530 - A Moonshiner Turned Legit with Royce Neeley of Neeley Family Distillery

Bourbon Pursuit

Hobbies, Food, Arts, Leisure

4.9 • 866 Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2025

⏱️ 73 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the bourbon world, we often talk about lineage and tradition. But what happens when that tradition is rooted in something a little... less than legal? That's the story we're getting into today with an incredible guest. We're sitting down with Royce Neely, the owner of Neely Family Distillery, whose family has been moonshining for generations. Royce isn't just carrying on a legacy; he's bringing it out of the backwoods. He’s taking us through his fascinating journey, from studying at Transylvania University to building his own distillery from the ground up. He's diving deep into the science and the art behind his craft, explaining his obsession with yeast, the secrets of sweet mashing, and what it takes to produce an award-winning absinthe. We're also getting an exclusive look at what's next for his distillery, including the installation of a one-of-a-kind three-chamber still designed to take his game to a whole new level. Show Notes: The origins and development of Neely Family Distillery Royce's early interactions with moonshining and their influence on his career Key distillation techniques, including sweet mashing and yeast selection Insights into the distillery's acclaimed absinthe and market challenges The anticipated impact of the new three-chamber still on whiskey production The significance of family and collaboration in Royce’s distillation process Support this podcast on Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	My family originally comes from Ireland from the 1740s.
0:03.8	A lot of drinkers in your family is what I'm finding out right.
0:06.4	A lot of drinkers and killers.
0:08.8	I'm like the only generation of my family hadn't killed anybody yet.
0:11.6	It's like you just legalize the mob over here.
0:13.6	It's what it feels like.
0:14.3	You said yet.
0:15.0	Yes.
0:15.7	You know, it's, you know, you never know.
0:17.2	You never know.
0:38.0	This is Burbin Pursuit, the official podcast of Bourbon, bringing to you the best in news, reviews, and interviews with people making the bourbon whiskey industry happen, and I'm one of your hosts, Kenny Coleman. In the bourbon world,
0:42.4	we often talk about lineage and tradition, but what happens when that tradition is rooted in something
0:48.1	a little less than legal? That's the story we're getting into today with an incredible guest.
0:54.1	We're sitting down with
0:55.0	Royce Neely, the owner of Neely family distillery, whose family has been moonshining for generations.
1:00.7	And Royce isn't just about carrying on a legacy, he's bringing it out of the backwoods. He's taking
1:06.0	us through his fascinating journey from studying at Transylvania University to building his own distillery from
1:11.5	the ground up. He's diving deep into the science and the art behind his craft, explaining his
1:16.8	obsession with yeast, the secrets of sweetmashing, and what it takes to produce, an award-winning,
1:23.0	absent of all different things. We're also getting an exclusive look at what's next for his distillery,
1:28.3	including the installation of a one-a-kind, three-chambers still designed to take his game to a whole new
1:35.1	level. With that, enjoy this week's episode, and now here's Fred Minnick with Above the Char.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Bourbon Pursuit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Bourbon Pursuit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.