Honest Tennessee whiskey: Leiper’s Fork
Leiper’s Fork Distillery in Williamson County, Tennessee, draws inspiration from the state’s rich traditions of whiskey distilling, bringing pre-Prohibition-style whiskey back to the lips of modern consumers.
According to the 1896 Tennessee Industrial Census, the state was once a thriving hub of 322 registered distilleries. The prominent industry was effectively eliminated in 1910 when Tennessee enacted an in-state Prohibition, followed by nationwide Prohibition in 1920.
Those antiquated days are, thankfully, a thing of the past. A combination of the new millennium and the rising interest in whiskey worldwide has resulted in more than 1,200 new whiskey-producing distilleries being established throughout the US.
In Tennessee, 2009 was a pivotal year for inspiring whiskey makers, reversing legislation and opening the state up for whiskey production for the first time in 99 years. For many Tennesseans, like Lee and Lynlee Kennedy, founders of Leiper’s Fork Distillery, the change in law felt like they had reclaimed their birthright.
Leiper’s Fork started production and filled its first whiskey barrels in April 2016. Based in Williamson County, the distillery strived to bring back pre-Prohibition-style whiskeys brought to the area by Scotch-Irish settlers in the 18th century.
“Using quality, non-GMO local grains grown within a 10-mile radius of the distillery, and time-honoured techniques, we are passionately committed to recapturing the lost art of small-batch whiskey production that has been prevalent in the hills and hollows of Tennessee since its earliest founding,” says Lee, co-founder and president of Leiper’s Fork Distillery.
Experimentation
The distillery produces Tennessee whiskey, Bourbon, and rye, and once a year experiments with grain bills. Past experiments have included triple-distilled wheat whiskey, single malts, single-malted corn, and single-malted rye. Leiper’s Fork also uses a sweet mash process instead of a sour mash, producing a higher pH throughout the process, resulting in a softer spirit.
Lee says: “We distil our whiskeys in a traditional copper pot still with a lyne arm, reminiscent of Scotch single malt production. Our barrel entry proof is also lower than the industry standard. We enter the barrel at 55% ABV – the barrel entry-proof limit before American Prohibition – which helps to extract caramelised wood sugars from the cask.”
The idea of producing old-style whiskey expands to all aspects of production, as Lee explains: “In the vein of pre-Prohibition, we bottle all of our whiskeys as Bottled in Bond, which is a government designation, and was the first consumer-protection act enacted by Congress in the US in 1897.
“The designation stipulates that all the whiskey in the bottle must be made by a single distillery in one distilling season, aged for at least four years in a government-bonded warehouse and bottled at 100 proof, or 50% ABV, on the mark. We are a non-chill-filtered brand, which also plays into a pre-Prohibition style. We strive for quality over quantity and attention to detail.
“We aim to create simple and honest whiskey driven by passion, and every decision we make at the distillery is viewed through the prism of ‘what is right for the whiskey?’”
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