Our Story
Cedar Mountain Moonshine was founded by Wes Dearbaugh, a.k.a. Papa Moonshine.
After retiring from the mergers and acquisitions industry in 2018, Wes and his wife, Pat Dearbaugh found themselves spending more and more time in the Cedar Mtn. area with their son Adam, Sarah and the grandkids. After a couple of beers with his brother-in-law and joking about bringing back the mountain tradition of moonshine making, Papa Moonshine dove into the distilling hobby in hopes of a little having a little retirement fun while also driving a little business to his daughter-in-law's art studio, Studio276 which opened doors in September 2019. It took almost a year to complete all of the Federal and State requirements to start a Distillery in a dry county and thus Cedar Mountain Moonshine became Transylvania County’s first LEGAL distillery in over 100 years!
The real story begins in the middle of Covid 2020, with the beginnings of Music + Moonshine nights to support local musicians who had to cancel their gigs for the year due to the pandemic. As the modest crowds began tasting the Cedar Mountain Moonshine, the demand started to grow just from our local community! Initially, people were not sure what to expect from a new small batch, handcrafted micro distillery. Moonshine is still a taboo spirit after all of its history. The thought of Moonshine can add some hesitance for those who have never tasted. Most of this reluctance is quickly followed by a story that starts with, "I knew a guy who..." . Nevertheless, the taboo melts away and curiosity is rewarded with FREE TASTINGS to pick their new favorite flavor of Cedar Mountain Moonshine! Papa Moonshine is becoming well known for his tastings and long stories (famous for some, not for others!) during the Friday night Music and Moonshine events during the summer.
This small family business, born during a world-wide pandemic, could not have happened without the involvement of the entire entrepreneurial Dearbaugh clan: Adam Dearbaugh, owns Mountain Living Realty and devotes time to being the General Manager/Lead Distiller of CMM Distillery. Amy MacHale (Papa Moonshine's daughter), owns her own art/graphic design business in Scottsdale, AZ and created the branding for CMM. Sarah Dearbaugh (daughter-in-law), owns Studio276 Art&Co. as the artist and events organizer for CMM/Studio276 Art&Co. Check out the greeting card style mural she painted on the side of our building! And most importantly, is Pat Dearbaugh aka Mama Moonshine, our CTO (Chief Tasting Officer) who enjoys her time with the grandkids during the summers in Cedar Mountain!
Thank you for being apart of our adventure! Stop in before or after your trek into DuPont State Forest with all of its waterfalls, hiking and biking trails and get your Shine On! Free moonshine tastings located inside of Cedar Mountain Moonshine in the heart of Cedar Mountain. Our moonshine is also available at select NCABC liquor stores!
After retiring from the mergers and acquisitions industry in 2018, Wes and his wife, Pat Dearbaugh found themselves spending more and more time in the Cedar Mtn. area with their son Adam, Sarah and the grandkids. After a couple of beers with his brother-in-law and joking about bringing back the mountain tradition of moonshine making, Papa Moonshine dove into the distilling hobby in hopes of a little having a little retirement fun while also driving a little business to his daughter-in-law's art studio, Studio276 which opened doors in September 2019. It took almost a year to complete all of the Federal and State requirements to start a Distillery in a dry county and thus Cedar Mountain Moonshine became Transylvania County’s first LEGAL distillery in over 100 years!
The real story begins in the middle of Covid 2020, with the beginnings of Music + Moonshine nights to support local musicians who had to cancel their gigs for the year due to the pandemic. As the modest crowds began tasting the Cedar Mountain Moonshine, the demand started to grow just from our local community! Initially, people were not sure what to expect from a new small batch, handcrafted micro distillery. Moonshine is still a taboo spirit after all of its history. The thought of Moonshine can add some hesitance for those who have never tasted. Most of this reluctance is quickly followed by a story that starts with, "I knew a guy who..." . Nevertheless, the taboo melts away and curiosity is rewarded with FREE TASTINGS to pick their new favorite flavor of Cedar Mountain Moonshine! Papa Moonshine is becoming well known for his tastings and long stories (famous for some, not for others!) during the Friday night Music and Moonshine events during the summer.
This small family business, born during a world-wide pandemic, could not have happened without the involvement of the entire entrepreneurial Dearbaugh clan: Adam Dearbaugh, owns Mountain Living Realty and devotes time to being the General Manager/Lead Distiller of CMM Distillery. Amy MacHale (Papa Moonshine's daughter), owns her own art/graphic design business in Scottsdale, AZ and created the branding for CMM. Sarah Dearbaugh (daughter-in-law), owns Studio276 Art&Co. as the artist and events organizer for CMM/Studio276 Art&Co. Check out the greeting card style mural she painted on the side of our building! And most importantly, is Pat Dearbaugh aka Mama Moonshine, our CTO (Chief Tasting Officer) who enjoys her time with the grandkids during the summers in Cedar Mountain!
Thank you for being apart of our adventure! Stop in before or after your trek into DuPont State Forest with all of its waterfalls, hiking and biking trails and get your Shine On! Free moonshine tastings located inside of Cedar Mountain Moonshine in the heart of Cedar Mountain. Our moonshine is also available at select NCABC liquor stores!