Opelika’s John Emerald bring’s state’s first legal whiskey to Wetumpka

Two Alabama cities have a history with cotton that traces back more than a century. 

John Emerald, a locally made whiskey, is distilled and aged in some of Opelika’s old cotton warehouses. The distillery recently brought Alabama’s first legal whiskey since Prohibition to another cotton town — Wetumpka. Jimmy Sharp co-founded John Emerald in 2014 along with his father John. Jimmy Sharp is also the head distiller and brought the company’s whiskeys, vodkas and liqueurs to the Coosa Clever for a tasting.