This North Carolina distillery was voted No. 4 in the country

BELMONT, N.C. — A well-known distillery in a Charlotte, North Carolina, suburb has received another accolade.

Muddy River Distillery in Belmont grabbed the No. 4 spot in USA Today's 10Best Best Craft Rum Distillery contest where readers vote for their favorite places.

The distillery, which started in 2011 as a 500-square-foot space "in an old textile mill" that the founders rented off of Craigslist, got its name from being so close to the Catawba River. It moved into its current location in 2013.

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Muddy River Distillery was No. 2 in the 2020 10Best list. That year, it was second only to Lyon Rum in St. Michaels, Maryland. 

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In 2021, it lost out to Lyon -- which claimed the top spot again -- as well as Wicked Dolphin in Cape Coral, Florida, and KoHana Distillers in Kunia Camp, Hawaii. 

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USA Today has a panel of experts that partners with the 10Best editors to select the initial nominees that voters get to choose from, and a simple popular vote leads to the final rankings.

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