Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/76623
Editor's Note: Congratulations to Fred Minnick for his Small Batch column winning the presti- gious APEX award in the column category. Whiskey Everywhere A ll across the country, new whiskey distilleries are pop- ping up. In Louisville alone, 16 facilities are currently planned for construction, including Chatham Imports' Michter's and Heaven Hill's Evan Williams. Louisville mayor Greg Fischer recently requested $500,000 from his city council to help develop historic Whiskey Row, a strip on Main Street where more than 100 whiskey companies were headquartered before Prohibition. Although his request was denied, whiskey enthusiasm has spread across the state. A map of Kentucky distillery history produced by the recently-revived Old Pogue Distillery. In Lebanon, Kentucky, two Beam brothers opened the Limestone Branch Distillery earlier this year. Another his- torical bourbon name, Pogue, has recently reopened its Old Pogue Distillery in Maysville, Kentucky. Pogue originally began distilling in 1876, but Prohibition ended its run of preferred Kentucky bourbon and other whiskies. According to William A. Cook's biography of George Remus, King of the Bootleggers, Remus (who is also a character on HBO's Boardwalk Empire) attempted to move 3,000 barrels from Old Pogue's ware- houses, but unfortunately federal agents had been tipped off and were waiting for Remus and his men upon their arrival at the Pogue distillery. In Pulaski, Tennessee, The Tennessee Spirits Company is building a $50-million distillery and is already selling its Jailer's Tennessee Whiskey and Breakout Rye Whiskey in all 50 states and 12 countries. At the heart of all these newer micro-distilleries is a goal to use local ingredients, a trend New York–based Tuthilltown started when it opened in the early 2000s. Tuthiltown, which is now in partnership with William & Grant, sources more 26 / the tasting panel / august 2012 than 90 percent of the grains for its Hudson line within ten miles of the estate. Virginia-based Original Moonshine, owned by W. J. Deutsch, is another smaller distiller that also helped create this local-ingredient trend, growing 100 percent of its corn on its own farms. In Minnesota, the Panther Distillery became the state's fi rst whiskey distillery when it opened in July. Panther uses 500-gallon copper stills and acquires grains from local farm- ers. They plan to sell gin, rye, rum and whiskey. At the moment, Panther has an unaged White Water Whiskey available. Jason Grossmiller, a former blackjack dealer, is starting the Arizona Distilling Company, which will use local wheat, corn and barley with a sustainability strategy. NEW DISTILLERIES MAKE FOR EXCITING TIMES FOR WHISKEY LOVERS Although many smaller distilleries may sound purely local, they have big intentions. New Oregon-based Cannon Beach Distillery purchased its copper and brass stills from Vendome in Kentucky. Cannon Beach will release younger aged whiskeys within the next two years. Much as in Kentucky, where whiskey producers work together in the Kentucky Distillers Association to make the bourbon pie bigger, some states are creating their own guilds to further the collective whiskey efforts. Anchored by Stranahan's, the Colorado Distillers Guild consists of 18 members that promote Colorado distilleries. At the Colorado's Distillers Festival on August 19, consumers might get their fi rst taste of new whiskies such as Whitewater, an unaged whiskey from Deerhammer Distilling Company. Oregon's Distillers Guild boasts 21 members, including Cascade Peak Spirits, which makes Oldfi eld Certifi ed Organic Rye Whiskey and Big Bottom Whiskey with its two-year-old Straight Bourbon fi nished in a port barrel. T. J. Pottinger Sugar*Shine is from Kentucky's Limestone Branch Distillery. These younger and experimental distillers are willing to try anything, making this an exciting time for whiskey lovers. Deerhammer's Whitewater Whiskey. IMAGE COUTESY OF OLD POGUE DISTILLERY