James May-June 2023 web - Flipbook - Page 18
Moonrise Distillery
CLAYTON
In the Appalachian Mountains is Moonrise Distillery in Rabun County with its county seat of Clayton. It
is a small town of about 2000 that sits in a valley at the
base of Black Rock Mountain. Black Rock Mountain
State Park is the highest state park in Georgia and is
home to a number of other peaks besides Black Rock.
Clayton and Rabun County are a base location for
many outdoor enthusiasts looking to spend time on
the Chattooga River or on Lake Rabun. In addition to
the local clientele, many of these outdoor adventurers
make the trip to Moonrise Distillery to enjoy some
spirits after a day outside.
Moonrise opened in 2012 but was taken over by
owner Doug Nassaur in 2018. It is truly a family business, operated by Doug and his wife Jennifer and son
CJ. That family spirit spreads to keeping as much of
their sourcing in Rabun County as possible.
“We’re all about Rabun County and featuring local
products,” says Nassaur. “Our goal
was to create an old world distillery that does it the old-fashioned
way— hand-crafted from local
ingredients using traditional
trade craft methods to make
products of the highest quality.”
“Our motivation is to make
the best upper one percent
bourbon and rye we can possibly make, and use local ingredients whenever possible,” said
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Nassaur to the White County News.
“One hundred percent of the corn—
which is 80 percent of the product—
is grown locally. We use an heirloom
white Silver Queen corn that’s one
of the best corns you can get. It
probably costs three times as much,
but it produces a much, much better product.”
Atlanta Magazine has called it
“one of 14 Georgia distilleries worth the
drive” and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution named
it one of “15 Georgia distilleries to try for everything
from bourbon to moonshine.” Moonrise Distillery
has been recognized as Best Bourbon in Georgia by
the Georgia Trustees Wine and Spirits Competition.
Limoncello was also recognized as the Best of Georgia
Specialty Spirit. In fact, the distillery was awarded the highest honor
available to a distillery— Distillery
of Distinction.
“The thinking always was:
‘Girls drink wine, boys drink
bourbon.’ We’ve created an environment that both the girls and
boys can enjoy,” Nassaur says.
“We want to be a regional destination. We want to get people
here to learn about our products and the area.”