Pandemic puts Maggie Valley’s Elevated Mountain Distillery into foreclosure

By Rex Hodge

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    MAGGIE VALLEY, North Carolina (WLOS) — A Maggie Valley distillery is in foreclosure with its doors closed, as of June 10.

The owner of Elevated Mountain Distillery in Maggie Valley said the past two years have taken their toll. The owner of Elevated Mountain Distilling in Maggie Valley, Dave Angel, says it’s the legacy of the pandemic that has led his business into foreclosure.

“We thought things were starting to break. Supply chain issues and all the past COVID-related challenges started to come up that were still COVID-related, and we couldn’t get past it,” said Dave Angel, owner of Elevated Mountain Distillery.

Angel had taken out an SBA loan in 2016 of over $1 million to get the business started. He said things were going well, but when the pandemic hit, his income took a big hit, making it hard to make payments.

“You spend spring, summer, fall as a business owner in this community getting ready for the coming winter. And unfortunately, we had to spend last spring, summer, fall trying to repair the damage of the year before and we just couldn’t cover it all,” Angel said. “We are closed down at the moment.”

The business is in foreclosure status, which means other parties can bid on the property.

“It’s all going through the restructuring or reshaping that happens,” Angel said. “There are several people that are eyeing this property.”

Angel said that includes the owners of Bearwaters Brewing in Canton. The second week in June has seen new activity on the property, too.

“There’s been a new bid,” he said.

But Angel isn’t giving up trying to get the business back, teaming up with developer Frankie Wood’s investment team — the same group interested in reviving Ghost Town.

“Not only does our community believe in us and want to see us here, we have an investment team that believes in us and wants to see us here,” Angel said. “They are actively working to see what they can do to help us get right back into operation as soon as possible.”

They’ve submitted a bid, too. Should their plan prevail, the distillery could return but with a different name — and Angel no longer the sole owner.

“But we will absolutely have the same spirit and the same heart that we’ve always had for our family and for our community,” he said.

“The thing I’m proudest of that we’ve done in the last five years is not an award-winning whiskey or something like that. We raised over $100,000 in the last year with a partnership with nonprofits that stayed right here in Haywood County,” said Angel. “We’re not done trying to get this business back and get it back to where it needs to be.”

Bidding is open for another week, but Angel and his investment group say they also plan to put in another bid next week.

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