Cultivated Cocktails Distillery and Tavern is a family affair

To paraphrase a popular slogan about a Nevada city, ‘What happens in bachelor parties, stays in bachelor parties.’ And yet, it was in the waning hours of an Asheville bachelor party for one of his closest friends that Taylor Howard was struck by a business idea. Funny enough, considering the idea was for a distillery, Howard was sitting in a downtown brewery and sketched out the concept on a bar napkin.

Even more ironically, while Howard isn’t a teetotaler, he’s not a big drinker. Professionally, he is an engineer, which means a brain that is always figuring things out. He shared his thoughts with his cousin Jake Howard, and the two 25-year-olds were off to the races.

Or, off to the research and development phase, which included securing a still, learning the science behind distilling, making and taste-testing practice batches and, as importantly, closely studying local and federal laws that regulate the spirit-making industry.

In July 2012, legal paperwork was filed for a small craft beverage business to be called H&H Distillery, for Howard and Howard. Taylor’s wife Leah Howard is also a partner, and in 2015, Taylor’s father Wendell Howard bought Jake’s share. (Father and son also own and operate T&K Utilities, a licensed contractor specializing in infrastructure work, with local clients including Asheville breweries like Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and Wicked Weed.)

Wendell and Taylor Howard with the ’63 Cadillac

The distillery was set up in Fairview and in 2017, H&H made its debut with Hazel 63 Rum. The aged (and subsequently award-winning) rum is made with select Caribbean molasses and finished with French and American Oak. It is named after Wendell Howard’s grandfather Hazel Pink Howard; the label features a 1963 Cadillac handed down by Hazel to Wendell, who refurbished it and the heirloom auto still runs today.

The second spirit was Hwy 9 Gin, a premium gin made with nine aromatic botanicals, four of them citrus. The name refers to Taylor Howard’s favorite road for motorcycle cruising, a route that takes him from the area where his grandmother grew up and all around the region.

“There is a lot of family lore to the spirits and on the labels,” says Joshua Rivenbark, who is not a Howard but has been general manager for nearly two years. “There are fun Easter eggs, like the hawk on every label which is a tribute to Leah and Taylor’s son Hawkins.”

H&H Distillery hit a bump in the road in 2019, when they learned there was an existing distillery with a claim to the name, so the business was renamed Cultivated Cocktails Distillery. That year they opened their first shop and tasting lounge at 29 Page Avenue, and two years later relocated to a larger storefront suite at 25 Page Avenue.

The distillery remained in Fairview, releasing new spirits as they were developed, aged and met approval from Wendell’s discerning palate. He jokingly refers to his role as the ‘tasting expert.”

Among those have been Shades of Rosé, a 90-proof gin, inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who famously wrote ‘Here’s to alcohol, the rose-colored glasses of life.’ Shades of Rosé is crafted with nine botanicals, then rested in red wine barrels from RaySon Vineyards.

Asheville Vodka, distilled from American corn and blended with Western North Carolina mountain water, is slow-proofed, aerated, and carbon-filtered for clarity, with a smooth, clean finish. Rivenbark says Asheville Vodka is their best-selling spirit. “Vodka is kind of an intro spirit for people just starting out making cocktails. With other spirits you need a little more mixologist knowledge.”

Hazel 63 Rum Old Fashioned

Cultivated Cocktails sees a rise in requests for brown spirits as the weather cools, and they are ready to serve. Steel Horse Whisky is made with a bourbon mash comprised of corn, wheat, and malt barley and aged using three different methods, the last of which includes spinning it in Charred American Oak barrels for a distance of 2,000 miles. This unique method created by the engineer in Taylor Howard adds a slight caramel-evocative sweetness from the increased agitation in the barrels.

W.T.H. Bourbon Whisky – Wendell T. Howard’s initials – ​boasts a 45% ABV with a 75% Corn, 21% Rye and 4% Malted Barley mash bill, creating a refined balance of sweetness and spice.

In the fall, Rivenbark says sales of Appalachian Aperitif – a corn-based spirit with an array of spices, blended with the dry hard apple ciders, aged in red wine barrels and sweetened with the juice from local fresh-pressed apples – skyrockets.

On Halloween, it will be all treats, no tricks, as Cultivated Cocktails Distillery and Tavern celebrates its third anniversary in the building that was the original distillery in East Asheville (the working distillery is now about a half mile up the road).

The original still sits in the center of the dining room, which seats about 175 people, a mix of folks coming in after work for a cocktail or for a full dinner from a menu that was totally re-vamped in January by Rivenbark (whipped goat cheese and fig flatbread is the most popular item).

Cocktails break down into Seasonal – changed out every four months – and Classic. All are made with Cultivated Cocktail spirits of course, the #1 seller in the Classic category is the Asheville 75, an interpretation of the French 75 using Hwy 9 gin. With just a couple of exceptions, all cocktails can be modified to mocktails.

The downtown lounge was closed after Helene took a hit on tourism, so everything hospitality-related was consolidated in the East Asheville location, including a retail section where guests can buy full cocktail kits, logoed glasses and bar tools, as well as branded swag. They also host Cultivated Cocktail Experiences for small groups that reserve in advance; participants enjoy a private presentation of the distilling process, history of the company and generous tasting of the spirits.

Asheville Coffee Liqueur is holiday spirit(s) in a bottle, using a recipe by Taylor’s grandmother Gail who used to slip small bottles of it into family Christmas stockings every year. Rivenbark helpfully reminds that there are less than 100 shopping days until Christmas. “We do a limited release of GranMama Gail’s special coffee in a special bottle every year. It’s our best-selling liqueur.”

More about Cultivated Cocktails Distillery and Tavern.

— Written by Kay West

— AIRfare is sponsored by McGuire Wood & Bissette

Photos courtesy of Cultivated Cocktails Distillery and Tavern.