There is something special about small town businesses coming together to make magic happen, but when they cross county lines and truly put forward an effort to get life moving in an entire region, well, that is even more special. The Coosa Cleaver in Wetumpka and John Emerald Distilling in Opelika have joined forces and are doing what they can to bring communities across central and eastern Alabama together.

John Emerald Distilling is Alabama’s first legal distiller of whiskey since prohibition started here in 1914. They make vodka, gin, three different kinds of whiskey, three different types of rum, an agave spirit and possibly the world’s only muscadine brandy, but certainly the tastiest.