Garden & Gun Recognizes Top Southern Artisans And Businesses For The Made In The South Awards

CHARLESTON, S.C., Nov. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the editors of Garden & Gun announced the winners of the magazine's annual Made in the South Awards, recognizing the best of Southern craftsmanship and design. With the help of a panel of expert judges, the editors evaluated hundreds of products in five categories: Food, Drink, Style & Design, Outdoors and Home. Winners and runners-up were chosen following a detailed judging process and lengthy tasting sessions (Winners and video: http://gardenandgun.com/MIS-2013), and will be featured in the December 2013/January 2014 issue of Garden & Gun.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131120/CL21081 )

David DiBenedetto, Vice President and Editor in Chief of Garden & Gun, was awed by the quality of the more than 800 Made in the South Awards entries. "Every year the artisans around the South inspire and amaze us not only with their products but also with their passion and skills," DiBenedetto says. "This year was no different. It's an honor to shine a spotlight on these folks and their talents in the pages of G&G."

With a business that takes "sourcing locally" to a new level, this year's overall winner is Southern Craft Creamery of Marianna, FL, run by Lauren and Zach O'Bryan. Not only does their gelato-style ice cream use the freshest ingredients often sourced directly from local gardens, the milk that anchors their product comes from the cows their family maintains. Combine that with a unique palette of flavors, such as satsuma-ginger, tupelo honey, and bay laurel, and you have an ice cream that truly stands out. "There is a phenomenal purity of flavor and a wonderful milkiness that makes it different from other companies," says Made in the South Awards judge and James Beard Award–winning chef Frank Stitt. 

Top-shelf twang is the theme this year for the Style & Design category, with the winning spot taken by Cedar Mountain Banjos of Brevard, NC. Style & Design judges and noted fashion designers Sid and Ann Mashburn tapped this traditional open-back banjo for its exquisite craftsmanship and soulful detailing.

A charred end table from Moran Woodworked Furniture of Charleston, SC, took top honors in the Home category, wowing judge and acclaimed interior designer Barrie Benson. Woodworker Michael Moran uses an ancient Japanese technique of charring to create the distinctive pieces, which combine a sleek and modern aesthetic with a timeless look.

The Drink category prize, judged by Brooks Reitz, owner of Jack Rudy Cocktail Co., went to Bittermilk from Charleston, SC, for its new line of bottled mixers. Incorporating complex layers of flavors, the line raises the bar on home cocktailing by giving amateur enthusiasts a way to create sophisticated drinks at home with a minimum of fuss.

In the Outdoors category, a handwrought fillet knife took top honors. Red Forgeworks out of Timmonsville, SC, makes exquisite knives that impressed judge T. Edward Nickens, expert sportsman and G&G contributor. The steel in the fillet knife's Scandinavian-inspired blade is forged from more than four hundred layers of metal and finished with a reclaimed Pacific yew handle.

The December 2013/January 2014 issue of Garden & Gun, both print and digital, will be available on November 26, 2013.  For more details on Garden & Gun and previous winners of the Made in the South Awards, please visit: www.gardenandgun.com.

Garden & Gun is an award-winning national lifestyle magazine that covers the best of the South, including the sporting culture, the food, the music, the art, the literature, the people, and their ideas. www.gardenandgun.com.

Contact:
Sterling Eason
Director of Corporate Communications
Garden & Gun
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SOURCE Garden & Gun