The Sazerac Company today reported that they acquired a distillery in Newport, Tenn. Sazerac stressed in their press release that they purchased the distillery only, and not any of the brands produced onsite.
The release also said that all distillery employees will be retained, including Master Distiller John Lunn and Master Blender Allisa Henley. While the release did not identify the distillery by name, both Lunn and Henley are currently employed by Popcorn Sutton Distillery.
The purchase will allow Sazerac to start producing Tennessee whiskey, the company says, using the Lincoln County process. This is a filtration procedure through charcoal chips before the liquid goes into the barrel.
“We see a lot of potential in the distilling capabilities of this operation,” said Mark Brown, president and chief executive officer, Sazerac, in a press release. “We are excited to have the talents of John Lunn and Allisa Henley on board and we look forward to utilizing their expertise to start laying down true Tennessee whiskey.”
Sazerac will begin investment into the distillery to modify the pot stills for the Lincoln County process, the company says. Sazerac expects the distillery to be up and running producing Tennessee whiskey in early 2017.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
