R. M. Rose Distillers, Dillard, Georgia

“Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.”

Mark Twain

We drove to Dillard, Georgia to go to the Dillard House for lunch. After we ate a lovely lunch, we walked around the property. That is when we saw this lovely stone building with the sign on the side that said, R. M. Rose Distillers. What a beautiful building with a small old fashioned water tower on the side and the distillery located right next to the Dillard House.

On the side of the building facing the main road was an old truck that was decorated up for Halloween with dressed up skeletons and wooden whiskey barrels in the back of the trunk. Joe decided he wanted to be a part of the scene so he photo bombed this picture.

We walked in and the tasting room and store and it was set up nicely for Halloween. They had their products on the counter and asked us if we wanted to taste. The lady doing the tastings was very nice and informative. I’m not a whiskey kind of gal, but Joe did some tasting. They have free tastings to see what you would like. This is the first distillery to age their corn whiskey in charred oak barrels which is unique for this region. They had Georgia Corn Whiskey, Mountain Apple Corn Whiskey, Blackberry Corn Whiskey, Fire on the Mountain Cinnamon Corn Whiskey, and Good Neighbor Peach and Lemon Whiskey. Joe liked the last so we did buy a bottle to bring home with us. I tasted that one also and it was pretty good for a whiskey. Their methods of distilling is what makes their product achieve the great taste. They manufacture with their own stills and cypress fermenting tanks and also use old fashioned copper pots.

In 1865, after the Civil War, Rufus M. Rose who was from Connecticut, enlisted as a doctor in the Confederate Army and was stationed in Atlanta. He saw opportunity in Atlanta from all the devastation and ruins of the city and the peoples despair that was caused from the war. He provided the public service with quality spirits that was guaranteed safe since he was an expert. He started his business in Atlanta and was called “The House of Rose.” He called himself “Rose, the distiller” and then R. M. Rose Co Distiller. He stayed in Atlanta until the 1880’s when Atlanta went dry and that forced him to move to Chattanooga, Tennessee. When the prohibition ended in Atlanta, he moved back to Georgia but then the whole state went dry in 1907. He operated his business in Chattanooga until 1916. Then he sold the Paul Jones Distilling Company which is where their “Four Roses” brand was acquired. R. M. Rose and Co Distillers was established in 1867. January 1920 there was a constitutional ban on selling, importation, and transportation of alcohol which caused the entire nation to go dry. R. M. Rose and Company closed up shop until 2012.

The store is open from Monday through Friday from 10 to 5 and Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 6 and you can go on a free tour of the distillery during the same hours. This is set in the beautiful Georgia Mountains in a stunning setting.

When we were leaving we were talking with the girl who did the 

tasting and asked about the town of Dillard. We saw the City Hall near us and told her it was beautiful. She said it is not just a City Hall but they put on shows there. That is when Joe replied, “There must be a lot of drama there.” We all laughed.

Check them out at https://www.rmroseco.com.