PRODUCTION

Tennessee Whiskey

True Tennessee Whiskey is not just whiskey made in Tennessee, and it’s not Bourbon Whiskey

Must be at least 51% corn to make a mash of corn, rye and malted barley

Must use a new White Oak Barrel 53 gallon (never used a second time)

Must pass through the “Lincoln County Process” dripping whiskey through sugar maple charcoal

Must be barreled at no more than 125 proof

Corn, Rye, Malt and some times Wheat are what makes whiskey.

The various grains are ground and cooked.

The cooked grains and malted barley are added to warm water, which converts into a liquid known as mash.

The mash is added to a fermentation tank, along with yeast.

The yeast converts the sugar to alcohol.

After three of four days, the resulting liquid is about 10% alcoholic and is known as distiller’s beer, or wash.

The wash is heated to the point where the alcohol turns to vapor, but the water remains liquid.

The alcohol is then collected in a second container.

This process is repeated to produce “high wine” or “new whiskey.”

Water is added to the high wine, which is aged in wooden barrels usually made from charred white oak.

Here the whiskey ages at lest three to four years, and some are aged up to ten or fifteen.

Dumped out of it’s barrel, the resulting whiskey is bottled and “polished” where it is blended to a determined proof.

The Lincoln County Process is the technique of filtering new make.

Through sugar maple charcoal before the aging process starts.

It’s also a defining characteristic of most tennessee whiskey.