Southern Distilling Company: Bringing the Legacy Back
July 9, 2025
Southern Distilling is innovation blended with tradition.
When you get malt from Malteurop, you know that you are brewing and distilling with the best North American grown barley available. When you get spirits from Southern Distilling, you know you are experiencing innovation blended with 100+ years of tradition for high quality whiskey.
You’ll also get their promise: Savor the moment.
We did just that when we sat down with Tim Fischvogt, Distillery Supervisor at Southern Distilling – savored the moment of a story well told. A story for today, built off of a legacy that began over 100 years ago.
Malteurop Celebrates Distilleries
Malteurop Malting Company (MMC) understands that malting isn’t just about the malts. It’s about crafting relationships while honoring traditions. MMC has joined forces with a few of these exceptional distilleries to highlight their stories of innovation, perseverance, and collaboration in an industry that has long recognized that spirits bring people together.
Welcome to Southern Distilling in Statesville, North Carolina
Statesville, North Carolina, was once the liquor capital of the world. Then came the Temperance Movement and the beginning of Prohibition. Today, Southern Distilling is putting Statesville back on the map, carrying on a legacy.
With four core beliefs – Stay true to self. Give a damn. Dare to win. Be grateful. – Southern Distilling is proud to call Statesville, North Carolina, home where the spirits are a part of the land as much as the people are a part of the spirits.
Family owned and operated and founded by two caring human beings, Pete and Vienna Barger, Southern Distilling works with local farmers and partners that care about the industry as much as they do. With roots in engineering and public health, Pete and Vienna have helped reform outdated laws and blended tradition into innovation, all while re-inventing what it’s like to savor moments…around an exceptional glass of spirits.
We were honored to have the chance to sit down with Tim to learn more about him, but also more about the people and spirits that make up Southern Distilling in Statesville, North Carolina.
How did you get started in the industry and with Southern Distilling?
I graduated from North Carolina Central University in 2020. I got a degree in business with a concentration in marketing and was hoping to use that to launch my own distillery in Winston Salem. After graduating I saw Southern Distilling was hiring and joined them in 2021. I am currently the Distillery Operations Supervisor.
Tell us about the operations and spirits available at Southern Distilling.
We first started in 2013. In 2017, we started laying down barrels. So now actually everything on the shelf is our product.
(Spirits available at Southern Distilling: Southern Star Bourbon Finished in Honey Barrels, Double Shot Bourbon Cream Liqueur, Paragon Bottled-in-Bond Wheated Bourbon, Paragon Single Barrel Wheated Bourbon, Southern Star Bourbon, Southern Star White Whiskey, Southern Star Double Rye, and special releases.)
We currently have over 150 clients that we work with for contract distilling and packaging. It’s great building your own brand but even better when the brands you work with win awards across the board from what our team has accomplished. Seeing that is the coolest part of the job.
When we sat down with Tim, news of the following was yet to be public. As of this publication date, Statesville Contract Distilling is now an official entity of Southern Distilling. Southern Distilling’s official statement follows: “Since the founding of Statesville Distilling Company in 2013, contract distilling has been a key part of our growth and success. While it’s always been an essential part of what we do, we thought it was time to formalize it with its own identity. Statesville Contract Distilling represents not just the expansion of this business, but also the spirit and heritage of Statesville, North Carolina, itself, which has been the heart of our operations from the start.”
What challenges are you facing in the industry?
Since I have been in the industry there have been a lot of changes. Specifically it used to be that brands were subject to working with a very small group of large distilleries that pigeon holed them into what their product was and didn’t give them a choice. Now more distilleries are popping up across the country and are helping alleviate some of these issues. However it becomes a challenge for brand owners to recognize who is just looking to fill slots in the production with contract work and those who do it full time as their business model to service clients, like ourselves.
It’s difficult for newcomers to the industry to better understand that everything does not have to be one way, but that we can be flexible and accommodating and think outside of the box when it comes down to what’s available.
You get to really appreciate the creativity that our clients challenge us with. Some of the challenges are what’s new and what’s hot, meaning that we see some in the industry moving to cannabis drinks, RTD’s, finishes. There are so many things for the consumer to choose from at times it can seem overbearing. Back in the day, like my dad’s generation it was – crack a beer when you get home and that’s it.
Now it’s all different. That’s why I think we are seeing creativity with finishing techniques in spirits.
How are you being innovative and creative at Southern Distilling?
We are always willing to push the boundaries, but being mindful of what the consumer wants to see. We are working on everything from honey barrel finishes, armagnac finishes, wine barrel finishes, even testing out different types of woods for the barrels. We’re trying to do a lot of different things that will compliment our product. The key isn’t just being different but making sure it enhances what you’re doing.
I think it’s innovative. I think that’s the new thing, the new trend, I should say. Even like today, we’re working with a local orchard/winery, and we’re going to make an apple brandy for them. I think it’ll [innovation and creativity] stick around.
Do you have any plans to make an American Single Malt?
American Single Malt should really take off, especially since the TTB’s new designation to make it its own protected spirit type. It’s a great whiskey that really should have more attention. We have been making it for ourselves since the company started and are really starting to see an uptick in interest from our client base.
I think it is finally time for the American Single Malt because you think of Scotch, you think of overseas run on pot stills. Right? Whereas here, we’ll run it through a column and it’s more Americanized because when you think of whiskey, you’re thinking of running on column stills. American, that’s what people overseas are thinking. So I think it’s a good interpretation of the American Single Malt. Just like Scotch, but our unique spin on it. That’s how I look at it.
How do you help out with Purple Heart Homes?
Right now, we partner with Purple Heart Homes through our Double Rye. Fifty percent of the proceeds go to Purple Heart Homes, which helps veterans build houses and provide necessary assistance to those who served. It is an amazing organization that not just helps but employs veterans. We live in a tight knit community where everyone here in Statesville and wherever you are, you know someone that is deserving of what Purple Heart Homes does for many across the country. We’re just happy they are headquartered in our backyard.
For every bottle of Southern Star Double Rye purchased, 50% of the profits go to support Purple Heart Homes’ mission to create housing solutions for disabled and aging veterans.
Tell us more about why you chose Malteurop and their malts.
Communication is the biggest thing for me. I can call Rick no matter what time of day, and he will answer. He’s always checking in on me. Their quality and pricing are really good, also. But it’s really all about Rick. I literally trust Rick 100% and will leave it all in his hands. He and Malteurop give me the best!
We’re actually about to start a trial because the 100% American Single Malt is really big right now, so we’re actually gonna start trial runs with different varieties of malts such as Distillers, Pale, Pilsen, and Vienna Malts. This new trial is gonna be really cool.
As for the Distillers Malt, it’s the quality and the high diastatic power. It’s off the charts.
POT STILL MALT
Designed to provide consistent performance for today’s generation of distillers.
Crafted from a non-Glycosidic Nitrile (GN) barley variety and specifically optimized for all-malt or high-malt distillation applications, our Pot Still Malt preserves protein content and enzymatic activity while also providing ample fermentable sugars to assist in the production of superior quality spirits.
What is your go to spirit or other beverage?
Honestly, I won’t be biased, but our Paragon, it’s a Wheated Bourbon, is really good. Overall I like beer, nothing crazy, Miller Lite always works for me.
Thank You!
Malteurop recognizes the effort that distilleries put forth every day to craft the spirits we all love. That is why MMC’s Craft Sales Managers – managers like Rick Barney – want to highlight a few of these distilleries.
And you can’t go wrong with Southern Distilling where you’ll find spirits worth sipping for moments worth sharing.
Connect with Southern Distilling Company
“Before Prohibition, Statesville was known as the ‘Liquor Capital of the World’. Now it is home to our 20-acre campus with our state-of-the-art 36,000 square foot distillery, where we spend our days distilling the highest quality bourbons and ryes and watching over the 65,000 barrels aging in our rick houses, reimagining North Carolina’s whiskey tradition.” (Southern Distilling)
Open for cocktails, bottle purchases, and tours every day of the week.
Southern Distilling Company
211 Jennings Rd. Statesville, NC 28625
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About Malteurop Malting Company (MMC)
Malteurop Malting Company (MMC) is based in North America—specializing in growing and producing quality malts for the beer, whiskey, and food processing industries. With local farms and Malthouses spread across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, Malteurop’s commitment to excellence is fully ingrained into every batch it produces, ensuring businesses of any size can create the finest beverages and food products on the planet.
Visit www.malteuropmaltingco.com to learn how we can support your malting needs.
Contact us at customersuccess@malteurop.com or (844) 546-MALT (6258) for questions or to place your order.
Malting is our passion. Quality is our promise.