Today we’d like to introduce you to Andy Sudderth.
Hi Andy, Thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always loved history, so mix that with growing up under the heels of a moonshiner, and the result is the re-emergence of the biggest whiskey producer in its era – RM Rose Company. Rufus M Rose began producing and selling whiskey in Atlanta GA in 1867. He ran it successfully, expanding into Jacksonville, FL, Chattanooga, TN, Newport, KY, Girard, AL, and Manhattan, NY, until he passed away in 1910 while prohibition was in effect. His son Randolph joined the company in 1904/05 and is recognized for putting a strong marketing effort in place. During prohibition, Randolph got involved in other income streams out West. As prohibition began lifting in 1933/34, with Rufus gone, Randolph never revived RM Rose Company to its former glory. It laid dormant until, with the help of a legal team, I gained the rights to the name and began my dream of being a whiskey producer under the historical name RM Rose Company.
I began planning and preparing the business in 2009 and officially opened the doors in 2016. I have the largest collection of original whiskey jugs used by RM Rose in the 19th century to bottle his product and a wide variety of marketing items that Randolph used in marketing. I have researched the Rose family extensively and their story is fascinating. I have created and produced over 35 whiskey and bourbon products to date. Since the first year of production, my products have won many gold medals, and my best-seller, Fire on the Mountain Cinnamon Whiskey, currently holds Triple Gold, Triple Platinum, and Triple Diamond and is rated at 100 points. My products are now available in retail stores in five states and can be shipped to 44 states. When my moonshiner dad took one step, I took two to keep up. Once you smell whiskey in the making, you never forget it. The art and science involved in designing a still and distilling corn into a liquid reeled me in as a young fellow, and much to my mother’s dismay, I couldn’t get it out of my system. My dad is now in the Moonshiner’s Hall of Fame. It is a unique business, and the industry is filled with good people who put God first. That’s enough reason for me to continue the legacy of Rufus M Rose and my moonshiner dad.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Overall, the business has been a smooth ride. However, everything has obstacles, and the whiskey business has its share. Keeping up with demand requires depending on suppliers’ turnaround and high shipping costs. Expanding into other states requires lots of paperwork and patience. The Tax & Trade Bureau regulates the whiskey business, so plenty of legal rules exist for starting, running, and growing a business in this industry. Rules vary from state to state. A distillery owner can’t ship their product in the three-tier state of Georgia. It must go through a distributor. My gift shop can sell my whiskey and bourbon products, but we can’t ship them. To grow outwardly, we have to depend on the sales strength of our distributors in each state.
Thanks – What else should our readers know about RM Rose Co Distillery?
In the progressive world of spirit distilling, you’ll find a unique array of people having the time of their lives. Being in the whiskey distilling business is like no other. In the distillery, you encounter the smell of dried corn waiting to be added to Blue Ridge Mountain Water, corn mash looking like moon cheese as it bubbles across the surface, eventually becoming a cake-like texture and beginning to emit alcohol vapors, then entering the cooker to begin the process of taking a thick, dense, sour smell mixture and distill it into a clear, high alcohol proof liquid with a loudly distinct alcohol smell and taste. The varying aromas during the process are strong and invite you into an area of intrigue where a product from the earth meets the body’s soul. RM Rose Distillery is located in the cove of the beautiful north Georgia mountains of Dillard, GA, a small farming community where folks take their growing fields seriously—surrounded by mountains, fields of produce, and farmland treaded by herds of cattle. RM Rose Distillery has a distiller, a runner, and a chaser on its payroll. You can’t make this stuff up! I’m the master distiller, the one behind the re-opening and branding. Before I got into legal distilling, let’s say I did a little illegal shining. During those years, I used a young whipper snapper to run his shine around the neighborhood on his bicycle. Bruce, that young whipper snapper and former runner, now runs the still at RM Rose Distillery the legal way. Our other distiller, Tommy, is a retired Georgia State Patrol Trooper and a former chaser! No, you can’t make this stuff up! Come by and meet these fine gentlemen. They’re always ready with a story that will take you through the woods, up the trails, and into the present-day RM Rose Distillery.
What’s next?
I would love to take RM Rose Co Distillery into all fifty states and go international. I have great products that I proudly stand behind, and I have confidence in their quality. I have offers and plans to build RM Rose Co franchises, which I’m excited about. I also have started a book about the RM Rose family and would love to see it go to the big screen!
Pricing:
- Fire on the Mountain Cinnamon Whiskey $28.95
- Bass Reeves Bourbon $78.95
- Forefather’s Bourbon Bottled in Bond $89.95
- George Sudderth Corn Whiskey $18.95
- Founders Straight Bourbon $124.95
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rmroseco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rmroseco
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/rmrosecompany
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/rm-rose-co-distillery
- Youtube: https://www.rmrosecodistillery@rmrosecodistillery1120
Image Credits
Image Credit – Cindy Sudderth
