Southern Grace Distilleries, Inc
AKA: “Whiskey Prison”
Mt Pleasant, NC
I have seen distilleries and breweries in repurposed banks, jails and even churches. However I have never seen an entire prison converted into a distillery! That’s what they have done in Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina, at Southern Grace Distilleries, and it’s really cool!
We had the opportunity to visit a couple of weeks ago, and I made this 49 second video to share our experience with you. It’s important to turn on the sound for this one, and not just because it is a kick-ass soundtrack.😁 It’s because Southern Grace Distilleries uses a process called “Sonic Aging” to mature their whiskey. There are a few groups out there doing this. Probably the most well known, but not necessarily the first to do so, is the band Metallica with their Blackened Whiskey.
Sonic Aging
So what is sonic aging? It is using sound to enhance or accelerate the maturation of whiskey or other spirit, wine or even beer. In a nutshell, the theory behind this process is that the vibrations (or pulsations according to Copper & Kings, who also use this process to mature their brandies) induced by loudly playing music will cause the whiskey to have more interactions with the wood than if it was left in a quiet environment. This constant movement will theoretically extract more barrel flavors and accelerate the whiskey maturation to some degree. Some believe that it is the bass notes that are most responsible and others will create a carefully curated sound track to elicit a certain response from the aging whiskey.
That’s just one of the many unique features of Southern Grace Distilleries. If you would like to learn more, our full write up is at BourbonObsessed.com. In the meantime, this short video will give you a brief snapshot of this unique distillery. Stay safe you all! Cheers!🥃
Check out some more video tours
Want to check out some more of our short video tours of distilleries? Here are a few to get you started: Limestone Branch Distillery Tour, Barton 1792 Distillery Tour, and Garrison Brothers Distillery Tour.
