Exclusive Interview with Mr. Robbie Delaney, Owner/Founder of Muddy River Distillery located in Belmont, North Carolina

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Q: What are your names, titles, company name and company location?

Robbie Delaney, Owner/Founder of Muddy River Distillery in Belmont, North Carolina, and my wife, Caroline Delaney, CFO.

Q: I understand you and your wife, Caroline, founded the distillery.  What inspired you to get into the spirits industry and why rum?

I was a 27-year-old General Contractor flying back and forth to Texas every week to work on a job at the time. On one flight home, I read an in-flight magazine article about craft breweries and how they were growing, but it hadn’t really happened with the distilling industry yet. I thought why not be one of the first distilleries in NC, not the 100th brewery, so I started playing around with distilling.  I realized that was illegal and decided to go legitimate. I designed and built our first 2 stills from used dairy tanks. I found this tiny 500 sf space for rent in an old textile mill on the Catawba River in Belmont, just outside of Charlotte, NC.  I was working in Texas so I actually sent my mom to look at it.  She said it’s perfect and I have your name: Muddy River. It had just rained and was flooded and “muddy”.

Q: Where did you gain your knowledge about the spirits industry, including fermentation and distillation?

Building the stills really helped me learn how to distill.  This part has to go here to make this process happen, etc.  Fermentation was a learning and trial process for sure, but we have it down now. 

Q: Can you describe your fermentation?  Is it the same for all of your rums?

Yes, it is the same for all our rums. We ferment a blend of molasses and white granulated sugar.  ABV of our wash is 14% and fermentation lasts 2 weeks.  

We are currently designing a mash preheat system to recover the heat from our spent mash, preheating new mash going into the stills.  It is really exciting to be able to make our distillery more efficient.  Designing and building new manufacturing systems is one of my favorite parts of the job.

Q: I understand you custom-designed and built one of your stills.  Can you tell us more about this?  You have also given names to all your stills.  What are their names and why did you choose these names?

All of our equipment is installed by us.  Welding, plumbing, wiring and process control is done by us in house.  This ability has helped us to minimize downtime and remain self-sufficient.

  1. Freedom- was the first still at 35 gallons.  I built this machine with help from friends on my parents’ farm.  
  2. Democracy at 150 gallons. This machine was designed by us and built by us and a local fabricator. This machine was really our first professional quality still.
  3. Liberty- 200 gallons, and kind of built by us.  We actually purchased a column and fit it on top of an old stainless tank.
  4. Independence, 450 gallons.  This is my dream machine.  We had this semi-custom design built for us.  

A typical distillation for Muddy River is 3 stills (Democracy, Liberty, & Independence) running at the same time.  These 3 machines produce an average of 1,200 bottles of rum in 1 distillation.  We are constantly improving our equipment at MRD.  I just recently welded in a bunch of CIP components. I have also added a little back end semi-automation to our condensers over the years.  

Building and maintaining these machines can be difficult.  I have learned over the years that there is more value in learning to design and build your equipment than hiring it out.

Q: You are the first rum distillery in North Carolina, correct?  What was the initial reaction of the market to your distillery and your rums?

Yes, we were the first rum. Craft spirits drinkers and rum enthusiast were excited. They had someone local making a quality product, it wasn’t just the big guys making spirits. Then some people didn’t believe it at first…We got into ABC stores and would go to restaurants and managers would say “This isn’t moonshine is it – I have to buy my alcohol from the ABC store.” We said “Yes, we know, we are in the stores, it’s legal, I promise.”  It took a while, but then they were seeking us out as local products. 

Q: What was the process like, working with your state and local agencies to get your permit approved for the distillery and how long did it take?

When I applied for the TTB permit, everything was still being submitted on paper, not online.  So I submitted a 78 page book.  Once I got the federal permit, the state was pretty easy back then, but it is much harder now.  The City of Belmont was great to work with and have been very supportive.  

Q: What was the biggest challenge you faced during the process of opening your distillery? How did you overcome it?

We have no investors, which is very rare in this industry. It all came from my savings account to start up.  We started off slow and steady and now our growth is invested back into the company. We have grown based on our sales. Cashflow was hard at first.  Caroline and I ate a lot of ramen noodles and slept at the distillery because of running the still back to back and long hours. 

Also North Carolina didn’t allow bottle sales.  We have had to change that to 1 bottle per person per year (yes, per YEAR- we had to take their name and drivers license # to sell them 1 bottle), then 5 bottles per year, then we finally got unlimited sales and the ability to make cocktails in distillery in Sept. 2019. 

Our business model was only manufacturing when we started, but we have added the retail portion. NC distilleries are much more limited than breweries in what we can do.  We also can only sell in the distillery and ABC liquor stores.  No festivals or farmers markets, etc. We are a member of Distillers Association of North Carolina (DANC) and are currently working to change law to get us equality with breweries and wineries.  

Q: What rums are you currently producing? (give names and descriptions)

We currently produce 6 rums:

Silver Carolina Rum 80 proof: This is the fantastic base for all our rums.  It is smooth with a hint of molasses coming through.  We don’t add anything to it- no sugar, coloring, flavoring, or barrel aging. During the tastings, we have guests try this first because we want everyone to know how the product starts, and we are proud of it. 

Spiced Carolina Rum 80 proof. This is our best seller- it’s quite different from your typical spiced. It’s a blend of vanilla, cinnamon, and a hint of root beer. 

Coconut Carolina Rum 70 proof. Lightly sweetened with a hint of fresh coconut. We have so many guests come in the distillery that say they used to drink the “white bottle”  coconut rum, but now are hooked on ours. 

Basil Carolina Rum 70 proof. We use fresh basil to make our own infusion.  It is delicious in lemonade or a basil mojito. And a summer favorite: watermelon jello shots!

Queen Charlotte’s Reserve Carolina Rum: Our Silver rum aged in virgin American white oak #3 char barrels.  Again, no coloring, flavoring, or sugar added. Just a nice oaky, smooth sipping rum.  This is what we had in mind when we made the distillery. 

Queen Charlotte’s Reserve 4 Year Single Barrel Carolina Rum: This is our 4 Year aged version of Queen Charlotte’s Reserve. We’re working on 8 year, 12 year, 16 year, and hopefully make it to 20 years aged if there is anything left in the barrels.  Maybe even 21 years for our 2 son’s birthdays. 

Q: Are there plans to add new rums to your portfolio in the future?

We plan to add a coffee rum to our portfolio for our 10 year anniversary (Nov 4th 2021). We also plan to do an overproof rum, and a cask strength rum. 

Q: Where are your products currently available for purchase?

We are currently available in NC, SC, IL through SpiritHub.com https://www.spirithub.com/brand/muddy-river-distillery/fb7dbcdc, CA through LibDib.com, and PA for bars/restaurants only through CBL Wine Distributors). We get many requests from Florida residents and would love to get into Florida next. Please send any distributor connections our way and ask for Muddy River Rums in your local store! 

Q: When COVID-19 hit last year how did it affected your operation and how did you overcome those challenges?

We transitioned pretty quickly to making hand sanitizer.  It was very hard to get ingredients in the beginning.  Everyone in the world, literally, wanted them.  Luckily the community was so helpful and connected us with suppliers. We used our rum bottles to bottle the sanitizer and bought pump tops.  Caroline borrowed her dad’s van and picked up a van FULL of milk jugs to put sanitizer in because bottles were so hard to get as well.  We ran the still 7 days a week every single day of April. Just me and Jake, one of our awesome employees. We donated hand sanitizer to the local hospital, fire, and police officers throughout the surrounding counties, and many other non profits that were helping people through direct contact. We were just trying to pump out as much as we could as fast as we could. 

Q: Do you offer tours at the distillery? If so, are reservations recommended or required?

We offer tours and tastings at the distillery every Saturday.  No reservations are required at this time.  Check our website for hours and details. You can also rent the space for events and we do private tours for company outings, birthdays, engagement parties, etc. 

Q: Can you tell us a bit about what a customer will experience when they arrive at your distillery?

When guests arrive, they will receive a shot glass upon check in.  The tour will begin in the distillation room with how we got started and a bit on distillation.  Then you are guided through our cellar area (for fermentation), barrel aging, and bottling area- all while sampling our 6 rums. 

Q: You also host videos online called “Mixology Monday”.  Can you tell us more about these videos?

We really got into these for fun.  We make all types of drinks.  Some fancy cocktails, but mostly drinks that anyone can mix up at home without too many extra ingredients.  

It is way more work than I expected though haha!  I edit all the videos myself, so it has been neat to learn about that and add new things as we go along.  

Sometimes it is Caroline and I making the drinks, sometimes it’s me and one of the team members.  Tom, our co-worker, is a fantastic chef.  His Spiced Carolina Rum BACON is fantastic.  We made that on Mixology Monday as well. 

Jake and Jeff have made a bunch of drinks, too. Christine has been our friend for years.  She now is a tour guide and has done drinks, too. 

Q: If people want to contact you, how may they reach you? 

We are on Facebook, Instagram @muddyriverdistillery, and Twitter @1stCarolinaRum and www.MuddyRiverDistillery.com.  

Or via email: Caroline@MuddyRiverDistillery.com

Q: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

We have been “Got Rum?” readers since we started!  What an honor. Thank you for including Muddy River Distillery. We hope to grow and be available to all your readership. Readers asking for our rums at your local store will greatly help us do that. Thank you!

Margaret: Again Robbie (and Caroline), thank you so much for this opportunity and I wish you and your entire team all the best of luck.

Cheers!

Margaret Ayala,

Publisher