New law aiding Tennessee distillers

Andrew Webber, Corsair distiller

• From The Tennessean

For the first time since before Prohibition, whiskey is legally being made again in Nashville. But you can’t tour the micro-distillery where the artisan spirits are brewed or have a sip in its tasting room just yet.

Corsair Artisan Distillery, Nashville’s first small-batch craft distillery, is waiting on a last piece of local and state permitting so that it can hold tours and tastings and sell bottles of its locally made potions on site.

Nearly two years after a state law overturned Prohibition-era restrictions on the manufacture of distilled spirits and eased the way for liquor manufacturing, Corsair is one of only two distilleries to set up shop in the state. The other is moonshine-making Ole Smoky Distillery in Gatlinburg.

But local distillers say this small start is the beginning of a growing movement for Tennessee to reclaim its whiskey-making heritage as the artisan distillery industry is flourishing in far-flung places such as San Francisco, Denver, Oregon, Michigan and New York.

[Go here for the full story.]

To Dowd's Wine Notebook latest entry.
To Dowd's Tasting Notes latest entry.
Back to Dowd's Guides home page.