Flaming Aces Distillery

About Tracy Bumgarner & Flaming Aces Distillery

Rooted in Appalachia. Built by Community. Driven by Craft.

For Tracy Bumgarner, Flaming Aces Distillery has never been simply about making spirits. It is about preserving Appalachian traditions, creating something distinctive in East Tennessee, supporting the community, and building a place where people genuinely want to gather.

Located in the Stoney Creek community of Elizabethton, Tennessee, Flaming Aces Distillery LLC is a veteran-owned and operated craft distillery founded by Tracy and his wife, Teresa Bumgarner. Since opening its doors in July 2025, Flaming Aces has grown from a new hometown distillery into a thriving destination for handcrafted spirits, cocktails, live entertainment, food, and community.

After being honored as the 2025 Guide to Tennessee Best Distillery winner, the Flaming Aces team did not slow down. In its second year, the distillery expanded its facility, expanded its team, introduced new spirits, increased distribution beyond Tennessee, and created an even larger gathering place for the community.

Craftsmanship Runs Through Everything We Do

Tracy serves as Owner, Manager, and one of Flaming Aces’ Master Distillers, overseeing much of the day-to-day operation while working alongside a talented team that makes the distillery what it is.

Fellow Master Distiller Kris Fortner, born and raised in West Virginia, brings his own Appalachian distilling heritage to Flaming Aces. His family traditions are especially reflected in the distillery’s brandies, including Kris Fortner’s Wild & Wonderful Blueberry Apple Brandy.

Teresa Bumgarner serves as Administrative Manager and leads many of the behind-the-scenes responsibilities that keep Flaming Aces moving forward. Together with the bartenders, production team, musicians, food-truck partners, vendors, and supporters who have become part of the Flaming Aces family, the business has developed a culture centered on hospitality and teamwork.

Tracy is also the owner and craftsman behind Ace Custom Copper LLC, where he hand-builds custom copper stills and distilling equipment. His copper work combines traditional fabrication techniques with Appalachian character and can be found in businesses and private collections across the country, including a custom piece at Luke Combs’ Category 10 in Nashville.

That same appreciation for craftsmanship carries directly into every spirit produced at Flaming Aces.

Spirits With a Sense of Place

Every Flaming Aces bottle has a story.

Stoney Creek Moonshine, bottled at 91 proof, pays tribute to the community Flaming Aces calls home and Tennessee Highway 91 running through Stoney Creek.

Blue Hole Sour Mash honors a longtime local swimming hole and continues the Appalachian sour-mash tradition.

Carolina Ridge Runner Rum draws inspiration from the history of Appalachian runners and bootleggers.

Lynn Valley Farmers Reserve takes the connection to local agriculture even further, using fresh field sweet corn including the ground cob as part of a spirit designed around the farming heritage of the Lynn Valley and Stoney Creek communities.

The Flaming Aces lineup has continued to grow well beyond traditional moonshine. Today it includes spirits such as Flaming Peach, Blackberry Elderberry Moonshine, Strawberry Rhubarb, Apple Cobbler, Blackberry Cobbler, Carolina Ridge Runner Rum, Appalachian Frost Vodka, Amaretto, Apple Brandy, Spiced Rum, All-Grain Clear Corn Whiskey, limited-release bourbon and whiskey, and other small-batch creations.

Special releases and collaborations have also become an important part of the Flaming Aces story, including Pam Sutton’s Watermelon Moonshine, Firehouse Shine Co. Blazing Blueberry Cobbler, and Kris Fortner’s Wild & Wonderful Blueberry Apple Brandy.

For Flaming Aces’ first anniversary in July 2026, the distillery released a limited, numbered Anniversary Tennessee Whiskey, beginning what is planned to become an annual tradition.

Many of these spirits are now reaching customers beyond East Tennessee, with Flaming Aces products expanding into West Virginia and North Carolina while the team continues working toward broader regional distribution.

More Than a Tasting Room

Perhaps the biggest transformation during Flaming Aces’ second year has been what happens beyond the bottle.

The distillery expanded into additional space, creating a larger entertainment and gathering area complete with a new stage and Game Center featuring an 8-foot pool table, dart boards, jukebox, games, televisions, and additional seating.

Guests can enjoy handcrafted cocktails, spirit tastings, moonshine slushies, non-alcoholic mocktails, Dirty Sodas and lemonades, zero-alcohol options, and an atmosphere designed to make everyone feel welcome.

Nearly every week brings something different.

Flaming Aces regularly hosts live music, karaoke, Bike Night, line dancing, game nights, food trucks, special releases, meet-and-greets, craft events, football watch parties, and community celebrations. Local and regional musicians have made the Flaming Aces stage a regular stop, while partnerships with area food trucks have turned the distillery into a destination for an entire evening rather than simply a stop for a tasting.

When a food truck isn’t scheduled, guests are welcome to bring food with them or have their favorite local restaurant deliver directly to the distillery.

Flaming Aces has intentionally built an environment that is veteran-friendly, family-friendly, dog-friendly and biker-friendly, where longtime regulars can sit beside someone visiting for the first time and both feel like they belong.

Community Comes First

Community has been part of Flaming Aces from the beginning.

As a veteran-owned business, supporting those who serve is especially important. Flaming Aces offers discounts to veterans and active-duty military members, first responders, and educators.

But community involvement goes beyond discounts.

Flaming Aces works with local farmers, musicians, food trucks, craftspeople, organizations, and small businesses whenever possible. Events bring people into Stoney Creek, provide performance opportunities for musicians, give mobile food vendors another place to build their businesses, and create a gathering place unlike anything else in the area.

The goal has always been bigger than selling bottles.

It is about creating relationships.

The Next Chapter

In just over a year, Flaming Aces Distillery has changed dramatically from the number of bottles on the shelf to the size of the facility, the size of the team, the reach of its products, and the experiences available to guests.

Yet the foundation has remained the same.

Appalachian heritage. American craftsmanship. Great spirits. Good people. And a community worth celebrating.

Winning Best Distillery in 2025 was an incredible honor for the entire Flaming Aces team. Rather than treating that recognition as a finish line, it became motivation to keep improving.

Today, Flaming Aces is stronger, larger, and reaching farther than it was a year ago—but it remains unmistakably Stoney Creek.

For Tracy, Teresa, Kris, and the entire Flaming Aces team, every mash, every bottle, every cocktail, every song played on the stage, and every guest who walks through the door becomes another part of the story.

Flaming Aces Distillery  Where Tradition Meets Fire.