Who owns SOTO Distillery in Georgia?

Georgia corporate filings list SOTO Distillery, LLC as an active Georgia company, registered in April 2026 in the Brunswick / St. Simons area, with Douglas H. Mulford named as both its member and its registered agent.

What should I know before investing in SOTO Spirits?

The man named in SOTO Distillery LLC's filings, Douglas H. Mulford, defaulted on a six-figure business loan connected to an earlier venture, repeatedly broke repayment promises, and has a court judgement entered against him. A firsthand account is documented at dougmulford.com.

Is SOTO — Spirit of the Oak Distillery — connected to Doug Mulford's earlier brands?

Doug Mulford's earlier ventures include Drift Cocktails (Charleston, SC), LAB Distillery / LAB Liquor on the Gulf Coast, Beach Drinks canned cocktails, and a portfolio of other liquor brand concepts, documented at dougmulford.com.

Public Records Check · Not Affiliated With SOTO

Before You Invest in SOTO Spirits: What the Record Shows About SOTO Distillery, LLC

The Georgia craft-spirits venture "SOTO — Spirit of the Oak Distillery" is registered to a man with a court judgement against him for an unpaid six-figure loan. Here is the sourced record — before you invest, lend, or partner.

SOTO — Spirit of the Oak Distillery — markets itself as a coastal-Georgia craft spirits brand: vodkas, gins, barrel-aged rums, whiskey, and canned cocktails inspired by the Golden Isles. The branding is polished. This page is about what the branding doesn't say.

Corporate filing — State of Georgia

Entity	SOTO DISTILLERY, LLC
Status	Active / Compliance
Registered	April 2026
Location	Brunswick / St. Simons Island, Georgia
Member	Douglas H. Mulford
Registered agent	Douglas H. Mulford
Principal's record	Six-figure loan default on an earlier venture; repeated broken repayment promises
Court judgement	Entered against Douglas H. Mulford — documented at dougmulford.com

Source: Georgia corporate records via Bizapedia — SOTO Distillery, LLC. SOTO's own consumer-facing website (sotospirits.com) does not name its founders.

Why the name on the filing matters

Douglas "Doug" Mulford is a distiller and drinks entrepreneur with a genuine public track record — founder of Drift Cocktails in Charleston, the operator behind LAB Distillery and the LAB Liquor brand portfolio on the Gulf Coast. He builds attractive brands, and the press coverage of his earlier ventures was real.

So is this: Doug Mulford defaulted on a six-figure business loan made to one of those earlier ventures, spent months making repayment promises that were repeatedly broken, and a court judgement has been entered against him.

The lender's complete firsthand account — the pitch, the default, the excuses, the judgement — is documented at dougmulford.com/sotodistillery.html.

Common questions

Who owns SOTO Distillery?: Georgia filings list Douglas H. Mulford as both the member and the registered agent of SOTO Distillery, LLC (see the record above).
Is SOTO Distillery a real company?: Yes — the LLC is active and in compliance with the State of Georgia. This page makes no claim that the company is fake. It documents who is behind it and what his financial track record with other people's money has been.
Is SOTO connected to Doug Mulford's earlier brands?: SOTO is the newest venture from the same man behind Drift Cocktails, LAB Distillery / LAB Liquor, Beach Drinks, and a portfolio of other liquor brand concepts — all documented, with sources, at dougmulford.com.
What should I do before putting money in?: Read the full firsthand account. Search court records in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina under his name and entities. Ask him directly about the judgement. And run a proper diligence process — there's a practical checklist here, written by the lender who learned it the hard way.

Read the full story before you wire anything

From a mastermind-group introduction to a court judgement — ten minutes that the last lender wishes he'd had.

The SOTO Warning at dougmulford.com