Worth a Shot

If you’re all about making pour decisions, you’re gonna ace this quiz. … In honor of our Best Bars Issue, we rounded up some local booze trivia to help you get in the spirit of spirits so you can shoot your shot…

1. Downtown Raleigh’s first restaurant and distillery Young Hearts Distilling delivers stellar spirits and craft cocktails, NTM late-night bites, farm-to-table entrees and more. Which spirit(s) does the
distillery churn out?

a. Gin

b. Vodka

c. Rum

d. All of the above

2. Downtown Zebulon’s Olde Raleigh Distillery’s MO is making “unforgettable and damn good whiskey.” Owner Brandon McCraney served in what branch of the military before immersing himself in the spirits industry?

a. Air Force

b. Navy

c. Marines

d. Army

3. Durham Distillery recently released a Conniption Kinship gin boasting a pretty purple hue that changes colors when mixed with citrus or tonics (magic or science?!). Which ingredient gives the drink its special color?

a. Lavender

b. Butterfly pea flower

c. Juniper

d. Licorice root

4. Let’s make one thing clear: Social House Vodka is NC ABC’s No. 1-selling craft vodka since its inception in 2017 (!). The Kinston-based distillery was originally built inside an old power plant beside the Neuse River in what year?

a. 1901

b. 1906

c. 1910

d. 1915

5. “Quality is not an act, it’s a habit.” Garner’s Aristotle Spirits—named after the Greek philosopher who suggested the possibility of spirit distillation and founded by former pharmaceutical chemist Jake Howland—offers how many award-winning small-batch craft spirits?

a. 2

b. 4

c. 7

d. 9

6. We’re nuts for the Scalabrino family’s Oak City Amaretto, which promises to elevate your cocktail experience via the best original Sicilian amaretto recipe concocted by which family member? 

a. Grandma Scalabrino

b. Uncle Scalabrino

c. Grandpa Scalabrino

d. Aunt Scalabrino

7. Named after an old nickname for moonshine and located in “the Land of the Pines,” Pinetop Distillery operates as a true grain-to-glass distillery. What year did the business open its doors?

a. 2011

b. 2012

c. 2013

d. 2014

8. Channel the Wild West (*cue Will Smith song*) via Lonerider Spirits, made “by outlaws for outlaws.” Its Straight Bourbon Whiskey – Stout Cask Finish is finished in bourbon casks that once held which Lonerider beer? 

a. Gunslinger

b. Cowboy in Black

c. Deadwood

d. Addie’s Revenge

9. TOPO Distillery in Chapel Hill is the only certified organic and fully local distillery situated in the South. In a tribute to UNC’s dub over Duke in April, the distillery released a limited offering of a whiskey titled 81–77 Victorious. How many of these specialty bottles were available for purchase?

a. 7,500

b. 8,177

c. 9,177

d. 10,000

Answers: 1. D; 2. A; 3. B; 4. B; 5. C; 6. A; 7. D; 8. C; 9. B