James A.
Yelp
Founded in 2017, the Twelve 33 Distillery (named after the month when prohibition ended) was the first distillery to open in Horry County (both Myrtle Beach and Little River are located in it). It has a wide variety of different spirits, and has a strongly recommended tasting tour. My wife and I took advantage of our free time near Myrtle Beach during a hotel change-over, making (and paying for) the reservation on-line. Both of us really loved it, and really appreciated how the uncrowded time let us slowly enjoy every part of the tour, especially the tasting(s) at the end.
The tour costs $29 per person, paid at the time of reservation. The distillery's bar opened at the same time as our tour (around 1 pm). It is located in a newer strip mall, right off of highway 17, with a dunkin donuts is in the same building. There was plenty of free outdoor parking in front. It's a beautiful space inside, with plenty of open seating and high unfinished ceilings. We were the only two on the tour, and Eric was our guide.
We started by writing the 6 chosen spirits for the later tasting. My wife chose
- Intemperance vodka
- Carolina Peach Vodka
- Crusader Spiced Rum
- Tipsy Joe Coffee Cream Liqueur
- two others
while I chose
- Blueberry Vodka
- Arethusa Single Barrel Rum
- Big Six Double Oak Bourbon
- Big Six Barrel Proof Bourbon Whiskey
- Traigh Mhor American Single Malt Whiskey
- Rocco Loco American Agave
We then went on our tour, in the industrial area of the building. The actual space where the magic happens doesn't require much walking to see all of it. So it depends a lot on the tour guide to keep the spirit going: to entertain and hopefully do a little (in our case a lot) of education. Eric was great at all of it, and we even got to meet the owner (Kevin), who was working the floor. I had done a little studying for a previous distillery review, so what Eric taught us confirmed a lot. Two things of note were the two large vessels , nicknamed 'Bonnie' for the mash tun (where the grains are cooked) and 'Clyde' for the copper still.
We then moved to the custom-built hidden speakeasy, where a secret password needed to be whispered to the lion head guarding the room (the secret word is related to Prohibition, like a lot of things here). Once we entered, our flights were ready and included 3 cream liquors as well. Eric then switched over to become our bartender/waiter, bringing water and pretzels, and offering suggestion and answers. He made it clear that we could take our time. Once we were done with the samples, we got to choose a full size cocktail (normally $13). We got a 'Never Trust a Ginger' (peach vodka, OJ, simple syrup, lime, basil, and ginger beer) and 'Eddie the Swinia' (bourbon, agave, lemon juice, cherry bitters). Both were excellent, eminently drinkable.
We were having a really good time, admiring the atmosphere of the speakeasy. After we finished our drinks, we ordered 3 of the popular spirits to bring back home: Doc Scoflaw ($69.95), Carolina Peach Vodka ($29.95), and Big Six Double Oak ($59.95). Ten percent was taken off because we took the tour. The tax here was 8% (definitely a lot more palatable then the 21% charged in some places). We stayed a little bit longer to admire the room, and then left...remarking how nice everyone was, and hoping that future spirit tours would be as gratifying as this one.