As a Kentucky native, Alex Castle knew she wanted to work in beverage alcohol before most—bourbon is culturally important in the state, and she wanted to play a part in its continued tradition and evolution. She learned the ropes on pot stills at Alltech and a high-throughput continuous still at ...
As a Kentucky native, Alex Castle knew she wanted to work in beverage alcohol before most—bourbon is culturally important in the state, and she wanted to play a part in its continued tradition and evolution. She learned the ropes on pot stills at Alltech and a high-throughput continuous still at Wild Turkey before building out and launching Old Dominick in Memphis. But her return to Kentucky to helm Augusta Distillery (https://augustakydistillery.com) and the Buckner’s brand has ushered in a new chapter of both learning and sharing, as she stashes away barrels of their own distillate for future releases while sourcing older barrels from fellow Kentucky distilleries for limited single-barrel releases.
In this episode, Castle and host Sydney Jones discuss:
learning the ropes at Town Branch Bourbon and Wild Turkey before building out and launching Old Dominick in Memphis
building out Augusta Distillery in a historic Kentucky building
the challenges in distillery processes that use Kentucky groundwater
building a flavor through-line in aged sourced-bourbon releases
barrel rotation as a means of balancing stock for intended age-statement releases
the impact of rye on bourbon flavors
how location can impact barrel maturation
weathering the current spirits-market slowdown
And more.
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