By Gene Galin
Pittsboro, NC – The peppers can come from just across the way, but some of the spirits spend years waiting for their moment. At Fair Game Beverage Company, that combination of nearby ingredients and long patience shapes a small distillery whose products connect farming, food and the growing community of businesses at The Plant.
During my conversation with Fair Game Beverage’s Rob Hamlet, he described a business where developing a bottle can involve experimental blends, repeated tastings, regulatory submissions and another stretch in a barrel before customers ever see it.
The conversation ranged from pepper vodka and malt whiskey to a rum developed with neighboring Kingston 99 Kitchen. It also offered a look at the less visible work behind the tasting room: measuring inventory, deciding when a barrel is ready and explaining why a popular specialty spirit may eventually disappear.
“They’re looking for something special,” Rob said of visitors. “They’re looking for something unique, and they’re looking for something that is local.”
A return home leads to a creative workplace
Rob said he had worked at Fair Game Beverage Company for about three and a half years. His route there began in restaurants and bars, jobs that helped him put himself through college and kept him involved in the food and beverage industry.
Returning to the Pittsboro area, where he grew up, brought him closer to The Plant. He saw an opportunity to work in a setting that encouraged creativity and offered access to local produce.
That attraction remains central to how he describes his work. The ingredients available nearby can become the starting point for a product, while the businesses surrounding Fair Game can help determine how that product develops.
Rob identified Fair Game as North Carolina’s 13th distillery, a distinction also noted by the Pittsboro-Siler City Convention & Visitors Bureau. The bureau places it within The Plant’s Chatham Beverage District and highlights its tastings, spirits and specialty-food pantry.
Rob counted nine spirits during our discussion: pepper vodka, High Striker vodka, amber rum, Jamaican rum, malt whiskey, a black walnut specialty spirit, Sycamore whiskey, rye whiskey and apple brandy.
The list illustrates the range we were discussing that day, rather than a guarantee that every product will always be available. In a business built partly around finite barrels and specialty batches, the selection changes as products are released and inventory is sold.
The tasting room gives visitors a chance to ask about those differences directly. A bottle’s ingredients, age and intended use can become part of the conversation before a customer decides what to take home.
Pepper vodka starts close to the still
For an example of Fair Game’s approach to ingredients, Rob turned to pepper vodka.
The distillery uses aji dulce peppers grown on The Plant campus, he said, preparing a concentrate that becomes part of the finished spirit. The result can be used in a Bloody Mary or paired with pineapple in a vodka drink.
Fair Game’s own product description identifies the pepper as an aji dulce Tobago variety developed on the campus. The company says the heat was bred out while a smoky flavor remained, and describes peppers grown by Little Pond Gardens across the street.
The distinction matters for customers who hear “pepper vodka” and immediately expect an intensely hot drink. Pepper flavor and pepper heat are different qualities, and this product is built around the character of the ingredient.
Rob described the finished drink as something “fun and unique and totally ours.”
That same interest in produce carries into the bar. Peaches can become syrup; blueberries can become syrup or a shrub. Each preparation gives the staff another way to connect a cocktail with the ingredient behind it.
It also gives local growers a place in the customer’s experience. Rob said the ingredients used behind the bar can highlight both Fair Game’s spirits and the people who produce the fruit and vegetables.
The connection is especially tangible with the peppers. Visitors can taste an ingredient grown within the same business campus where the vodka is prepared and served.
Amber rum carries the influence of bourbon barrels
Asked to choose a personal favorite, Rob selected the amber rum.
Its appearance may suggest a familiar spiced rum, he said, but its flavor offers something different. Aging in a previously used bourbon barrel gives it complex notes he associates with bourbon.
The rum’s feedstock is panela, an unrefined cane sugar. Rob used the term “feedstock” to explain the base material that goes into making a spirit – the sugar, grain or other starting ingredient from which production proceeds.
Understanding that base helps explain why spirits differ before any blending takes place. Grain-based whiskey, fruit-based brandy and sugarcane-based rum begin with different raw materials.
The barrel adds another influence. In the amber rum’s case, Rob emphasized the contribution of a secondhand bourbon barrel to the finished flavor.
His preference was personal, not a claim that one product would appeal to every visitor. But it showed how a customer’s first impression can miss part of the story.
Someone approaching the bottle as a conventional spiced rum might be surprised by what years in a barrel have contributed. A tasting, accompanied by an explanation of its ingredients and aging, allows customers to make that comparison for themselves.
The choice also reflects one of Fair Game’s recurring themes: a familiar category can hold a product with a specific history.
Grain choices help shape the whiskeys
Whiskey brought the discussion to grain bills – the combination of grains used in production.
Rob said Fair Game’s malt whiskey uses an entirely malt-based grain bill, while its rye whiskey uses an entirely rye-based grain bill. Those choices, he said, produce rich, complex flavors but can make production more demanding.
Fair Game’s product information specifies 100% malted barley for its malt whiskey and 100% malted rye for its rye whiskey.
The point for a visitor is practical: the grain recipe helps explain what is in the glass. A spirit made from one grain can offer a different experience from one made with a combination.
Rob discussed minimum grain percentages associated with familiar whiskey categories, then emphasized that Fair Game goes beyond those minimum proportions in the products he described.
For customers comparing whiskeys, that information can provide a starting point for questions. What grain was used? How long did the spirit spend in a barrel? What does the producer want that combination to express?
At Fair Game, those questions lead naturally from the tasting room back to decisions made years earlier.
A neighboring restaurant helps develop a rum
One of our conversation’s most detailed examples of collaboration involved Kingston 99 Kitchen, the Jamaican restaurant next door.
Rob said Fair Game developed a rum blend in collaboration with Jason Rhoden of Kingston 99. It combined Jamaican rum with Fair Game’s amber rum and an older Carolina rum.
The project required more than putting three spirits together. Rob worked through possible proportions and narrowed the trials to four leading options.
Rhoden had definite ideas about the result he wanted, and Rob acknowledged that several attempts missed the mark.
“Trust me, I got a lot of them wrong as far as what he wanted,” he said.
That process gives a different picture of product development from the finished bottle on a shelf. The final blend emerged through tasting and revision, with the restaurant’s preferences helping guide the distillery’s work.
Rob made small experimental samples, approximately 200 milliliters each, rather than immediately committing a large volume of valuable aged spirits.
The trial bottles allowed participants to compare different proportions and return to them after they had rested. A formula that seemed promising at first could be assessed again several days later.
Option four became the choice.
Rob said the decision included approval from himself, Rhoden and others involved in evaluating the blend, including George, whom he described as a former distiller at TOPO Spirits who now works at The Plant.
The selected blend then went back into a barrel for additional aging.
Blending does not end with the first tasting
The Kingston 99 project also helped Rob explain the difference between a promising mixture and a finished product.
Newly blended spirits can initially taste “hot,” he said, using the word to describe an assertive alcohol impression and flavors that have not yet settled together.
For the small trials, he bottled and corked the samples, placed them in a cabinet and returned to taste them over several days. Some were evaluated again after a week or a week and a half.
He called that period conditioning.
In this context, conditioning meant letting the samples rest and reassessing their flavor. It was a shorter step than the years of barrel aging that had already shaped the component spirits.
After selection, the larger blend received another period in a barrel. Rob said the components spent about six months together, allowing their flavors to “marry.”
His estimates of the component ages varied during the conversation. He consistently described the Carolina rum as about eight years old, while the amber rum was approximately four or five years old. Later, he estimated the Jamaican component at roughly two and a half to three years.
The important distinction is that the six months together followed earlier aging. The blend was built from spirits that already had their own histories.
Time creates a very different production schedule
When I asked which products take the least and most time, Rob drew a distinction between clear spirits and barrel-aged products.
A clear spirit such as vodka can move toward sale relatively quickly after distillation and conditioning, he said. He described a period of a couple of months in Fair Game’s context.
Aged rum and whiskey operate on a much longer schedule.
Rob said the malt whiskeys he was discussing had at least a six-year age base, with some reaching seven years. Some rums in the barrel-storage area were approaching eight or even nine years.
The age of that inventory prompted me to observe that certain products had been at Fair Game longer than Rob had worked there.
“Oh, yes,” Rob replied. “By a long shot.”
This means that the person serving or blending a spirit today may be working with inventory produced well before joining the business.
It also means that current customer interest cannot always be answered with immediate production. A clear spirit and a whiskey intended for years of aging present different options when demand increases.
For aged products, the tasting room’s present selection reflects earlier decisions: what was made, how much was barreled and when staff determined it was ready.
The conversation did not establish an ideal age for every spirit. Rob said the desired flavor profile helps determine how long a product remains in a barrel.
A bottle also has to clear the paperwork
Creativity at the blending table operates alongside regulatory requirements.
Rob described a process involving federal review and North Carolina’s ABC system. The federal agency is the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, generally called TTB; the state agency is the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.
For products requiring formula approval, TTB examines ingredients and production methods. The agency says formula review is most commonly required when flavoring or coloring materials are added; it is not a universal requirement for every spirit.
Labeling is another part of the process. Rob described attention to bottle size, type size and alcohol-content information. TTB guidance likewise identifies class or type and alcohol content among required label information.
Rob then described submissions involving state pricing, product codes and barcodes. North Carolina’s ABC Commission tells suppliers that permits and assigned product codes are required before shipments can begin.
For Fair Game, the practical result is that choosing a successful blend is one stage in bringing it to customers.
Rob said Fair Game Beverage remains a small operation and does not currently move many pallets of spirits. Much of the business he described centers on its own inventory and direct contact with visitors.
Small batches sometimes reach a final bottle
Inventory was an immediate concern on the day of our conversation.
It was the first of the month, and Rob said he had completed inventory that day, including measuring barrels to determine how much remained.
Supply and demand influence production choices, he said, but some specialty products have a definite endpoint.
“For some of them, you know, when it runs out, we run out of it,” he said.
He cited a peach brandy from earlier years and a sorghum spirit called No’Lasses as examples of products that were gone once their stocks were exhausted.
No’Lasses was a favorite when he first began working at Fair Game, although he had not participated in making it. At that point, he recalled, roughly 15 cases remained.
Eventually the supply fell to the final bottles. Staff let customers know it was approaching the end.
That history gives a customer’s inventory question real importance. A favorite might be a continuing product, an occasional release or the last portion of a batch that will not be repeated.
Rob said staff generally share that information. Visitors can also ask directly whether a bottle is likely to remain available.
The limited supply is part of the operation’s small-batch character, but it also requires clear communication with people who hope to buy the same product again.
Seasonal shrubs bring fruit and acidity to the bar
Seasonal work is not limited to distilling another spirit.
Rob said shrubs had become a major seasonal offering over the previous two years. He described a shrub as a drinking vinegar made from sugar, apple cider vinegar and fruit.
Behind the bar, the appeal is balance. A shrub can contribute fruit flavor while bringing acidity to a cocktail.
That gives staff another option alongside fruit syrups. The vinegar adds a different quality to the drink, helping temper the impression of sweetness.
For Fair Game, shrubs also offer a way to connect seasonal produce with a menu while longer projects continue aging.
A whiskey barrel may need years before it is ready. A fruit preparation can reflect a much more immediate season.
Rob’s examples included blueberry shrub and an apple shrub planned for the fall. Together with house-made syrups, those ingredients help the bar develop drinks around the spirits already available.
The work expands the range of decisions behind a cocktail: which spirit to use, what fruit flavor to add and how to balance sweetness and acidity.
Fall festivals provide another setting for local flavors
The approaching holiday season brought the conversation to events at The Plant.
Rob highlighted Core Values: Apple Fest, where he said Fair Game planned to celebrate its apple brandy with instruction and tastings. Apple shrub would also be part of the seasonal offering.
The Plant’s calendar lists Core Values: Apple Fest for Oct. 25.
He also discussed Chestnut Carnival, including chestnut rum Alexanders, chestnut rum cream, roasted chestnuts and food made with chestnut flour.
The Plant lists its fourth annual Chestnut Carnival for November 15, with chestnut drinks, food, vendors and music.
For Rob, these events give Fair Game a chance to work with seasonal ingredients while participating in something larger than its own tasting room.
He said the business also sources food products, beer, wine and cider connected to the local food environment.
Asked about favorite events, he named Pepperfest as a longstanding favorite, along with Death Faire and Chestnut Carnival.
These gatherings give returning customers another reason to visit and introduce newcomers to the campus. They also provide a setting where an ingredient can appear in several forms, from food to a spirit or cocktail.
A wheat whiskey waits for its turn
Looking ahead, Rob identified wheat whiskey as the next spirit to watch.
The whiskey was already in a barrel, he said. The question was when it would be ready, rather than whether the company could quickly produce it for an approaching holiday.
He mentioned progress on approvals but did not announce a firm release date.
The distinction is consistent with the rest of our conversation. Some changes at Fair Game can happen through a seasonal bar ingredient; others depend on inventory that has been waiting for years.
For customers interested in a forthcoming release, the useful next step is to ask staff about its status.
The wheat whiskey also suggests how Fair Game’s selection can evolve without abandoning the practices Rob described: a particular grain, time in a barrel and repeated assessment before sale.
The finished bottle will represent the end of that process, even if visitors first encounter it during a brief stop at the tasting room.
The reward comes across the counter
When I asked what brought him the most satisfaction, Rob returned to the people visiting The Plant.
He described newcomers discovering the setting and returning customers seeking something they remembered enjoying.
Some visitors that day had never been there. Others had been away for several years and were seeing how the environment had changed.
“That is the reward that you get,” he said, “providing a service to the community and providing something for people to enjoy.”
Flights offer one way to explore the selection. Rob described a spirits flight with six quarter-ounce samples and a whiskey flight with four options, potentially served as half-ounce samples. Visitors can ask about current flight arrangements when ordering.
Fair Game Beverage‘s posted hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. Its website lists the location as 192 Lorax Lane and the phone number as 919-548-6884.
For those planning a visit, our conversation offers a useful starting point: ask what went into the spirit, how long it aged and whether the supply is limited. Check current event and tour arrangements directly before making plans.
At Fair Game Beverage, a bottle can begin with peppers grown nearby, a restaurant’s idea or a barrel filled years earlier. The tasting room is where those separate efforts reach the customer – and where the next conversation about local flavor begins.
Watch our full Chatham Journal conversation for Rob’s explanation of the products, blending trials and seasonal plans.