Ole Smoky Distillery and Yee-Haw Brewing Co. are opening a joint location in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on Wednesday, May 20, marking the brands' first combined footprint in the state. The entertainment-focused venue is positioned to draw both tourists and locals with craft spirits, beer, live music, and an experiential hospitality format that has driven the brands' growth across other markets.
The Myrtle Beach opening underscores a broader trend in beverage industry expansion toward experiential, multi-concept venues that layer distillery and brewery offerings under one roof. For operators watching the space, the model reflects growing consumer appetite for destination-style drinking experiences that go beyond a standard taproom or tasting room — particularly in high-traffic leisure markets like the Grand Strand.
Myrtle Beach draws millions of visitors annually, making it a strategically attractive location for brands seeking volume and visibility. By combining Ole Smoky's established distillery identity with Yee-Haw's craft brewing credentials, the joint venue can capture a wider swath of beverage preferences without splitting the real estate investment across two separate storefronts. Live music programming adds another layer of dwell-time incentive, a tactic increasingly common in hospitality-driven retail concepts.
Ole Smoky Distillery, founded in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, has built its brand around accessible, high-energy tasting experiences, while Knoxville-based Yee-Haw Brewing Co. has cultivated a following for its craft beer portfolio. Together, the brands — both part of the same parent portfolio — are well positioned to run an integrated operation that shares staffing, space, and programming costs while presenting guests with a unified entertainment identity. Food & Beverage Magazine (fb101.com) has tracked the rise of these hybrid hospitality concepts as a durable post-pandemic format.
For hospitality operators in leisure-heavy markets, the Ole Smoky–Yee-Haw blueprint offers a case study in how complementary beverage brands can co-locate to reduce overhead, deepen the guest experience, and compete with larger entertainment venues on atmosphere rather than square footage alone.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
