The opening of Burnt Church Distillery in March 2021 unleashed a Lowcountry altar call like no other for bourbon aficionados and amateurs alike. Brothers Billy and Sean Watterson’s investment in Bluffton came at a time when many restaurants were closing up shop, but the duo saw potential in the region’s alluring folklore.
The Watterson brothers spent three years researching the Lowcountry’s history of liquor production and bootlegging in addition to the fabled Burnt Church Road—a nearly 2-mile stretch that runs from highway 278 to the upper estuaries that surround Bluffton. They wanted to be able to share the history of the area with those visiting the distillery, which fueled their research, a book (Burnt Church Road: Unraveling the Story Behind the Name), and, eventually, a 2.8-acre campus with a 7,000-square-foot tasting room known as the Sanctuary.
The design of the space is a hybrid between an old, Southern warehouse, a Charleston storefront, and a gothic church, making for a venue that is as flavorful as the spirits it cranks out. Cathedral ceilings, tracery windows, stained glass, scattered church pews, and other ecclesiastical elements, such as the private tasting room appropriately deemed the Vestry, tie the space together under the Burnt Church theme.
Burnt Church’s lineup flexes seventeen spirits: A whiskey, two bourbons, vodka, flavored gins, and an array of moonshines ranging from sweet potato pie to iced coffee. Each spirit and cocktail is a nod to the history of the surrounding area or the theme of the road. Take their Anita’s Choice Bourbon, for example, named for Lowcountry legend Anita Pollitzer—a twentieth-century Charleston suffragist. The distillery is also capitalizing on the alcohol-free movement with a nonalcoholic spirit, Amethyst, and a menu of six alcohol-free cocktails.
Burnt Church is not just a distillery, though. Sharables like wings, pizza, tartines, and nachos are elevated with the likes of cauliflower pizza crusts and breads from Auspicious Baking Co. out of Savannah. In the spirit of the Burnt Church story, order the smoky goat cheese spread for a toasted start. The truffle ’shroom orzo mac comes topped with portobello mushrooms and is finished with a sprinkling of truffled parmesan. The Special Order #67 pizza’s buffalo sauce base kicks, but is mellowed out with a hefty pile of mozzarella, chicken, bacon, and ranch drizzle. @burntchurchdistillery
Can’t Miss on the Menu
Cocktail: Burnt Moline with Anita’s Choice six-grain bourbon
Appetizer: Smoky goat cheese spread
Main: Special Order #67 pizza
Desserts: Sin Eat monkey bread
