22 April 2022
Hollowed out Creek Distillery, one of the few alcohol producers in the Columbia area, has been awarded 10 honours in two international mood competitions. The Leesville distillery received gold and silver awards both in the Los Angeles Spirits Competitors and the San Francisco World Mood Competition, making them one of 3 in the state to earn awards from major mood competition — two from the others being from Charleston. The four decorated alcoholic drinks include the distillery’s high 100 % cotton straight bourbon, their whitened hot cinnamon flavored tequila, the William Alan little batch bourbon and their own low water vodka. Proprietors Craig and Meredith Amick, who operate the distillery about an hour west of Columbia, have been in the liquor company for more than seven many years. “We didn’t really be prepared to get that many or that will level of awards, honestly. This is actually the first time we’ve ever joined spirits competitions, so I was not really sure what to expect, yet ended up pleasantly surprised, ” Craig said. The pair had the distillery business due to a friend, who enjoyed producing moonshine. Both Craig plus Meredith were engineers, however in 2009, when the state handed a law allowing for the particular operation of micro-distilleries, they will decided to open their own place. They got the basketball rolling around 10 years back and have officially been in company for a little under 8 years. This is their first-time winning international awards. Outside the liquors that won, the particular distillery sells a host of some other liquors like wheated rum and a handful of flavored moonshines. The awards come on the particular heels of the distillery’s current expansion, with a new 5, 500 square-foot production facility that will enable them to craft even more alcoholic drinks. “Right now we’re inside a pretty aggressive growth setting. As we get further in the future, we’ll have more bourbon offered…. we’ll have some older bourbons coming out later, but it simply takes time to get there plus takes even more time to obtain significant volumes, ” Craig said. The distillery is usually open Thursdays through Saturdays for free tastings of their alcohol and is located at 112 Rocky Ridge Road within Leesville.