About John Emerald Distilling Company

Opelika is a town ‘Rich in Heritage with a Vision for the Future’ where a father-son distillery is making the first legal whiskey in Alabama since the end of Prohibition. More than just whiskey, John Emerald Distilling Co. is bottling their family heritage for the next generation.


Housed in an old cotton warehouse, John and Jimmy Sharp founded John Emerald Distilling Co. in 2014. John and Jimmy had worked together before, owning a lucrative plastering business, travelling the world to help open stores for Louis Vuitton. Not wanting to miss a moment after the birth of Jimmy’s daughter, the two stopped travelling and started their distillery, naming it after John’s father.


Every bottle of John Emerald Distilling Co.’s award-winning whiskey, rum, gin and vodka highlights the Sharp family lineage. Each bottle is named for an ancestor, and the flavors invoke their personalities. Founded by family, for family, to celebrate family, John Emerald Distilling Co. welcomes you into theirs, one bottle at a time.

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