Calling all rum lovers! There is a rum distillery right here in our area! You heard me, locally made rum right here in Anderson County, at Swamp Fox Distillery on the square in Pendleton.
We went right to the source, Ernie Wagner, the head distiller and owner of Swamp Fox, to find out how we lucked into getting our own rum distillery in our county. Ernie and his wife, Peg, run the distillery with the help of their three daughters.
First thing we were curious about is why did this distillery choose rum? Typically, the South is known more for moonshine, and Caribbean Islands are more famous for their rum.
“I’ve always liked rum, but when I started visiting several islands in the Caribbean, I fell in love with rum. I started going to all the distilleries on each island, meeting with distillers and workers, and learning all the characteristics of each brand and type,” Wagner said. ”When I got home, I researched and tried numerous rums to know what I liked the most and what made the best rums, then researched those distilleries. In the end, I knew what type of rum I thought was the best, what type of still was used to make it, and how it was made.”
What makes Swamp Fox rum different from many other rums you can purchase at a liquor store is quite simple. As a craft distillery, their rum is made in very small batches by hand. They use no automation for anything. Cuts are made by smell and taste. Wagner had his still, called an alembic pot still, custom made by an artisan in Portugal. This still only produces flavorful spirits like rums, brandies and cognacs. The perfect still, combined with the perfect balance of raw sugar (turbinado) and black strap molasses, and finally a proprietary strain of Caribbean rum yeast from Barbados, make Swamp Fox rum a very flavorful, heavy style, Caribbean rum. Two of the rums, The Dark Side and Toasted Coconut, just won gold medals at the East Coast Craft Spirits Awards. Wagner said this means that even professional spirits judges feel their rum is some of the best out there.
Starting with the love of rum, followed by extensive travel, and what sounds like some fun research, it was decided a rum distillery would be in his future, but how did Pendleton get chosen to house this unique southern distillery?
“We live about ten minutes from Pendleton, and fell in love with it right away,” said Wagner. “We went to Viva Wine bar and met Sheldon, the manager, who made us feel right at home. We ended up going to Pendleton once or twice a week, and decided that if we could, we would love to have the distillery in town. There was nothing available that we saw, but the owner of Viva thought that Sturie Tribal Village was available, while not being formally listed. I went in to talk to them the next week, and sure enough, we struck a deal on a lease/purchase for the building. It took us one-and-a-half years to build it out and meet code, and we formally opened selling rum on November 1, 2019. In the summer of 2020, we were able to exercise our option and purchase the building.”
One look at the distillery’s website and you’ll notice this is a family affair. Wagner says that all came naturally. Basically, this was his dream, and he just “dragged the family into it.” He first started conceiving this when he lived in Maryland, and formed the Prospect Bay Brewing and Distilling Co. His and Peg’s middle daughter, Stefanie, went to Clemson, met her husband, and ended up moving to the area. When the Wagners’ first grandchild was born, Peg told him they needed to move closer to the new granddaughter, so they moved down south. He had originally planned to slowly transition from his day job to the distillery in Maryland, but when the discussion of the move to South Carolina came up, Wagner told Peg if they moved, he had to be all in on the distillery, as he was giving up his day job. And I think we can safely say she agreed. Wagner says she now helps him on days they are open to the public.
The family ties don’t end there. Stefanie, who lives in Six Mile, helps out in the tasting room serving cocktails on their open days, Thursday to Saturday, 2-7 p.m. Wagner makes and bottles rum on Monday to Wednesday. Their youngest daughter, Kristen, lives in Charlotte, and she takes care of all the social media for the distillery. Their oldest daughter, Jenna, lives in Maryland, and has a physical therapy practice that keeps her busy, so she rarely makes it down to visit, but is a big promoter and taste tester. And last, but certainly not least, is the family dog, Berkeley. Berkeley proudly wears the badge of Official Greeter.
How did Berkeley get to be such a lucky dog? Wagner explains, “When we started the distillery, we knew we needed a distillery dog. We had been without a dog for several years, and it was just time. We had always had big dogs — Great Pyrenees, Newfoundland, St. Bernard — and we had always wanted a Bernese mountain dog. We found a local breeder in Fairplay and got Berkeley as an eight-week-old puppy. We started bringing him into the distillery right away and acquainted him with his job of greeting customers. He’s pretty chill at the distillery as he knows that’s his job. At home, a bit more active. He loves to run around, chase the Frisbee, go on walks, and cuddle on the floor with his mom. It’s funny, people will see him, and come into the distillery just to meet him.”
Finally, how did the name Swamp Fox Distillery come about? Wagner says that it came from a bunch of friends sitting around their home bar in Maryland with the goal of finding a cool name for the new distillery that tied into South Carolina. After about an hour, Swamp Fox came out. In researching it, Ernie learned that Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion, known as the Swamp Fox, was a legend in South Carolina, so they decided it fit perfectly. He fought the British in the swamps of Berkeley County, which provided the name for their dog.
So yo, ho, ho, go grab yourself a bottle of one (or all) of the local Pure Corruption Rums and see for yourself why the Wagner family is so proud of its venture.
Want to visit?
Swamp Fox Distilling, 128 Exchange Street, Pendleton SC, (864) 502-3080
Visit the distillery online at swampfoxdistilling.com or on Facebook at SwampFoxDistillingPendleton.
Story and photos courtesy of Anderson magazine.
