Striped Pig Distillery — Attraction in South Carolina

My Valentine's Day surprise was a hit: Liquor tasting and chocolate pairing at The Striped Pig Distillery. The event popped up in January and I booked immediately, wanting to have a pocket Valentine's Day surprise.

We arrived at our appointed time of 2pm, last available, and the gravel parking lot had plenty of spaces for us. I bet at night it can get packed, they have a local-bar vibe. We went in and followed the signs to the back. There is table seating as well as bar seating, and a nice dark wood funky vibe. Classic rock was playing not too loudly, and it seemed like they were running a staff meeting in the back so we couldn't do a tour. No problem, maybe next time. Our bartender welcomed us and offered table or bar seating, and of course we chose bar. There were several beer taps in the wall, with interesting-sounding names and descriptions that will have to be further explored at a future visit. We were here first and foremost for the tasting and pairing.

Our guy gave us the list of the pairings, which was opposite order from the order they were served which was opposite the direction they were intended to be consumed. I enjoyed the chaos and we started with the house gin, featuring lavender and doing an incredibly herbaceous dance with the floral white chocolate. Nice pairing. Hubby is not a gin drinker and found it very floral and astringent. I bought a bottle.

The next was the house spiced rum with a pineapple chocolate that was far superior to any Captain or Admiral. Spicy and smooth, a lovely slow sipping rum, or mix it up in a tiki drink or daiquiri. We picked up a bottle.

Next, the bourbon. Hubs was not thrilled with their bourbon. He found it had a very acetone hit and while it was not objectionable, it would not be his choice. He is a bourbon connoisseur. I am not. I don't care for bourbon, but this was far smoother, less woody than expected. The dark chocolate would match with anything, really.

Last, the rye whiskey. If I like anything less than bourbon, it's rye. But this one was surpringly drinkable, and I could see myself drinking it again. Hubby again picked up that acetone note that put him off the bourbon too. I don't know enough to define it. But tastes vary.

We had fun and he wants to do more like this, so that's a W for the event; thanks for making it a fun Valentine's Day surprise! They sold me two bottles and I really like that gin so that's their W. The rest is for consideration. Gotta give em the full 5 stars. Keep your nose to the grindstone, Piggies, you've got a good...

A phenomenal place to see ethanol be turned into gin, whiskey, vodka and more. Had a tour from Pixie, the owner. In the 2 hours she shared her pitch for shark tank, told us about her dating life, and even showed us an indoor sports arena. The details of her children's careers were particularly humorous. Her son was an assistant manager at a Starbucks and she claimed he was a district manager. Not quite. Her daughter was claimed to be an editor at The Guardian and she was a reporter. Lastly, Pixie claimed to have been a stock broker for AmeriPrise. Not quite. She was a financial planner at a franchisees office. LinkedIn is an amazing place. Fact check fast talkers. Back to the tasting - as others said, they let you try over 20 varieties. They all taste great. Some separate in weird ways sitting on the shelf at home for a few months, though. Curious what the state of SC does to make sure you’re not...

The tour itself is mandated by the state. Everyone who wants to taste any samples must take the tour. The owner was our guide and the tour was pretty awesome. A combination of alcohol knowledge, humor, and being a fun smartbutt as I think the other word may be censored by Google. The tour wa as really good.

It was a fun tasting with a straight vodka, a lavender gin, and a spiced rum. The rum was the best of the 3. The gin was lavender based and was far less piney than all other gins I have tried. We got a bottle of the spiced rum to take home.

And what drew or eye to it was a tour site had it in as the stripped pig not the striped pig. Mn...