Made in the South Award Winners Announced

Garden & Gun’s Annual Made in the South Awards Honor Artisans from Across the Region for the Tenth Year

Charleston, SC (November 15, 2019) - Garden & Gun magazine announced the winners of its tenth annual Made in the South Awards today, celebrating Southern makers who make products in six categories: Drink, Food, Home, Style, Crafts, and Outdoors. The overall winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize and a prominent feature in the magazine’s December 2019/January 2020 issue, on newsstands Tuesday, November 19.

“We started the Made in the South Awards ten years ago as a way to recognize the remarkable talent and creativity of artisans, makers, chefs, and designers from across the region,” says David DiBenedetto, senior vice president and editor in chief of Garden & Gun. “Each year our team continues to be truly wowed by the entries, and it's an honor to be able to share the winners’ and finalists’ skills and stories with our readers.”

This year’s Overall Winner, from the Crafts category, is Covered in Cotton’s throw blankets, made in Darlington, South Carolina. For years, Ty and Tracy Woodard, the duo behind the blankets, tried to brainstorm ways to use their four-thousand-acre farm beyond the row crops and Black Angus beef cattle that Ty’s family had been raising since 1962. When they finally dreamed up making blankets with their high-quality upland cotton, the Woodards joined forces with Carolina businesses all located within 150 miles of their farm. From farm to gin to loom and farm again, local spirit is evident in every step of the process. The first three blanket styles are named for their three children, and the Covered in Cotton philanthropic mission is inspired by one of them as well. When their son Tobin was hospitalized as an infant for bacterial meningitis, a blanket gifted from a kind nurse served as a source of comfort during the trying time. Now Covered in Cotton donates a blanket to a South Carolina children’s hospital for every ten sold.

Crafts category runners-up are:

· Sunhouse Craft hand brooms (Berea, KY)

· Craig Proper dinnerware (Tulsa, OK)

The winner of the Drink category is Cathead Distillery’s Hoodoo Chicory Liqueur, made in Jackson, Mississippi. Inspired by the chicory coffee his parents drank, Phillip Ladner infused Cathead’s vodka with ground chicory root. After trial and error and a few tweaks, the company produced a liqueur that is citrusy up front with bitter toffee notes to finish. The name hints to Afro-Caribbean mysticism, and the 66.6 proof lends more occult playfulness.

Drink category runners-up are:

· Reservoir Distillery Hunter & Scott Bourbon Whiskey (Richmond, VA)

· Creature Comforts Brewing Co. Reclaimed rye (Athens, GA)

The winner of the Food category is Taste of Satira’s Gullah Geechee crab boil sack, made in Cross, South Carolina. Pamela D. Jones Mack, the founder of Taste of Satira, was a home cook who took the Gullah Geechee flavors she grew up with and turned them into a catering business. When people began asking to buy her spice blends, she put them into cheesecloth sachets that could easily be fished out. Her crab boil blend is a mix of ten spices, including extra cayenne pepper to bring heat to seafood or other dishes.
Food category runners-up are:

· Dayspring Dairy True Ewe Bourbon Caramel (Gallant, AL)

· Scratch Pasta Co. Virginia Wheat Campanelle (Lynchburg, VA)

The winner of the Home category is Southern Andiron & Tool Co.’s bespoke fire tools, made in Brookhaven, Georgia. Trey and Marjorie Miller, the founders of the company, wanted people to get excited about fires again. They spent two years researching and sourcing materials, and the results include a heavy-duty fire iron, an ash trowel, and an ash whisk. The goods are made with Georgia-forged raw steel, handles covered with thick hand-sewn leather, and wooden whisk heads with natural Tampico bristles.

Home category runners-up are:

· Nate Cotterman Glass flow decanters (Penland, NC)

· LiBird Studio Magnolia faux bois candlesticks (New Orleans, LA)

The winner of the Style category is Blue Delta custom pants, made in Tupelo, Mississippi. Cofounders Josh West and Nick Weaver have taken a personal approach to clothing. They create a unique pattern for each client using sixteen exact measurements, and the client chooses the cut, fit, fabric, and thread. Within four to six weeks, the custom pants are ready to be worn for years and years. With thirteen different colors to choose from, the possibilities are endless.

Style category runners-up are:

· Oil/Lumber haori coat (Nashville, TN)

· Saint Virginia Handcrafted Textiles big square scarf (Gainesville, VA)

The winner of the Outdoors category is Stono Knife Works Blue Ridge camp knife, made in Taylors, South Carolina. After literally dreaming up the design, Alec Meier created a knife whose handle had a topographic map of the Blue Ridge Mountains sealed in resin. The Damscus blade is formed from twenty-seven layers of steel from old files and saw blades. Meier will also customize the handle based on a client’s request.

Outdoors category runners-up are:

· R.H. Jensen Game Calls duck calls (Wilmington, NC)

· Goldens’ Cast Iron 20.5-inch Kamado-style cooker and table cart (Columbus, GA)

To learn more about the winners and finalists and how to purchase their products, pick up a copy of the December 2019/January 2020 issue of Garden & Gun or visit https://gardenandgun.com/made-south-awards-2019.

Follow the Made in the South Awards conversation using #madeinthesouthawards on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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About Garden & Gun

Garden & Gun is a multiplatform media company that celebrates stories of the American South through powerful journalism, bold photography, exquisite design, and finely curated retail and experiential journeys. The brand is anchored by its award-winning national magazine launched in 2007, Garden & Gun, which reports on the South’s sporting culture, food, music, art, literature, and its people and their ideas. The coveted audience of 1.6 million is further engaged through numerous New York Times best-selling books, Fieldshop by Garden & Gun retail experience, the Garden & Gun Club restaurant at the Battery Atlanta, and 75+ events each year. Visit gardenandgun.com.

About Garden & Gun’s Annual Made in the South Awards

Garden & Gun created the Made in the South Awards in 2010 to celebrate and encourage Southern craftsmanship, and to recognize the best available Southern-made products. The annual awards recognize product in six categories (Food, Drink, Home, Style, Crafts, and Outdoors) and are judged by industry experts from across the country. The overall winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize and, along with all category winners and runners-up, will be prominently featured in the magazine's December 2019/January 2020 issue, which will hit newsstands in November 2019.

This year’s Made in the South Awards judges are: Erin and Ben Napier (Laurel, MS), founders of Laurel Mercantile Co. and Scotsman Co., and hosts of HGTV's Home Town (CRAFTS); Dara Caponigro (New York, NY), creative director at F. Schumacher & Co. (HOME); Rob Samuels (Loretto, KY), Maker’s Mark chief operating officer (DRINK); Carla Hall (Washington, D.C.), former Top Chef contestant, former cohost of The Chew, and cookbook author (FOOD); Laura Vinroot Poole (Charlotte, NC), founder of luxury boutiques Capitol, Tabor, and Poole Shop (STYLE); and T. Edward Nickens (Raleigh, NC), award-winning author, journalist, and outdoorsman (OUTDOORS).

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