Our Process

We combine traditional, centuries-old Scottish-style double copper pot distillation with innovative, Southern-style grain-in distillation.

First, we heat the grains to activate enzymes that break down the starches in the grains to simple sugars.

Next, we pitch yeast into our fermenters to convert the simple sugars from the mashing process into a 5-10% “distiller’s beer”, a process that produces acids, aldehydes, and other molecules that give whiskey much of its flavor. Unlike most distilleries that use pot stills, we leave the grain solids in during fermentation. For gin, it’s at this step that we add botanicals.

After this, we transfer to our wash still the fermented "distiller's beer" and send the alcohol (around 25% alcohol by volume) into our spirit still for a second, refining distillation.

Finally, we transfer the newly made spirit – whether it’s our Appalachian-style rye, Resurgens ; the world’s first double malt, Duality; 2020’s Craft Whiskey of the Year, Maris Otter; or any of our other expressions – into oak barrels for maturation. Depending on the Fiddler expression, this may be the point at which we begin the “fiddling” process.

Maturation is an art in and of itself, requiring a selection of barrels that will highlight the best attributes of each spirit, a calculus as to the best entry proof – based on the spirit and maturation period, and a meticulous focus on periodic sampling to usher each barrel to its peak flavor profile.