Charleston’s Firefly Distillery Making Magic that Dances in the Moonlight BY RISA WILLIAMS MCMILLAN
You know those days when you wake up and are craving adventure? You want to do something different. Plan an excursion. Think out of the box. Go have some fun. I think we all are having a lot of those lately in light of the times. I am hopeful that by the time this issue of Taste is published we will be a fully functioning community once again with businesses and restaurants running at summer and fall full tilt. With that in mind, I have the perfect day trip for you to Firefly Distillery. Perched on a bubbling creek in North Charleston, Firefly is nestled among 16 acres of fields dotted with Live Oaks draped with Spanish Moss – truly a taste of the south in peaceful serenity as well as spirits. Firefly Distillery put South Carolina on the map with their Sweet Tea Vodka and has been churning out spirits since 2005. They continue to make magic twenty years later, constantly expanding their menu and distillery. Scott Newitt spent 33 years working for other people. He did marketing, field sales, management, and distribution in the adult beverage business and was constantly moving. Tired of the transient lifestyle, Scott decided to settle down in Charleston where he met Jim Irvin, owner of a winery on Wadmalaw Island. Scott shared his idea with Jim about starting a distillery and voila! Firefly, which is now South Carolina’s oldest and largest distillery, was the result. “We made our first vodka out of Jim’s wine – It was Firefly 56
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Muscadine Wine Vodka,” said Scott. They found distribution in 4 states and did ‘a bit’ of volume. It was after Scott came up with Sweet Tea Vodka in 2008 that things got rolling for the duo and they were in all 50 states within 9 months. What better representation of the south than the connection to Sweet Tea and magical Fireflies? Their Sweet Tea Vodka is their best seller and aside from distribution in the US, they are all over the Caribbean. “Our Sweet Tea Vodka is unique in that we are the only distributor that has access to American Tea and we get ours from Charleston Tea Planation, 5 miles down the road,” added Scott. After fifteen years in business together, Scott and Jim have seen their distillery grow in production and products. They just moved to their new location in North Charleston with a