When Pete and Vienna are talking about their Southern Star labels, the megaphone comes out. When it does, the quality of the finished product doesn’t necessarily lead the conversation. It doesn’t have to, thanks in part to Southern Star cleaning up on the awards circuit in 2022. This allows the Bargers to focus on other key parts of the brand narrative. While they keep mum about the brands that contract — PETE BARGER with them, they’re transparent about their own products. Go to their website and click on their Southern Star Bottled-in-Bond wheated bourbon, for instance, and you’ll find out it’s built from a mash bill of 70 percent corn, 16 percent wheat, and 14 percent malted barley. The creation of their spirits line also fortifies the Bargers’ strict adherence to the “grain to glass” style of distilling they provide others as a contract distiller: Trusted partnerships with area farmers that grant them access to top quality local grain investing in state-of-the-art distilling and fermentation equipment. Turning to innovation to ensure consistency and not to take shortcuts. These elements organically evoke the essence of craftsmanship. They
“Craft should be about tasting better, and about focusing on the terroir and barrel provenance.”
also lay the foundation for necessary conversations about the size and scope of the craft distilling process. It’s a conversation the Bargers are uniquely qualified to lead, given the other side of their business. “Craft should be about tasting better, and about focusing on the terroir and barrel provenance,” Pete said. “These can be achieved on a large scale. If you’re producing 90,000 barrels but are still using the same grain, the same yeast, and treating the spent grain the same, you’re still making a craft product. There shouldn’t be any malice or shame about making craft on a large scale.” Pete also states these conversations are coming at a time where the consumer is increasingly aware that exceptional bourbon doesn’t just come from Kentucky. This organically provides ample room for the Bargers to advocate for North Carolina spirits and Statesville’s forgotten history as a distilling epicenter — “There were 458 Federally licensed distilleries within 50 miles of Statesville before the Temperance movement descended on the South,” Pete notes.
WHISKEY WITH A PURPOSE Southern’s website for their Southern Star labels promotes four core beliefs — Stay True to Self; Give a Damn; Dare to Win; Be Grateful. Collectively, these beliefs tie into a much more personal side of enjoying spirits. To Pete and Vienna, the spirits they create under their own label function not just as reasons for people to get together, but also for
BULK WHISKEY FINANCING Borrow up to 85% of value against your whiskey inventory assets to increase your working capital and take advantage of equity growth as whiskey ages. To learn more, connect with Tracy Sheppard at 707.921.1079 or email tracy.sheppard@liveoak.bank
60
W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M