, rum and vodka. If all goes well, Jamie plans to become a large distillery offering tours, a restaurant and RV parking. We wish Jamie well in the fulfillment of these goals.  After samples of shine were had and T-shirts bought we had a great lunch at Reds School house. I had never been but had heard wonderful things about the food, especially the fried chicken. I was not disappointed.  Afterwards, a few of the brave men in the club decided to treat Long Road like it was a roller-coaster.  Since all had huge smiles on their faces (when I finally caught up with them) I think they had a wild ride. In conclusion, it was a great day of sunshine, moonshine and learning what it takes to have one hell of a party. Now go buy some Shine!!

Paula Cavanaugh

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