MIKE CONLEY | The McDowell News, Marion, N.C. After much work and effort, Copper Creek Distillery in Marion is producing liquor that is âhand crafted one drop at a time.â Copper Creek Distillery will open for business during the Memorial Day weekend. Owners Greg Shuford and Randy Berry have worked for the past 14 months to create the first legal distillery in McDowell County since before Prohibition. Shuford and Berry said their craft distillery will be the first one for a multi-county area in western North Carolina. That includes McDowell, Madison, Mitchell and Yancey counties. The two men are the co-owners and the operators of Copper Creek Distillery. Both of them have backgrounds in the mountain tradition of making liquor.