photograph courtesy old dominick
The Old Dominick Distillery on South Front Street.
Liquor enthusiasts in the South have certainly had no shortage of regional options. Jack Daniels has woven itself into the fabric of our state’s culture, putting Tennessee on the map for both residents of the United States and internationals alike. Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville maintains Tennessee’s authentic whiskey legacy, and locally, Blue Note Bourbon has made an impact since its inception in 2018. But at the end of 2022, Downtown’s Old Dominick put its own stamp on straight Tennessee whiskey, with distiller Alex Castle introducing the first batch of whiskey made in Memphis since Prohibition.
photograph courtesy old dominick
Old Dominick master distiller Alex Castle has been instrumental in developing the distillery and its production of high-quality spirits. In 2022, she finally revealed the Old Dominick Straight Tennessee Whiskey, the first of its kind distilled in Memphis since Prohibition.
“There’s excitement, but there’s also a lot of relief,” laughs Castle when we spoke last month. “You spend five years developing a product, and it’s kind of your baby, and then you put it out there for people to judge. It can be a bit nerve-wracking.” Supply-chain issues when it came to procuring items like packing materials added drama to the years-long process. But the barrels have been tapped, and the first Straight Tennessee Whiskey distilled in Memphis for around a century is now flowing, and Castle couldn’t be prouder.
It’s been a long road getting locally made Tennessee whiskey back on the shelves, due to both Tennessee state laws and consumer demand. “Up until 2009, you weren’t allowed to distill outside of three counties in Tennessee,” she says. “So from Prohibition until then, there was just a huge hole. And in terms of our drinking scene, when it comes to producing craft beer and spirits, Memphis was a little bit slower to embrace that culture than some other places. But we’re catching up.”
For now, Castle invites Memphians to kick back and sip on our city’s own whiskey, straight or in a cocktail. “We want this to be a drink that Memphis can be proud of.
Old Dominick Distillery’s Straight Tennessee Whiskey is the culmination of almost a decade of work started by owner Chris Canale Jr. in 2013, according to Castle. While the vodka and gin produced by the distillery were success stories, the main goal had always been to be a whiskey distiller. “And if you do that,” says Castle, “then you have to do a Tennessee whiskey.”
Tennessee whiskey and bourbons are always at least 51 percent corn, but Castle says Old Dominick’s version is 75 percent corn, alongside 13 percent rye and 12 percent malted barley. “That rye actually lends kind of a nice spicy note that balances the sweetness of the corn,” says Castle. “Then the malted barley has enzymes in it, so we use it to help convert all the sugars, but it also adds its own unique flavor to the whiskey.
photograph courtesy old dominick
Old Dominick’s Straight Tennessee Whiskey
For Old Dominick’s Straight Tennessee Whiskey, Castle says each batch matures for at least four years. As the inventory ages, she hopes they can blend in some six- and eight-year whiskeys. “That gives us even more depth, more complexity, in the final liquid that goes into the bottle.”
Old Dominick’s first foray into Tennessee whiskey has resulted in two different varieties, both of which are available to sample at the distillery and for purchase around town. The first is what Castle calls an “everyday sipper,” an 85-proof whiskey that’s easy to drink. “It’s a little lower proof for the whiskey world,” she says, “but we went with that after weeks of taste testing.
“What’s great is it still has a lot of body to it,” she continues. “It does not taste watered-down. You get a lot of caramel notes, a lot of toffee notes. And those come from the barrel. We do a number-four char, which is the deepest char, and that’s where you get those wonderful sweet barrel notes.” (For the uninitiated, “char” refers to the process of literally charring the inside of the oak barrels where the whiskey ages.) “But the 85 proof also does have some sweetness to it from the corn. I even get a little bit of dark chocolate. Overall, it’s a super easy sipping whiskey, but also holds up incredibly well in an old-fashioned.
photograph courtesy old dominick
Old Dominick’s Bottled in Bond Whiskey
The second variety of Old Dominick’s Straight Tennessee Whiskey is classified as bottled in bond, a set of legal requirements that indicate a specific high-quality threshold for American-distilled beverages. To acquire the label, a spirit must be prepared in a distillation season at one distillery, by the same distiller, in the United States. That same spirit also must be aged in a facility for a minimum of four years, and be bottled at 100 proof with 50 percent ABV (alcohol by volume). It’s a strict set of rules, attesting to the integrity of the drink and the quality of the distillers.
“[Bottled in bond] was created as a way to let consumers know they were getting an authentic whiskey, at a time when people were putting all sorts of things in to cut corners,” says Castle. “It’s really exciting to get this special designation, especially for a distillery as young as ours.” And the label also allows Castle to have creative ownership of the batch, like an artist signing a painting.
The bottled in bond Straight Tennessee Whiskey was produced in much more limited quantities, but Castle says that both whiskeys have been well received. For 2022, Old Dominick kept the distribution local to Memphis but plans to spread out this year. The bottles can be found at liquor stores around town and at Old Dominick, with the 85 proof retailing for $35.99, and the bottled in bond going for $69.99 while supplies last, though prices may vary.
Over the course of the year, Old Dominick is preparing to release a new batch of bottled in bond whiskey, but with some new twists. “We might see some cool wheat batches come out of our Huling Station line,” says Castle. “But we’re also hoping to release our Old Dominick bourbon, which we hope will be released in the second half of 2023.”
But for now, Castle invites Memphians to kick back and sip on our city’s own whiskey, straight or in a cocktail. “We want this to be a drink that Memphis can be proud of.
Old Dominick Distillery, 305 South Front Street, 901-260-1250.
