Not too surprisingly, there’s a lot to learn when it comes to building, planning, and operating a distillery— especially when you have never distilled anything before in your life. However, as the Director of Operations for the Tennessee Stillhouse, it is my job to ensure that as we build, plan, and operate our new distillery, we are doing so to the best and highest capacity that we possibly can.

Thankfully, I don’t have to do all of the learning on my own. This past week I journeyed down to New Riff Distillery alongside Andrew (our President), Tim (our co-founder), and Thomas (our architect) to meet with Larry Ebersold, the guy who made the 1816 whiskey we all know and love. Turns out Larry is somewhat of a genius, and he is guiding us through the process of building and operating the Tennessee Stillhouse.

But, we’re not his first. Larry, being somewhat of a big deal in the spirits industry (he would totally hate if he saw I wrote that) has helped open numerous distilleries in the United States, New Riff being one of them.

You would think that in such a highly competitive industry, jockeying daily for the best spot on spirits store shelves and backbars, that the new guys on the block would have to fend for themselves. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth in the case of our new Whiskey Friends up at New Riff Distilling in Kentucky.

After breaking ground two years ago, this sleek and impressive distillery opened for business this spring. I arrived in the middle of their second product run, hardly a time any company would want someone following their every footstep, asking a million annoying questions. However, these guys were great and welcomed me AND my questions with open arms.

The heart of their team includes,

Hannah— the master gatekeeper and General Manager. She holds they keys to the entire operation, coordinating and managing the facility.

Head Distiller Brian who is a master brewer by trade and is now serving as the mastermind of their distilling.

Dean, the wise, all-knowing “fix-it” man who does everything from re-building pumps, to welding platforms, to distilling.

Jay, who serves as the resident TTB and industry expert. He navigates all of the ins and outs of legal, all while brainstorming the direction for new products and blends.

And, of course, there is Miller, Brain’s right-hand in running the system and also acts as the director of tours. He changes shirts several times a day and keeps deodorant on his desk.

I would need to write a novel to explain everything I learned, so in short—

We walked about 8.2 miles, climbed at least two miles of stairs, a half mile of ladders, fixed grain mills, pumps, boiler arms, and barrel pressure fillers. We proofed, barreled, bottled, blended, cooked mash, over-heated then under-heated mash, check PH… CHECKED Ph again, distilled, blew gaskets, mixed yeast, spilled whiskey, cleaned up whiskey, sampled some competitor’s product. We did lots and LOTS of problem solving, lots of valve turning, lots of calculating, lots of sweating, lots of fixing, and a whole lot of questions… all of this in about eight (8!) hours.

And of course, let’s not forget, we “tasted some more whiskey.”

Yes, the journey to New Riff was a crazy one. An amazing trip filled with awesome people, a bunch of information, and a lot of good whiskey. And now it’s time to bring it all back to Chattanooga.

Until next time!

Mike, Director of Operations

Also, if you found this article interesting, you should definitely hit “recommend”. Spread the whiskey love!