The craft whiskey business is booming at Asheville’s first legal distillery, where a big, new custom-made German still is greatly increasing production. Asheville Distilling Co., makers of Troy & Sons high-end moonshine whiskey, has just installed a 5,000-liter still, the largest of its kind made in Germany, said Charlie Ball, who founded the company with his wife, Troy. The company’s old still, since dismantled, sold and shipped elsewhere, could produce one 53-gallon barrel, or 400 bottles, of whiskey a day. The new still can produce three to four barrels daily. The distillery is part of a new, fast-growing wave of small craft distilleries opening across the country. More than 400 have opened so far, including Howling Moon in Woodfin.
For now, North Carolina drinkers may only purchase the Troy & Sons whiskeys Carolina through state liquor stores and not at the distillery. That’s put the distillery at a disadvantage, Troy Ball said. North Carolina wineries and craft breweries can sell directly to visitors, she said. “We’ve had over 5,000 tourists who have come here and want to buy spirits,” she said. An effort last year to change North Carolina law to allow distillery sales was “hung up” in the General Assembly, but she’s hoping it will be considered again this year.