I did buy an ad.





We should be able to get bottles onto shelves before the end of the year. Still a lot of hurdles, but this will be really good for Raleigh and a fun business promote around town. We are doing a kickstarter and it is very conservative IMO. If we don't hit our mark, then we may need to bring in another partner/investor. Please follow us on FB for the latest updates

http://facebook.com/raleighrumcompany

Or twitter @raleighrum

Thanks for your support Tdub.

1/21/2014 3:18:34 PM

awesome. can i work there?

1/21/2014 3:37:09 PM

20 days ago you didn't even know if this was legal

1/21/2014 3:40:17 PM

Please to let me know when I can purchase a bottle of each flavor.

1/21/2014 3:48:21 PM

^^

True story. I thought somehow businesses in NC were merely acting as distributors and marketing out-of-state liquor as NC Moonshine. Once I found out it was legal, my partners and I took our plans for a micro-brewery and diverted the energy towards a craft distillery which snowballed. Lot of work still to do, but we just ask for a little encouragement from others who would like to see it happen.

We've put a lot of time into over the past few weeks and it is paying off so far.

1/21/2014 3:56:25 PM

So you switched your plan to go from a brewery to a distillery in just a couple weeks and this is suppose to succeed?? You usually see a little more passion/dedication to a particular craft than a couple weeks...especially when it comes to alcohol.

Either way...good luck. I like your design/logo...which is honestly a big part of liquor sales.

1/21/2014 4:02:40 PM

I like your logo

1/21/2014 4:08:34 PM

yeah the logo is perfect.

1/21/2014 4:12:30 PM

acorn french beret

1/21/2014 4:13:00 PM

^^^^ We are giving it a shot.

We do have a passion for well crafted spirits, but we are not legally allowed to say if we have created any spirits in the past that have turned out awesome. We had just always assumed it was illegal in NC. It is not a far departure from brewery operation either, I would even argue this is much better for us financially.

Anyway, if we do get lucky and have success, then there will be a T-Dub party. Mark it down

Thanks again fraaaaaans.

1/21/2014 4:15:42 PM

iop1

good luck brah

1/21/2014 4:21:27 PM

Quote :

"awesome. can i work there?"

It requires a lot of cool equipment, rum tasting, and marketing to bars - I doubt you would enjoy it.

1/21/2014 4:29:02 PM

really well designed bottle art/logos.

I think the decision not to go the brewery route is probably good as the bar for success is much higher as competition is stiff. Being the first distillery has its own challenges as there aren't other pioneers to learn from. But you do have the advantage of locavore/craft culture giving you immediate demand and interest in the product.

1/21/2014 4:49:01 PM

iop1

good luck brah

[Edited on January 21, 2014 at 7:43 PM. Reason : any ideas on pricing yet?]

[Edited on January 21, 2014 at 7:43 PM. Reason : when will it be available for sale?]

[Edited on January 21, 2014 at 7:46 PM. Reason : nm just saw the end of 2014]

1/21/2014 7:41:55 PM

Where is the actual distillery going to be?

1/21/2014 7:52:35 PM

We have a few places under consideration, from Apex to N. Raleigh. Obviously, we would love to be close to downtown, but if we have to start in a smaller location for the first couple years just outside, then so be it. We will be ready to move into a location by April (fingers crossed).

We want to try to keep the price under $30 (ideally ~$24-27) for a 750ml bottle, which seems doable. We have to negotiate via a broker with ABC board, so that will be interesting. Still about 5 months from that, assuming no issues with other permits.

[Edited on January 21, 2014 at 8:11 PM. Reason : ttt]

1/21/2014 8:10:58 PM

Cool idea; I hope to hear more of the progress!

1/21/2014 8:46:15 PM

Very cool, I really would like to get into the craft liquor game but I don't have the knowledge or the capital to make it happen. I have been saying I think it is the next big thing. Good luck.

1/21/2014 8:52:06 PM

I just took a new job, so I might not have the room to pester you to give me one... but if you're looking to get any help or even employee someone who has done marketing between a distillery and bars in the Raleigh area, I have a friend who has done on-the-ground marketing work for Broadslab Distillery in Raleigh, and I'm not sure she's doing that anymore. She might be interesting in doing that kind of work again with a company that's in Raleigh (as opposed to an hour away) as a form of startup support.

Either way, sounds cool to me. I don't think it matters that much that you "only recently wanted to start doing this" as others have critiqued. It seems like a huge obstacle to creating a business is actually getting off your ass and starting it, instead of stewing on it for years. Good on you to go all in right out the gate.

1/21/2014 9:54:20 PM

http://www.wral.com/triangle-restaurant-news-jan-24-2014-/13314944/

Quote :

"Raleigh's first craft distillery and a new Mexican restaurant in Apex are all in this week's Triangle restaurant report."

Oh noes, The paparazzi is after us!

1/24/2014 11:38:41 AM

Put me down for a bottle once they are available for sale.

1/24/2014 12:46:07 PM

Nice, good luck. I'm not much of a liquor guy, but I'd probably give it a try.

[Edited on January 24, 2014 at 12:55 PM. Reason : .]

1/24/2014 12:54:53 PM

1/24/2014 1:17:36 PM

Give me a holler if you are looking for any promotional marketing models.

My fiance has a lot of experience pushing Miller beer products and few other liquor brands.

1/24/2014 1:18:01 PM

I want some Raleigh Bourbon

1/24/2014 1:19:50 PM

TWW-ers get discounts, right?

1/24/2014 1:30:30 PM

Very cool man, wish you the best

1/24/2014 2:04:51 PM

I love NC-products, and I love this. Best of luck, folks!

1/24/2014 2:12:30 PM

add to my topics

im a drunk of course (injun)

1/24/2014 5:02:19 PM

Wish you had chosen a different name...really limiting your market with the Raleigh label.

Kill Devil Hills has a rum now too that will be competing but they are playing on the pirate side of it...

Oak City Rum would have been a better name IMO

with that said...I'm your promo guy.

1/26/2014 1:18:58 AM

^ because people would rather buy a rum named after a tiny town in bumfuck nc than one that every 3rd grader knows? Name recognition makes a huge difference. "Raleigh Rum" is a much much better choice. Every NC person will automatically target it as "local", since it's the capital it's easier to remember, and the alliteration will help make the name memorable as well. It might not be the most creative but neither is "Bud".

1/26/2014 7:28:25 AM

You folks should team up with PNC arena/The Hurricanes and serve an NC Dark and Stormy

1/26/2014 8:46:22 AM

I like this! but what is "southern Rum"?

Also, can you please get the recipe of this now defunct keys rum company, http://www.bilgemunky.com/pirate-reviews/rum/pirates-choice-molasses-reef/?? call it southern molasses..


And take a note from their company, one of the partners died and the production got halted cause of all the legal issues with the dead guy's spouse. So make sure you have some sort of survivorship/death clause in the partnership or whatever structure you have Just make sure it's spelled out so the rum can still flow.

well that was the original story. A quick search turned up that they might have been running a ponzi scheme on top of making rum lol.

[Edited on January 26, 2014 at 10:30 AM. Reason : .]

1/26/2014 10:25:15 AM

Put a shout-out to TWW on the label and you'll get more business! You know how we do

1/26/2014 7:42:42 PM

local wont do well in the liquor world.

local beer yes, liquor...VERY hard to get in to that business on a national level.


so much rebranding occurs

1/27/2014 12:57:00 AM

sounds like JT3 knows a lot about this business. i'm surprised he hasn't started his own.

1/27/2014 6:33:21 AM

Actually know some people that do bottle and sell their own wine, beer and even liquer. It is not my specialty area and quite frankly I have way too many endeavors to start something so hard to get into anyways.

With that said...marketing is 100% of the battle in liquor. Not how good your product is...but how "cool" it is.

1/27/2014 5:07:42 PM

I love rum!

I'll buy some bottles when I see it.

1/27/2014 5:44:57 PM

Are the rocks glasses on facebook available for purchase? I wont be able to get out for a while to get swag from a bar and apparently my mom wants one too.

1/28/2014 6:00:26 PM

I'm seeing this all over my Facebook.
I blame you if I become a rum-a-holic

1/28/2014 6:17:48 PM

I want a job! Fuck working in restaurants anymore.

1/28/2014 11:25:12 PM

Quote :

"I like this! but what is "southern Rum"? "

Whatever we want it to be! Our rum types/names are subject to change from what you see so far. We are trying to incorporate regional stylings & we have even sourced some NC molasses to use in our products.

Quote :

"Are the rocks glasses on facebook available for purchase? I wont be able to get out for a while to get swag from a bar and apparently my mom wants one too. "

They are part of the Kickstarter (waiting for approval to launch from kickstarter.com... grrr) and can be shipped to you.

Quote :

"I'm seeing this all over my Facebook. I blame you if I become a rum-a-holic"

I will gladly accept that blame.

Quote :

"I want a job! Fuck working in restaurants anymore."

We are starting extremely small to begin with, so we can't afford employees (or even to pay ourselves for a couple years). If we get to that point, then TWW will be one of the first places we post up to.

1/29/2014 12:20:10 PM

Well when you get to that point, PM me first!

1/29/2014 12:31:24 PM

JBaz and I want to do your commercial!

1/29/2014 12:45:28 PM

Quote :

"With that said...marketing is 100% of the battle in liquor. Not how good your product is...but how "cool" it is."

I'd agree with that if you're trying to get into the club scene or market to the "mainstream" consumer. But I think that in many cases there are a significant number of people who care more about how good the product is. I couldn't care less whether the bourbon or the scotch I buy is "cool" and a good reputation will only go so far as getting me to try it once. And I'd wager there are a lot of people who feel the same way.

Plus local is in right now so there's that.

1/29/2014 4:50:47 PM

Quote :

"we have even sourced some NC molasses to use in our products"

I support this! The molasses reef rum that I mentioned and I used to be able to get was amazing.. Too bad it's not available anymore -- at least near DC. You should try to procure a bottle near NC. Last time a buddy of mine was in Myrtle they were overflowing with it, but that was a year ago

If you can make that shit or come close I will buy it in droves.

1/29/2014 8:38:37 PM

Make a cider and count me in!

1/29/2014 10:08:11 PM

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/morning_call/2014/01/raleigh-craft-distllery-to-open-by-end.html

1/31/2014 9:35:33 AM

Kickstarter is live! We had to make a few updates very quickly as we were reserving bottles for purchase at various levels... which is not allowed (even though I've seen it before )

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/raleighrumcompany/raleigh-rum-company-raleighs-first-craft-distiller

Give us a kick!

1/31/2014 11:44:11 AM

^Dude, I appreciate the UNC jab, I do. It may not be the best time to segregate your potential customer base this early on when you're trying to get start up capital.

Also, I think $15k was too low, you should blow that outta the park. I'll pitch in a few bucks, I hope you succeed wildly.

[Edited on January 31, 2014 at 2:45 PM. Reason : ]

1/31/2014 2:45:04 PM