IN GOOD COMPANY
Something simply great will soon be merrily filling into square bottles at Tennessee’s soon-to-be latest whiskey distillery.
At least that’s my opinion after spending an hour on the phone with bespoke whiskey gurus Jeff Arnett and Heath Clark, co-founders, along with ‘third musketeer’ Kris Tatum, of Company Distilling.
I remember the balmy September evening last year well, when Jeff–Jack Daniel’s renowned former master distiller – told me he was about to retire. Frankly neither I nor some 600-odd Jack Daniel’s Distillery colleagues, and industry friends, believed him amongst the close-knit, almost club-like, whiskey world.
“Who retires from Lynchburg’s Jack Daniel’s?” Everyone was asking.
For the past two decades, he has surely been one of the most recognizable faces in the industry.
Jeff was, long respected and thought of by many as the person most instrumental in the growth of Jack Daniel’s long-standing gantry. He spearheaded a slew of innovative new mash bills and infusions; among some of the bestselling whiskeys in the world. Combined with the, freely acknowledged by Jeff, skills of the whole team, the master distiller was instrumental in the phenomenal growth of the Jack Daniel’s brand.
