Our Story

In 1985, Willy Grey was a bartender at Cotton‘s restaurant, a little place in the coastal resort town of Orange Beach, Alabama.

While working there, he began to perfect his own idea of how a good Bloody Mary should taste. To do this, he tried different ingredients and concoctions in hopes of stumbling upon a unique blend. After experimenting with horseradish, pickle juice, dill weed, and more, he mastered his own special mix.

At first, bottling and delivering the new product involved long and tedious work; he filled each bottle by hand with a funnel and twisted the cap with a pair of pliers. He did all this in Cotton's kitchen, but, even equipped with a capable workspace, it took 14 hours to make 14 cases.

Before long, grocery chains and restaurants across the nation were calling for his spectacular mix. He couldn't produce enough to satisfy the skyrocketing demand, and, financed by the sale of his precious, and authentic, Babe Ruth uniform, he moved production to a larger bottling plant in 1995. Soon he was supplying people across the United States with the savory punch of "Whiskey Willy's" Bloody Mary's. Since the beginning, his only mission has been to provide people everywhere with a chance to experience the flavor of a true Bloody Mary.

One taste, and you'll see that he's done just that.