Jan 25, 2023
The Company Distilling Tasting Experience
Townsend has a unique way of bringing the history of The Great Smoky Mountains in current and relevant ways to everyone who visits. To add to this custom of keeping our traditions alive comes a welcomed new addition: Company Distilling & their Tasting Experience. Opened July 8, 2022, their Townsend tasting room is set along 13.5 acres between the Little River and the Townsend Greenway, about a mile from the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. You can expect the following upon visiting the distillery:
- Views of the production area while you enjoy tasting or cocktail. Tours are available on select days.
- Bottles and retail items available for purchase.
- Portfolio tastings or cocktails served from the bar within the tasting room.
- Food items from in-house restaurant Amico (the second location for the Maryville-based restaurant).
Choose Your Company Distilling Experience
Portfolio Tasting (Select 5) – $15/per person
- Sample five products in Company’s portfolio while being guided by a knowledgeable staff member on tasting notes for each spirit. This experience takes approximately 20 minutes; remember to bring your photo ID.
- First, I want to give Dominique Vitanza, Company’s newest team member in Townsend, a solid shout-out. She went above and beyond to make our experience both knowledgeable and fun. When my husband and I visited earlier this month, I chose the Portfolio Tasting. I tried the Company’s Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished with Maple Wood, Ghost Rail Tennessee Dry Gin, and three of the Ace Gap Flavored Spirits. My biggest surprise was that I actually enjoyed the gin. Due to 21st birthday gin and juice PTSD, I can’t even stomach the smell of gin, but Ghost Rail was light on juniper, and the botanicals were very refreshing. I’m still in shock.
Premium Portfolio Tasting – $20/ per person
- Sample Company Distilling’s premium products, including their award-winning Bourbon (proof), Cask Strength Bourbon (121 proof), and the newly-released Seismic Rye Single Barrel (107 proof), with guidance and notes from your tasting guide. This experience also takes approximately 20 minutes; remember to bring your photo ID.
- As a bourbon nerd, my husband opted for the Premium Portfolio Tasting. He was happy across the board but favored the cask-strength bourbon the best. However, he was pleasantly surprised with the Seismic Rye, as he is generally a wheated bourbon guy.
Company Distilling Products
- Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished with Maple Wood
- This award-winning bourbon is complex and smooth and is both column and pot-stilled. This wheated bourbon opens with sweet notes of caramel and cinnamon toast paired with green apple and finishes with a silky blend of oak and maple. (90 proof/45% ABV)
- Cask Strength Bourbon
- The approachable and balanced original wheat blend recipe is uncut for maximum flavor with a bold maple finish. (121 proof/44% ABV)
- Seismic Rye Single Barrel
- This Straight Rye Whiskey finished with Cherry Wood opens with aromas of rye grass, black licorice, oak, and vanilla, with the addition of dark cherry, black pepper, and leather flavors. It finishes with warm, lingering hints of toasted cherry and oak woods. (107 proof/53.5% ABV)
- Seismic Rye was named after monitoring station AS107, established in 1978. The station was built inside Tuckaleechee Caverns to measure and report seismic activity in the eastern half of the United States.
- Ghost Rail Tennessee Dry Gin
- Company Distilling takes a different approach to gin. Using just six botanicals, they distill gin on a small, open-fired, Alembic still, allowing all flavors and aromas to create a perfect balance. (88 proof/44% ABV)
“Ghost Rails are abandoned train tracks, disappearing into our valleys, mountains, and forests. They mark where we’ve been and leave where we’re going up to each of us. Ghost Rail is our attempt to slow down, extract some deeper meaning out of life, and make real connections with the people and places around us.”
- Ace Gap Flavored Spirits
- Flavored Spirits, or “sophisticated shine” as Company refers to it, have a grain-neutral spirit base and natural flavors. My favorite was the coconut – yummy! Flavors include: Harvest Apple, Blackberry, Chocolate Truffle, Coconut, Espresso, Oatmeal Cookie, Peach, and Vanilla Bean. (60 proof/30%ABV)
- Pro Tip: You can find the coordinates to the Ace Gap trailhead on the back of each bottle.
“A hundred years ago, Tennessee loggers gathered at the Ace Gap to play cards and sip spirits from a makeshift still. And while our spirits are a bit more refined, they bring the same collective joy as their storied predecessors.”
Upcoming Projects
- Company Distilling releases a podcast each month called “Distilling Greatness”. Listeners can Gather Around with the Company Distilling team and a few of their friends to get a taste of the people and places that make up the rich stories of whiskey in Tennessee.
- Company brews will soon be on tap in Townsend. Expect a variety of styles and flavors, including a Kolsch, American Lagers, and an American IPA.
- Company Distilling also has plans to open a second location in Blount County, just minutes from McGhee Tyson Airport, in a development called Springbrook Farms. The timeline for this opening is still to be determined.
