Staring May 1st, you will find Huntsville-made gin, vodka, and rum in your local liquor store! Shelta Cavern Spirits will be distributed by in all of the North Alabama ABC Stores. In 2016, the team at Straight to Ale created Shelta Cavern Spirits. Currently, they can be found in a secret speakeasy at Campus 805. The Speakeasy is open Monday-Friday 4pm-11pm, and Saturday 2pm-11pm unless closed for a private event.

The distillery is named for Shelta Cave in Huntsville. The cave has a long, rich history which includes use as a prohibition era distillery, underground speakeasy, and dance hall.

On this day, May 5th in 1937, Alabama's 22 year ban on liquor was lifted and legal hooch sales returned to the state. But did you know that the hottest spots to hang during the years of the illegal party scene were actually underground? Three caves in Alabama are noted to have housed quite a few all-nighters in their day. DeSoto Caverns was known as "The Bloody Bucket" due to the Road House style crew it attracted. Shelta Cave, operating as a party palace before prohibition as well, was given electric lighting and was not at all deterred by illegal liquor sales. Bangor Cave, pictured above, was a speakeasy in the 1920's and gained popularity as "America's Only Underground Nightclub." Papers falsely read that the hot spot was newly opened in 1937, just as Alabama's illegal liquor law was abolished. How convenient. #theserpentsofbienville #todayinhistory #alabama #alabamahistory #desotocaverns #bangorcave #sheltacave #prohibition #history

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Distillers Glenn Hummer and Kade Miller have been hard at work ensuring that each batch is perfect before hand-bottling the spirits for the first shipment to the 22 stores in Northern Alabama. “We've been diligently working to improve and perfect these final renditions of our Shelta Caverns spirits to ensure they reflects the same quality that you would expect from all the fine beverages crafted here at Straight to Ale,” Kade Miller explains. Shelta Cavern Spirits also produces whiskey and other small batch liquors that remain available at Straight to Ale.

 

Be on the lookout for Shelta Cavern Spirits gin, vodka and rum in our Huntsville liquor stores on May 1st! Please enjoy responsibly.