O'Shaughnessy Distilling Co.

Drew H (00:08):
Welcome to Whiskey Lores Whiskey Flights, your weekly home for discovering great craft distillery experiences around the globe. I'm your travel guide Drew Hannush, the bestselling author of experiencing Irish whiskey experience in Kentucky Bourbon. And today we are headed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, a place that is loaded with a great number of distilleries. We have what lucky guys, 45th Parallel Forge and Foundry, lost Woods, and today's O'Shaughnessy Distilling company all within a 60 mile radius. And having just left 45th parallel about 40 minutes ago, we're just a few minutes away from our destination. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this particular distillery, the O'Shaughnessy Distilling Company was founded by brothers who had a mission of creating something truly unique By combining the best of two great whiskey traditions. Their focus lies in blending the Irish art of triple Copper Pot distillation, a method that is steeped in tradition, in history with the robust bold flavors of American bourbon and rye.

(01:16):
And this vision is led by their master distiller Brian Nation, who brought years of expertise from one of the most iconic distilleries in Ireland, Middleton, which is the home of Jamison and Keeper's. Heart is the flagship whiskey at O'Shaughnessy. It is a blend that symbolizes the harmony of those two traditions coming together, hoping to bring together mellow but complex notes of Irish whiskey with a rich, flavorful essence of American spirits to a shaughnessy. It's all about building a bridge between the old world and the new world. And they are certainly making waves in the whiskey community by doing just that. And when I get to the distillery, I'll be meeting with Chris Silver, the lead distiller as I make my way down these busy streets here in Minneapolis. I'll take a moment to share with you a very cool trip that I did here in Minneapolis, a theme trip about five years ago.

(02:16):
And it's something that you yourself can plan. I call it the Prince for a Day tour. And if you're a fan of the Minneapolis Sound or the movies of Prince, I think you're really going to enjoy this one. Welcome to Minneapolis, Minnesota, the birthplace of Prince Rogers Nelson, one of the most influential artists in music history, while known for his eclectic style of blending, pop, funk, fusion and hot guitar licks, it was his unmatched skill and relentless energy as a showman that turned Prince fans into fanatics. He hit the national scene in 1979 with his hit, I Want to Be Your Lover and established himself as a budding superstar with his album 1999. But it was his movie, purple Rain, and the soundtrack that followed that cemented his position in the upper echelon of pop royalty and his fame brought other Minneapolis stars along like Morris Day and the time Sheila E and producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

(03:17):
And together they're blend of funk, rock, pop, and r and b, known as the Minneapolis Sound would electrify the music world. And for those that want to experience a bit of Prince's world, well then I highly recommend visiting the first Avenue and seventh Avenue Entry Club where Prince performed some of his earliest shows and where some of the scenes from Purple Rain were filmed. It's a must see for music fans with its famous star-studded exterior honoring many of the musicians who have performed there. Some other iconic locations from the film include the Capri on Broadway and the Orpheum Theater on Hennepin Avenue. Or if you want to check out Prince's favorite record store head down to fourth Street and the Electric Fetus. And of course, a Prince pilgrimage wouldn't be complete without a visit to Paisley Park, Prince's home and recording studio Complex. It's located just outside of Minneapolis, is now a museum that offers a glimpse into his creative genius, complete with tours that take you through his studio, living quarters and performance spaces.

(04:22):
While you're in the area, consider driving down to Lake Minnetonka, the very lake that Prince famously referenced. In Purple Rain, you can rent a boat or enjoy a lakeside meal soaking in all the scenery that inspired the legend himself. And Minneapolis truly carries Prince's legacy in its veins, making it a perfect destination for music lovers all over the world. And by the way, I have all of the addresses that you would need for these locations on the whiskey lore website. I also have a top 10 listing of my favorite Prince songs. So if you want some inspiration for your trip planning and a little ease in planning, then just head to whiskey lore.com/prince to build that itinerary. And after navigating through some winding city streets and catching glimpses of minneapolis's bustling energy, I arrived at the distillery and as soon as you walk in the door, those beautiful pot stills are up above you as gorgeous.

(05:26):
When you walk in there, there's a spacious bar, a restaurant, and they have a really nice event space, which is where I'm going to conduct my interview with Chris Silver, who is the lead distiller. And it's a really interesting situation because you have two different distillers coming from two completely different backgrounds. So we're going to talk a little bit about that. But first I wanted to go back to those early years and how Chris got involved in distilling. It all started with what Colorado was becoming famous for before it got all into distilling, which is brewing.

Chris (06:04):
So really got my start in college. So I found that without a fake ID freshman year, you really couldn't get beer at the store. But my dad had home brewed a little bit in the nineties, but that's when it was really home brewing was starting to pick up. And I always thought it was very interesting and kind of knew the basics enough to be dangerous. So going to college in northern Colorado, that's when odells and New Belgium were kind of blowing up in Fort Collins and there were a lot of home brew shops. So I decided, hey, I couldn't buy beer, but I could buy the ingredients and make it myself. So I usually had a car boy bubbling away in our dorm closets that the RAs never found. But yeah, I really got the interest on that of sophomore year and then decided to go into the local brewery. They just opened up and asked for a job and they said, Hey, how about an unpaid internship? So I guess in college you can do that for a while. So spent about a year, almost a year and a half working for free and then finally got promoted to a lie brewer there and the career took off from

Drew H (07:07):
There. Yeah, it pays sometimes to take those free gig,

Chris (07:09):
You got to pay your dues.

Drew H (07:10):
Yeah, absolutely. So then you end up at strand of hands.

Chris (07:16):
Yep. Okay. So at that point in Colorado, the brew market was extremely, extremely competitive. Still is. But even with experience, there wasn't too many openings even in packaging lines. So I had taken a tour, I liked whiskey, and I'd taken a tour of hands a few months before and never quite connected the dots that it's basically the same process with extra steps. I mean, at the end you're just concentrating it all. And they had a position open, knocked on the door and was able to get on. That's back when Rob was still the master steely there and started in the still house. STR is a great place to learn all you can about distillation. So starting in the still house, at that same point, you're doing warehousing, you're doing barreling, you're harvesting, you're blending. And then at that point, if you were great in the stillhouse, they would take you to the brew house. And with the prior brewing knowledge, it was great. And for me it was awesome because the trahans process is almost exactly like beer. It's a stout recipe with specialty malts involved. I mean, you're going to the boil cattle, you're using liquid yeast. So it was a natural progression for me. You're just not adding in the hops. So yeah, fantastic time at Strand of Hands. Learned a lot of the lessons that I still use today.

Drew H (08:34):
And you sound like a process guy. You are just do process, embrace it. Yeah. Yeah. So next off, you get the experience, of course going to show up at O'Shaughnessys at some point in the future, but you actually had another startup that you had a chance to work

Chris (08:52):
At. Yeah, yeah. So my first startup was, so after my time at Stranahan's, actually an older connection of mine, they knew the ownership that was starting up Old Elk distilling company up in Fort Collins and recommended my name. So met with the owners, I guess they somewhat liked me and trust me enough to be the first employee on up there. So made my way up to Fort Collins, which is great. I love Fort Collins. That was my favorite city in Colorado by far, even as a native. Grew up in Colorado Springs, but made the move up there and went to work on again, ground floor, creating recipes, doing all our tests and then scaling up recipes. I think the biggest thing, and that was my first master still I actually got to work for. So we scaled up our recipes at MGP as in Lawrenceburg and got to know Greg Metz out there very well, spent a lot of time with him. We jived really well. I mean Greg's just a fantastic guy, just salt of the earth and true master distiller in the fact that all they do is production out there. So his entire 36 year career was in production

Speaker 3 (10:06):
And

Chris (10:06):
Not just being the marketing guy. And then after some time he was retiring from MGP and because he was already familiar with our recipes and stuff, he made the switch and he came on at Old Elk. So I was there when Greg got to be officially the master distill I got to work for. And that was fantastic. That was a lot of fun, just picking his brain about American whiskey. I learned American whiskey very well, especially column distilled whiskey. That's really what they specialized and what he specialized his entire career out in Lawrenceburg.

Drew H (10:40):
Yeah. So you end up here at Oosh Oceany, how did that

Chris (10:44):
Yeah, so I met my wife in Colorado at the point. So my then girlfriend and she's a typical Midwestern girl and Midwestern girls as maybe some people know out there when they're about to turn 30, they like to, well, I'm going to go home now and start a family. You can come if you want. So ended up making the move. It was the best decision I made. But it was tough. I mean especially in the startup, that's your babies. You're the ones filling the first barrels, those are your recipes. And to make the move was a big thing, but you got to put family in your relationships above even the funnest part in your career. So made the move out here, and that's actually when I got back into brewing. Wasn't really anything of size in Minnesota yet that I was really interested in. Like I said, I'm kind a process guy. I like bigger scale

(11:37):
24 hour production or things of that nature where I ended up going back to brewing. So I worked at Indeed Brewing Company, which is a pretty big brewing company up here in the cities and did four years there, got used to aseptic fermentations again and dry hopping. And again, it's always interesting, we exclusively actually hire brewers here. I always like you can teach a brewer how to distill. It's hard to get just a distiller to learn the brewing side because again, it's all about the fermentation side really. You're just concentrating if you make a really bad fermentation, if it tastes terrible, you just get concentrate on the distillation side and got to learn those cleaning techniques again and those organization techniques. So it was a great stop off again for those four years, really relearning the whole brewing process and developing that. And then, yeah, so got saw in the Star Tribune, which is the local paper around here, when they announced that they were going to open O'Shaughnessy Distilling Company.

(12:38):
So with Patrick and Mike O'Shaughnessy, which is our two founders, two cousins, and I actually messaged them. And this was early, this was actually early days, so I never got a message back when I found their email somehow online. And so I was like, okay, well maybe not right now. And then when they announced that they got Brian Nation on, I quickly went to LinkedIn, was able to befriend Brian real quick and sent him just a direct message like, Hey, this is my experience. I would love to be a part of the project. And luckily the O'Shaughnessy remembered that I had reached out and Brian, they were looking for somebody to bring on. So after it was actually the most extensive interview process I've ever been through. So after the interviews I was able to get on and those were before we even really had a building.

(13:25):
So I was here throughout all build out, which was awesome. I mean it was tough. I got to learn because I've just never really done the construction side before, but I was the eyes and ears, it was during Covid, so Brian was stuck over in Ireland still. So I was the eyes and ears here every day out in the construction trailer, got to know the foreman really well and therefore really learned every pipe, every thing on the production side, I could choose a lot. It was big. If you have somebody for production there and like, oh hey, a matter of this pipe needs to be this a few inches higher, it doesn't matter that much until you do it. You use it on the daily basis for all the time and it bumps you every time you go buy it. So that was a huge, huge blessing on lookback just to learn the entire plant in and out. And it served me well as we started up and start commissioning everything.

Drew H (14:20):
So how does this work, because it almost sounds like you have two head distillers coming into the same place. How does that work out in terms of how you're set up now?

Chris (14:32):
That'd be very great. I mean luckily, so yeah, Brian's my second master distiller. It's great. But it's funny because him and Greg knew each other back in the day when Pernell took over back when they were LDI, they were still Lawrenceburg distilling four MGP days and it was awesome. Mean, Brian's a dream to work with best boss I've ever worked with and to learn. So it's actually a really good compliment too because I had known a lot on the American side with continuous distillation and on grain fermentation, especially the bourbon side and with maturing in New Oak compared to used, and he knows everything about Irish whiskey there is to know. So it was actually a great partnership from the beginning because we just meshed very well. I love to learn, I love to learn new processes and he's the master of distiller. So hey, I'm just here to, Hey, what do you need me to do?

(15:29):
But he's also very, he knows what he knows, but then he also is very good at if there's a question or Hey, what would you do on the American side if there's any questions on that or hey, with the laws, especially because the laws are a little bit different, so what we can and can't do, especially with proofs, different things like that. And especially with TTB reporting, just leaning on me on that side, it's good. It should be a good compliment on you hire somebody just it's got to be, gives hopefully some back and forth and I think they hired me for some knowledge. But yeah, no, it's fantastic. I love working with Brian and it really, because again, out in the market he makes the big decisions, he set up all the processes and then I'm able to kind of do the daily side. So I do the daily grind back there and manage our staff of that. We have running 24 5 back there and then any big calls, it's great because if I ever have any questions or big calls need to be made, I can just go right to Brian and be like, Hey, what would you do?

Drew H (16:36):
Yeah.

Chris (16:36):
And he's seen it all. So

Drew H (16:38):
It's an interesting mix here because you are combining both in American style and an Irish style and multiple American styles because you're blending bourbon, you're blending rye and you're blending them with Irish whiskey. And so kind of go through really what are those components, what is the Irish whiskey, what are you calling Irish whiskey and what are you trying to achieve on the bourbon and rye side?

Chris (17:09):
Yeah, well the Assis have been very great from the beginning and really narrowing down kind of what we want to specialize in and from an entire company aspect and that bleeds into our marketing. Everything else like that is take the best Irish tradition we can. So our production, we can do the same Irish whiskeys that you're going to find over in Middleton and do it here. You can't call it Irish whiskey just because it's in the us. We can do the same process with the same cuts and everything and make that over here with an American twist on it. So again, we are aging in New American Oak compared to use. We do age someon used, but primarily so we're trying to infuse that motto into every product that we make. We're also making on the American side, so we have a line of our column distilled, so we do a column and doubler where we're producing what you'd find in Kentucky best in the same techniques that they use.

(18:04):
So the best American techniques. And then on one side we're doing our triple pot Irish style whiskey and we're doing that to the exact specifications as they do in Ireland and really kind of blending that Irish and American tradition together. It was founded by an Irish American family and that's what we're really trying to carry through the entire business model. Now even on their blends too, we are bringing that Irish pot and that Irish grain, we're importing that over from Ireland and we are combining it with either an American rye 95 5 rye or we're doing an American bourbon on that side. So again, and another great part of working with Brian because a lot of people don't understand like the master distillers, that's usually there's three key people on every large distillery and that would be your master distiller. He handles all the production side, you have your master rick house guy or whoever's doing the aging process, and then you have your master blender on the backside.

(19:05):
Now Brian's very unique in the fact that he was both a master sill and he's also a master blender as well. So we were very thoughtful in that blend of our keep his heart blends that we do with, he must have gone through hundreds, hundreds of iterations more. So he said that was more work than he ever did on even any Middleton release as far as very rare. And he used a lot of his connections over there also great taste profiles that, and so everything was thoughtfully put together as far as how much Irish pot we're going to put in as percentage wise, how much Irish grain, which Orange grain is a great backbone to start any blend around. And then how much American either rye or bourbon. And that's why we initially went with the rye side because it really, really, we all really love that blend the most, even though bourbon was really popular, but we were good to get there. But our first release we really wanted it to be on that just blending perfectly that Irish and American together in the best way that it compliments all the ingredients, compliment each other.

Drew H (20:09):
I sense that the rye actually though people probably gravitate to the name bourbon, that if they tried the rye they would be probably easier walked into enjoying rye whiskey because some people believe it's a bit harsh, although I will argue with that too. It just depends on how it's being made. But to me, I mean rye really adds a nice complexity of flavors on top of what you're doing.

Chris (20:39):
Absolutely. And again, going back to the brand, I like to say that it's all the smoothness that you would get from a nice Irish whiskey, but again, Irish whiskey sometimes, especially like you Jameson and stuff, not to talk down on anything and that's why we're trying to make our own style. But it gets lost sometimes on the cocktail. It's by nature, it's barley based, it's meant to be fairly delicate, but again it's going to be lost in the cocktail pretty quickly where the American side, we really we're trying to give the smoothness of that Irish whiskey side and what people love about it. But with that American, that spice in there, that will number one stand up in a cocktail, it will not disappear and actually accentuate the cocktail. But it also is able to, you get the complexity when you're sipping it neat or with an ice cube, you're going to get a lot of flavors that you wouldn't get with either you're just going in with a rye or you're just going with the Irish whiskey. So the sum of the parts aren't necessarily the sum of the whole. And that's really what we were trying to go for in our flagship product.

Drew H (21:46):
I think one of the things that people might not understand initially and other people who know Irish whiskey really well will understand is this concept of pots still whiskey in Ireland. And the fact that it's not a single malt, it's not a grain whiskey, but it is a whiskey that is partially unmalted barley and malted barley along with some other third grain if they want to put a third grain in there. And that this is a much heavier spirit, it's kind of oily. It comes with a, to me, I called it graham cracker when I was over there and they're looking at me like, that's

Chris (22:24):
Actually a great one.

Drew H (22:25):
And they look at me like, what? And I go, oh wait, they don't have graham cracker here, so grain and honey

Chris (22:31):
Cookie or whatever.

Drew H (22:32):
Yeah, you call it. Yeah. So I'm trying to think of the equivalent and then a peppery note, which I think, so when people are thinking of something like Jameson, well Jameson has some pot still in it, but it's very, very little. It's a much more neutral whiskey. Whereas pot still style has a very interesting character to it. And so I think that people should take seeing that Irish name on there and not immediately think in terms of Jameson maybe closer to a red breast or powers John's Lane, something like that as what you are putting into this blend.

Chris (23:12):
Yeah, I mean we're trying to do it as much as traditionally as we can over in Ireland. I mean Brian took the exact same process that if they were going to, without the complexities of the Middleton plant that they would do if he was just doing it without any other of the recycling stuff that they needed to, and a bigger plant, and again, we can't call it necessarily Irish whiskey, but we were doing to the same specifications. So you touch on earlier that 50 50 split between malted un malted barley, doing it off grain, that's important too. So actually doing the laddering process and doing it grain to keep some of those lipid, those oils and stuff back with the grain and then bringing it over and doing that triple pot distillation. So they say the Scots, they can do it in two, they can do it twice and do it perfect. Yeah, well I will say after I started out doing double pod distillation, but the triple pod distillation gives you as a distiller, so much more control and so much more efficiency on the recycling side too. That allows you more kind of the artisan experience. I don't know if we call it that, but again, more control.

(24:20):
So when you're making those cuts, you are further refining and on that second distillation you're further refining and you're actually being able to choose more of what you're taking over to that spirit still. Whereas on the double distillation, there's nothing wrong with it, it's just they're different. They're just different distillation techniques. But in the Irish tradition, taking that over and doing that final spirit run where you're getting a really, really different and beautiful hearts coming off of that. But again, you're keeping that oily, you're keeping that smooth mouth feel. And then again, you're kind of getting some of that, like you said, I like the ground cracker aspect of it. That's a very unique to pot to distilled Irish whiskey. And if anybody's on here that hasn't had your red breast, your Middletons and stuff, please go out and it'll change your mind a hundred percent about what Irish whiskey really is and especially the triple pot distillation process or even start with the powers. Yeah, that's why we do have a column distill. We do have a column in the doubler, which a lot of the US whiskey is in. It's more efficient. We could have gone just straight that and just called it Irish. We could have done the 50 50 thing on grain and done it that way. But as someone who we do both on a weekly basis, you just cannot replicate the taste profile that you get off the proper triple distilled Irish whiskey.

(25:43):
And that kind of goes back to why the owners really did, they had the vision to get the, I mean we do have the biggest triple pot Irish whiskey in the us. We're the ones doing it on the biggest scale outside of Ireland. And they really had that vision to, hey, we're going to bring this into the masses and we're going to popularize this even more. But again, we stand on the shoulders of giants and we're just trying to do our best for our take on it.

Drew H (26:11):
Beautiful distillery walking around and seeing everything's first class around here. And boy, if you want to see what the pot stills look like in Ireland and Scotland, you've got a beautiful presentation you can see as soon as you walk in the door. And then during your walkthrough, so during the tours you'll go through the process of triple distillation and give people the idea of how that's done and grain whiskey and how that's different from pot and then how you're doing your bourbon as well.

Chris (26:46):
Exactly. Yeah, I mean the cool part here is, again, you don't have to go all the way to Ireland to get not the same experience, but we'll teach you exactly what they do over there. But the added bonus of you get to see what they do down in Kentucky, we do the same processes like they do in the big side in the us and you also see how, because a lot of people don't know how grain whiskey's made over in Ireland too, which makes up a lot of the blends like, sorry, Jameson, A lot of that. Again, any backbone for a good blend is usually always grain whiskey, but it's a completely different process than the pot still. And we're able to do that too. We do have a vodka rectification column, so we're able to continuously bring off a grain whiskey as well on the US version of it. And that's pretty fun. So we're able to make all those things that they make over in Ireland and then the best of American too. So again, going back to we're trying to nail all those styles and master 'em all.

Drew H (27:47):
So what do people taste when they're on the tour?

Chris (27:50):
It kind of just depends. I mean, we do have some different tour tiers, but we normally go through some of the basic tour we will go through and then at the end of the tour you can taste some of the new make depending on what we're making that week. And then take some that's only been in the barrel for a little bit of time. I always tell people, number one, I like when they actually taste it off the stills. Even the low wines you appreciate a lot more when you see where it starts. I mean you like, oh, this tastes terrible. I'm like, yeah, well you should appreciate it more than it tastes so good when it's finished.

(28:24):
So I mean we do that and then we have our kind exclusive tasting room at the end, we call it the keep. And that's where we usually do a components tasting. And I like to, it's usually memorable for people, so we have 'em taste the pot's still individually, we have 'em taste the grain whiskey individually, and then we have 'em taste either the rye or the bourbon together. And I always liked to too because I mean really the whole blending, going back to Brian's skillset on being able to blend and taste, that's such a important and rare gift be able to do well. And so because again, a 1%, 2% difference can change everything and make a great tasting liquid and terrible. So I like to, at the end with the components tasting, everybody's keep a little bit in each glass and then at the end try to make their own, put 'em all together and see how it tastes. And it's usually terrible. Every once in a while they'll get a little bit lucky and they're like, oh, this is actually pretty good. But to really see, to get things in balance correctly. But again, we go through the components and explain all those, and then at the end they get the taste, the keeper's heart are two flagships where it's either the rye or the bourbon, and then it gives them the appreciation for again, what it goes all into the blending process of that, but what each individual style of whiskey brings to it.

Drew H (29:46):
I appreciate you walking me around, showing me the facility and walking me through the process and definitely talking about the different whiskeys that you're making because that is a unique thing in terms of distilleries in the US doing an Irish style as well as doing the American bourbon and working with grain whiskey as well.

Chris (30:11):
Yeah. And then also I think something we didn't mention too, so we will also be the first ones to be released in soon when they're of age. I think our oldest on the rye side is about two and a half years old right now, maybe almost three. But we're doing the first triple pot distilled Irish style triple pot distilled rye. And then we're doing the first Irish style. I have to preface that because Woodford does the triple pot still, but it's not the Irish style as far as the same cuts as what they would do in Ireland. But we're doing the first triple pod still bourbon as well. And those are going to be completely unique products, completely exclusive to us. Nobody's ever done that side before. And it's hard when you're too your own horn, but some things, some flavors you've never tasted before. And it's a completely unique product to the market when they will eventually come out. Very nice.

Drew H (31:02):
Well, thank you so much again for showing me around For sure. It's a pleasure talking through and people need to check it out. Look on the website, you'll see a picture of those beautiful pot stills.

Chris (31:11):
Yep, they're beautiful.

Drew H (31:12):
Yes. Cheers. They fun to worry.

Chris (31:14):
Alright, cheers.

Drew H (31:15):
I hope you enjoyed this virtual flight to O'Shaughnessy Distilling Company. And if I piqued your interest in traveling to the distillery, make sure to head to whiskey lo.com/flights where you can view the profile of O'Shaughnessy Distilling company, the growing list of worldwide distilleries that we're featuring here on the show. Dig deeper into the whiskey lore online distillery travel guide. Use the heart feature to show interest in the distilleries you'd like to visit or log in with a free membership and bookmark your favorite distilleries to add them to your whiskey lore wishlist. The site features, planning tools, maps, tour dates, and booking links. For now over 600 distilleries worldwide. Start your journey@whiskeylo.com slash flights. Now stay tuned because in just a moment, we're going to have some closing travel tips if you plan on visiting OSHA to see distilling company. But first, it's time for this week in whiskey lore.

(32:14):
It was 139 years ago this week that the oldest inhabitant of Davidson County, Tennessee at that time passed away. It was 96-year-old Catherine g Stump a native Pennsylvanian who came to Tennessee in 1799 with her family. Her first job in Tennessee was as a barmaid at the tavern of Frederick Stump. Stump holds the distinction of being Tennessee's first whiskey tycoon, arriving with some of the first settlers of Fort Nash bro in 1780, where he established a tavern in Gristmill on the banks of White's Creek. His distillery would be one of the most productive in the early years of Tennessee whiskey, thanks to the land grants that he received for a service in the Revolutionary War as landlord over these properties, he accepted corn and trade for rent payments and ground the grain for use in his distillery. After serving as a captain in the cavalry in the war of 1812, at the ripe old age of 90, he resigned his military commission and came home to wed Catherine, who was 65 years as junior.

(33:20):
When he passed away a few years later, he would leave her the house on White's Creek where she would live the single life until her death. 65 years later on October 21st, 1885, she would be one of the last surviving connections to Tennessee's distilling origins. If you want to hear more about the wild and crazy story of Frederick Stump in the early days of Tennessee distilling, make sure to check out the unabridged audiobook version of the Lost History of Tennessee Whiskey. It's now available on Amazon, audible, iTunes, Spotify, and wherever audio books are sold, it'll be like hearing 30 whiskey lore stories in a single audio book. That's the lost history of Tennessee whiskey. And as we prepare to leave the O'Shaughnessy Distilling Company and make our way to our next distillery destination, why don't give you an additional attraction in the area that you might consider visiting?

(34:15):
One of my favorites, which is the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It's one of the largest urban sculpture parks in the country and the home to the famous Spoon Bridge and Cherry. And it's a great spot to walk around snaps of pictures or Instagram and soak in some of the unique local art. And as we close out this trip to O'Shaughnessy Distilling Company, if you're still on the fence about visiting the distillery, let me give you my three reasons why I think you should have this distillery on your whiskey lore wishlist. Well, first, O'Shaughnessy Distilling is known for its unique approach to whiskey making, combining the best of Irish triple copper pot distillation with American bourbon and rye production making for a truly unique taste experience. And it's perfect for those wanting to explore Irish whiskey traditions while still being in the United States. And second, they have a beautifully designed facility that's perfect for spending an afternoon or evening with a full scale distillery, a stylish bar, a restaurant, and even event spaces.

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There is always something happening at O'Shaughnessys. It's a great opportunity to see three very beautiful copper pot stills. And third, this is one of the only distilleries in the United States that gives you a glimpse into the blending process that you get a chance to taste a deconstructed version of their final, a chance to get inside the mind of the Master blender. Well, what an amazing time that I've had on this Midwest Great Lakes tour. I've got another distillery coming up. I've got a couple more stops before I head home, including a truly epic experience for those who love the outdoors. It's a distillery that will take you off road, it'll let you make your own moonshine, and they still have the bandwidth to feed you a top quality meal. And well, they have distillery tours as well. Make sure you subscribe to the Whiskey Lore podcast so you don't miss a moment. As the Midwest Great Lakes Tour 2024 rolls on. I'm your travel guide Drew Hanish. And until next time, cheers and Slava for transcripts of travel information, including maps, distillery planning information and more. At to whiskey lore.com/flights. Whiskey lore is a production of Travel Fuels Life, LLC.