The Buena Vista Whiskey Story That Quietly Became a Georgia Craft-Spirits Footnote
Some distilleries announce themselves with bright lights and big-city polish. Swamp Fox Distilling Co. did something different.
It set up shop in Buena Vista, Georgia, in a renovated 1908 cotton warehouse on the town square, leaned hard into local history, and built a small-batch whiskey identity around grain-to-glass production, Southern storytelling, and a name tied to one of the Revolutionary War’s most elusive figures. Georgia Grown described Swamp Fox as a grain-to-glass distillery with a lineup that included bourbon, rye, malt whiskeys, moonshines, limited test batches, and canned cocktails.
The name “Swamp Fox” comes from Francis Marion, the Revolutionary War officer whose guerrilla tactics earned him that nickname. Swamp Fox Distilling used that historical character as the foundation for a brand built around American independence, Southern roots, and whiskeys with local stories behind them. Beverage Business reported that the distillery was founded by Britt and Angie Moon, with sales beginning in the fall of 2019.
The King’s Town Rye: The Bottle That Stood Out
The product most associated with Swamp Fox is King’s Town Rye Whiskey.
This was not a soft, background-style rye. It was listed as 100 proof / 50% ABV, and North Carolina ABC records identified it as King’s Town Straight Rye, aged 3 years, in a 750 ml bottle. Those same state records also listed Swamp Fox’s F. Marion Straight Bourbon, also aged 3 years, at 82 proof.
That matters because it gives us a clearer picture of the brand. Swamp Fox was not just making novelty spirits. It had a legitimate American whiskey lineup: a bourbon, a rye, a malt whiskey, moonshine, and other craft releases.
King’s Town Rye appears to have been the more assertive bottle in the lineup. Retail descriptions identify it as a four-grain rye built from rye, barley, wheat, and corn, with tasting notes leaning toward butterscotch, charred maple, sweet leather, autumn syrup, earthy spice, and allspice.
That is a compelling profile on paper: sweet enough to invite bourbon drinkers in, spicy enough to stay true to rye, and earthy enough to feel different from the big national labels.
How Did It Review?
King’s Town Rye earned outside recognition. The Fifty Best named King’s Town Rye Whiskey from Swamp Fox Distilling in Georgia a Gold Medal rye in its 2020 rye whiskey review, listing it at 100 proof and describing a nose full of salted caramel, crème brûlée, dark chocolate, maple, malt, cherry, licorice, leather, tobacco, earth, smoke, charred wood, and campfire notes.
The palate notes from The Fifty Best pushed even deeper: caramel, toffee, chocolate malt, vanilla, ginger, fresh herbs, toasted dark bread, roasted walnuts, coffee grounds, leather, cigar box, mesquite, char, smoke, oak, and cedar. The finish was described with butterscotch, rye, charred rye, malt, spice, pine sap, hay, smoke, oak, and an “interesting” mellow character.
That reads like a rye with real personality. Not necessarily a crowd-pleaser for every palate, but certainly not bland. The flavor profile suggests a whiskey with smoke, malt, earth, and char running alongside the sweeter rye notes.
King’s Town also received a Silver Medal at the 2019 Bartender Spirits Awards with a score of 81 points, and a 2022 USA Spirits Ratings certificate lists King’s Town by Swamp Fox Distilling Co. as an awarded whisky.
The 2022 SIP Awards results also listed King’s Town from Swamp Fox Distilling Co. at 50.0% ABV.
The Larger Swamp Fox Lineup
Swamp Fox’s broader whiskey and spirits lineup included more than King’s Town Rye. Beverage Business listed these offerings when the brand expanded into Connecticut and Rhode Island:
F. Marion Single Barrel Continental Whiskey — 41% ABV / 82 proof
King’s Town Rye Whiskey — 50% ABV / 100 proof
Kettle Creek Single Barrel Whiskey Cask Strength — 59% ABV / 118 proof
Southern Secret Stillproof Muscadine Moonshine — 78% ABV / 156 proof
Mixology with Mikey Old Fashioned canned cocktail — 16.6% ABV / 33.2 proof
That lineup shows a distillery trying to build a regional identity rather than copy Kentucky. The brand leaned into Georgia, history, moonshine culture, malt whiskey, rye spice, and small-batch experimentation.
From a Barrel Proof Notes perspective, that is the kind of operation worth paying attention to. Even when a whiskey is not perfect, a distillery with a clear point of view is more interesting than one simply chasing whatever style is trending.
Is Swamp Fox Distilling Still in Operation?
Based on the available public information, Swamp Fox Distilling Co. in Buena Vista, Georgia appears to have closed.
The strongest source I found is a June 18, 2025 article from The Journal, which reported that after seven years, Swamp Fox Distilling Company, located in the old Stevens Warehouse/Cotton Exchange, had closed. The article also stated that Britt Moon said he had enjoyed the experience but was retiring.
There is also a Facebook result from Swamp Fox stating that the Buena Vista tasting room was closing its doors “forever,” but the local newspaper article is the cleaner citation for publication purposes.
One important clarification: there is also a Swamp Fox Distilling in Pendleton, South Carolina, focused on rum. That appears to be a different operation and should not be confused with Swamp Fox Distilling Co. of Buena Vista, Georgia. The Pendleton operation’s website identifies it as a rum distillery located at 128 Exchange Street, Historic Downtown Pendleton, SC, with products under the Pure Corruption rum line.
So, for the Buena Vista whiskey brand: the evidence points to closed, not currently operating as an active public distillery/tasting room. Bottles may still appear in retail channels or secondary inventory, but that does not mean the Georgia distillery itself is still open.
Barrel Proof Notes Takeaway
Swamp Fox Distilling Co. feels like one of those small regional whiskey stories that deserved a little more time in the glass.
The Buena Vista operation had a strong setup: a historic cotton warehouse, a grain-to-glass identity, Georgia roots, a Revolutionary War name, and a whiskey lineup that tried to be distinctive. King’s Town Rye appears to have been the most compelling pour in the portfolio — a 100-proof rye with enough sweetness, smoke, spice, malt, and earthy character to stand apart from more predictable rye whiskey profiles.
The downside is simple: the story appears to have ended. The distillery reportedly closed in 2025 after roughly seven years, with retirement cited as the reason. That turns King’s Town Rye and the rest of the Swamp Fox lineup into something closer to a regional whiskey time capsule.
Final Call: Swamp Fox Distilling Co. is no longer just a Georgia craft whiskey brand to taste — it is now a Georgia craft whiskey story to remember. King’s Town Rye may be the bottle that best preserves that story: bold, regional, imperfectly known, and far more interesting than ordinary.
Perfect Pairing
This works well with almost any design from the Barrel Proof Collection.
https://oldrouteone.com/collections/barrel-proof-co
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