An age-old course of that thrives at present, charcoal filtering is the signature technique used to create Tennessee whiskey. (Picture by Kristina Krug)
If not for Lincoln County—a 571 square-mile rural space on the border of Alabama—Tennessee whiskey may be indistinguishable, not less than by technical requirements, from bourbon. Each whiskey varieties share the identical fundamental guidelines: the mash must be not less than 51% corn, distilled to a most of 80% ABV, aged in new charred American oak, have a barrel entry ABV most of 62.5%, and bottled at a minimal of 40%. But even with all these similarities, some tasters level to clear variations, with Tennessee whiskeys usually thought-about softer and mellower in taste. One cause is the Lincoln County Course of, which is integral to Tennessee’s signature model.
This technique first materialized (not less than by identify—its precise historical past goes again 1000’s of years) in Tennessee throughout the mid-1800s and was then referred to as charcoal leaching, when Nathan “Nearest” Inexperienced taught Jack Daniel make whiskey in none aside from Lincoln County (which has since been rezoned and now not contains Jack Daniel). Over time, the method hasn’t modified a lot aside from the identify: Unaged whiskey is distributed by way of vats crammed with charcoal produced from sugar maple timber, with the tip aim of eradicating impurities and smoothing (or “mellowing”) the flavors.
Charcoal filtering first materialized in Tennessee throughout the mid-1800s, when it was referred to as charcoal leaching. (Picture by Kristina Krug)
At Cascade Hole, George Dickel whiskeys are filtered by way of mammoth, 14-foot vats filled with charcoal which are first stuffed to the brim with new make then chilled—the chilling half being a Dickel unique—earlier than the whiskey trickles by way of. “We lean very closely into the charcoal mellowing, utilizing it as a significant contributor to the ultimate character of the spirit,” says Nicole Austin. “All the pieces on the distillery was constructed round the concept charcoal mellowing was going to play a significant half. Typically in additional trendy manufacturing, individuals would possibly default to a extra conventional Kentucky-style of manufacturing, and their distillery won’t combine the charcoal mellowing course of practically as a lot.”
All Tennessee distillers should use the Lincoln County Course of in the event that they want to name their merchandise Tennessee whiskeys, with the lone exception of Prichard’s—which sarcastically is one in every of simply two Tennessee distillers positioned in Lincoln County. The distillery gained exemption from the rule after proprietor Phil Prichard argued that charcoal filtering isn’t a way his ancestor, Benjamin Prichard, ever used. Benjamin Prichard couldn’t have used charcoal filtering, as he was making whiskey many years earlier than the method was even invented.
Prichard’s was revived as a distillery by Phil Prichard in 1997; the primary authorized distillery in Tennessee in practically 50 years. Its whiskey is made with white corn and Tennessee spring water, and is distilled by way of pot stills, versus the column stills generally utilized by lots of its contemporaries. These days, Prichard’s is extra targeted on rum, although Benjamin Prichard’s Tennessee whiskey stays integral to the vary.
