Austin Creel

“Creel’s Alabama Dream”

If you had asked Austin Wade Creel ten years ago what he’d be doing at 38, he might’ve given you a list as long as an Alabama summer day: real estate, franchising, something in logistics. But whiskey? That might’ve sounded more like a dream than a plan. And yet, walk into Sweet Home Spirits just west of Birmingham, and there he is, right at the heart of it all, greeting guests in the tasting room, checking on barrels aging in the back, and pouring out not just bourbon, but a little bit of his soul into every bottle.

It started with a song. Or rather, with how a song followed him across the ocean. In 2017, Creel was traveling in Spain. A simple question: “Where are you from?” kept sparking an unexpected reaction. Whenever he said, “Alabama,” the response was almost magical—broad smiles, calls of  “Roll Tide” with a foreign accent,  the unmistakable guitar lick of “Sweet Home Alabama” ringing from a speaker or sung off-key by a stranger. It wasn’t just recognition. It was affection. That moment, he later recalled, planted a stubborn little seed. “Why,” he asked himself, “don’t we have an Alabama whiskey, one made of Alabama ingredients, made with Alabama flavor, that everyone can experience?”

At the time, Creel was still deep in the very different world of supply chains, spreadsheets, and strategy sessions. After graduating from the University of Alabama, he went straight into a role as a Supply Chain Manager at a Fortune 300 manufacturer. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was part of a larger plan: build financial stability first, then build something of his own.

Creel’s early entrepreneurial adventures were as wide-ranging as they were ambitious. He once owned two Domino’s Pizza franchises in the U.S. Virgin Islands, dabbled in the vaping industry with an e-liquids startup, and ran multiple Airbnb properties. These ventures weren’t just about chasing profits; they were training grounds. He learned the language of risk, how to spot opportunity, and perhaps most importantly, how to walk away when the time was right. In 2019, that time came. He divested all of it, the franchises, the vacation rentals, and the vapor clouds of e-liquid dreams. to pursue something more meaningful: a whiskey brand not just from Alabama, but of Alabama.

Sweet Home Spirits was officially born in 2021, but its first whiskey had been simmering for years. Creel began by partnering with nearby Dread River Distilling Company, contracting production while he refined his flavor profiles and brand identity. That first release, House Divided Bourbon, hit shelves on Veterans Day 2021. It sold out fast. Alabama ABC stores soon picked it up, and suddenly, Creel had more than a good idea; he had proof of concept and a great business plan.

With momentum building, the next step was clear: he needed a home. In May 2023, Sweet Home Spirits opened its own distillery and tasting room in Leeds, Alabama. Nestled between rolling hills and not far from the pulse of Birmingham, the facility isn’t flashy. It’s warm, rustic, intentional, more front porch than gleaming factory. Visitors are greeted not with gimmicks, but with the comforting smell of aging spirits and the sense that they’ve just walked into someone’s family story, which, in many ways, they have. That’s because Creel’s family roots run deep in Alabama, particularly in the small town of Hamilton. His beloved father, Robert, sadly passed away in 2019, but his influence lingers. The corn used in Sweet Home Spirits’ bourbon is from the family farm in Hamilton, the same land Robert once tended. That connection to the soil, to heritage, is something real and has become the quiet heartbeat of the distillery.