Welcome To Drop Zone Distilling Company

Drop Zone Distilling Company didn’t start in a store in Gatlinburg, TN. No, Sir, it started over 90 years ago in the mountains of East Tennessee. Now, 4 generations later, great-grandson Rod Parton, the first in the family to go legal, is the Founder and CEO of Drop Zone Distilling Company.

Rod Parton has brought his family's recipes and his love for making a true mountain spirit to the table for everyone to taste and enjoy, made the way it’s supposed to be made and the way it’s supposed to taste. Rod started taking the family secrets legal in 2019, sharing them with the Feds- something his ole man kept secret for many years- and he was a major bootlegger in the 60s and 70s, keeping the roads hot and the customers happy! After a lot of paperwork and phone calls, Rod opened the family’s first “Legal” Distillery in Knoxville, TN, on November 11, 2022, making them Knoxville’s first legal Moonshine Distillery. Why Veterans Day, one may ask. Simple: not only was Rod’s family known for good shine, but also for community service. His grandfather, Ben Parton, owned a small grocery and gas station in Pittman Center, TN. Most of the old-timers say it was known not only for the hot dogs and ice cream but also for the M80S that everyone could get.

Their family’s service didn’t start there; they have a long history of military service. Rod’s great-uncle served in WWI and didn’t make it home; his grandfather served in WWII; and his uncle was a Navy fighter pilot during Vietnam and attended the first TOP GUN Class. Rod was honored to follow in the family’s footsteps. After joining the US Army, Rod was stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC, as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division (hence the distillery name, Drop Zone), then in Germany. He is a Desert Storm Veteran.
After Rod’s military career, he served his community for 28 years in law enforcement as a K9 Handler and a Tennessee State Trooper. During this time, Rod also served with the Blount Co. Fire Dept and was a member of the BSORT Team as a recovery diver. 

Our Master Distiller, Ronnie Myers, is a retired SSG with the US Marines, with 9 deployments, and a second-generation moonshiner himself, learning his trade from his grandfather. After the Marines, he attended the Brewery and Distilling College in Knoxville, TN, where he met Brandon Lane, who is our lead distiller at Drop Zone.

Our CFO, Mike Moncrief, started his military career in the US Army as a Ranger attached to the 1/75th Ranger Bn. After leaving the Army and returning to college, Mike reenlisted in the US Air Force and became a helicopter pilot, flying UH-1s and CH-53s before retiring as a LT. Col.

Drop Zone Distilling has already won Gold and Silver Medals for their Vodka and Legacy Moonshines. In 2023, Drop Zone released 4 whiskeys: Bourbon, Rye, Single Malt, and Light Oat, and of course, an award-winning Salted Caramel Whiskey.

Now with 2 locations in Knoxville and Pigeon Forge, TN. We encourage everyone to stop by, have a taste, and share a story or 2 with us.