In June 2026, spirits big Sazerac unveiled its first Tennessee whiskey. Dubbed AJ Bond, the whiskey itself didn’t land as a whole shock. In 2016, the conglomerate purchased Newport, Tennessee’s Popcorn Sutton Distillery. Within the buy, Sazerac acquired the experience of distillers Allisa Henley and John Lunn, each veterans of the Tennessee whiskey trade from their time at George Dickel/Cascade Hole.
The revamped operation then entered one thing akin to stealth mode, and Henley and Lunn started tinkering with varied distillates and manufacturing strategies. Roughly a decade later, the brand new distillery — “A” for Allisa, “J” for John, and “Bond” for his or her connection — introduced its first product. The inaugural AJ Bond Tennessee Whiskey is produced in-house from each column and pot distilled whiskeys. Whereas each liquid streams share a mashbill, the whiskeys are aged individually earlier than mixing and bottling at 95 proof.
Tragically and unexpectedly, John Lunn handed away in 2023 on the age of 53. Lunn’s passing was a shock to the Tennessee whiskey neighborhood, one felt particularly laborious by Henley, his collaborator of almost 20 years. Since then, she’s remained on the distillery’s helm, guiding manufacturing and the group towards their first launch.
Earlier this 12 months, we sat down with Henley to debate AJ Bond’s distinctive path to market. Alongside the way in which, our discussions additionally touched on the distillery’s distinctive manufacturing setup, strategy to the Lincoln County Course of, and myths and misconceptions surrounding Tennessee whiskey.
Be aware: This interview has been edited for readability.
Drinkhacker: How did AJ Bond come to be?
Allisa Henley: John and I each got here from the Tennessee whiskey trade. We’d been making Tennessee whiskey for about 12 years when Sazerac got here knocking on the door. The CEO got here to us and mentioned, “We’ve all these improbable bourbons, however we now have a gap in our portfolio, and that’s Tennessee whiskey. Who higher to assist us fill that gap than you and John?”
We have been extremely excited as a result of we’d spent our careers working for a model that had been round for a whole lot of years. We have been carrying on another person’s legacy and speaking about another person’s historical past. Then somebody got here to us and mentioned, “We imagine within the two of you. Construct your personal historical past. Construct your personal legacy. What would you do if it have been your personal?”
For us, it was like Christmas morning. It felt like we’d been given the best present conceivable.
That was actually the start. The conversations began in December 2016, manufacturing started in 2017, and we’ve been quietly making and getting old whiskey ever since. We’ve actually taken our time with this. It was crucial to John and me that we do it the proper manner — that we not rush it, and as an alternative let the getting old course of do what it does finest.
It’s been a very long time coming, and we’re very excited for the discharge. Persistence pays off.
Drinkhacker: How did the identify come to be?
Allisa Henley: John and I began within the spirits trade inside 5 or 6 months of one another. We each began in Tennessee whiskey, and neither one in every of us had come from the trade.
His background was chemical engineering at Vanderbilt, so he was extraordinarily good and had that engineering mind by and thru. Then again, I’ve an MBA, so I’ve a enterprise background. Humorous sufficient, each of us acquired into the trade by responding to an advert in a newspaper, which most likely dates my age a little bit. We each responded to advertisements. Mine was for George Dickel, the place we each in the end labored. They have been trying to open the distillery to guests. They didn’t have a customer expertise, in order that they needed me to create that have and handle it.
I discovered actual fast that one of many issues I needed to do was write a tour script for our staff to show individuals about whiskey. I knew completely nothing about it.
I believed, “Effectively, I can’t write a script if I don’t perceive it myself.”
That basically began my hands-on schooling in whiskey and the manufacturing course of. I’d simply exit into the distillery, and I used to be fortunate sufficient that it was all males who had been there for 20 or 30 years. They let me bug the crap out of them. I’d say, “Let me do that. Inform me why we’re doing this.”
I acquired very hands-on, and so they have been extremely type in educating me what they’d been doing for many years. Throughout that course of, John and I fashioned not solely a friendship however an excellent working partnership. We actually performed to one another’s strengths. He was the engineer, with the chemistry and analytical facet of issues. I had the enterprise mindset, with advertising and marketing, PR. And I used to be the individuals particular person. It simply labored. We performed off one another’s strengths and constructed a whole profession that manner.
Once we each left Dickel, the executives at Sazerac knew each of us, and so they mentioned the important thing to beginning their Tennessee whiskey challenge was hiring each of us collectively as a group. If we hadn’t come as a group, it most likely wouldn’t have occurred. We actually did have a particular bond, which is partly why we selected the identify AJ Bond.
We even had a saying: “The place you go, I’m going.”
Trying again, I do miss having John there to bounce concepts off of. His studying was extra classroom-based, whereas mine was undoubtedly extra hands-on and centered round not being afraid to get out within the distillery and get soiled.
Drinkhacker: Thanks for sharing that. I’m certain recounting that — particularly about somebody you’ve labored so carefully with, constructed a profession alongside, and who has since handed — isn’t straightforward.
Allisa Henley: Truthfully, John knew the identify was going to be AJ Bond earlier than he handed, so I’m glad he knew that and was enthusiastic about it.
It’s laborious if you’ve labored facet by facet with somebody for 20 years and so they’re not right here to see the completed product. However I do know he’d be happy with it. I do know he’d be excited. Partially, this has additionally helped maintain his identify and legacy alive. We’re very excited for the launch.
Drinkhacker: The place has the whiskey been produced?
Allisa Henley: When this all began, manufacturing was in Newport, Tennessee, in East Tennessee.
John had left Dickel to work for a small firm referred to as Popcorn Sutton. I stayed at Dickel for an additional two years, after which he referred to as me and mainly mentioned, “I miss working with you. You’ve acquired to come back work with me.”
I used to be prepared for a change. I’d been with Diageo for 12 years, and this felt like a possibility to do one thing totally different, particularly since we knew Sazerac was taking a look at alternatives. So I joined Popcorn Sutton. About 4 months later, Sazerac got here alongside and mentioned, “We don’t actually need the Popcorn Sutton model. We would like the gear, the individuals, and what you convey to the desk.”
We have been all on board. At that time we have been working in Newport, the place the unique distillery was positioned. We instantly began in search of property in Center Tennessee. To me, East Tennessee has these mountain moonshine vibes, and that’s great, nevertheless it wasn’t what we needed to construct. We needed to make a real aged Tennessee whiskey. John and I are each from Center Tennessee, so it additionally felt like coming residence.
We bought property in Murfreesboro, about half-hour south of Nashville. Proper now that’s only a inexperienced land property. So within the interim, we’ve been leasing a facility in La Vergne, about quarter-hour south of Nashville. So we’re nonetheless very near Nashville.
You wouldn’t even know we’re there. It’s humorous since you’d by no means know what was inside from trying on the constructing. However when you open the doorways, it’s the good place you’ve ever been in, it looks like a distillery. We moved from East Tennessee round 2020 or 2021, and we’ve been in La Vergne ever since.
Drinkhacker: Let’s discuss a little bit bit concerning the whiskey itself. The preliminary launch blends each pot and column nonetheless whiskeys. Are you able to inform me a little bit bit about these two parts?
Allisa Henley: When Sazerac acquired the operation, they inherited the pot stills from Popcorn Sutton. Once we moved to Center Tennessee, we added a column nonetheless. Most distilleries have one or the opposite, or a mixture nonetheless, however not separate pot and column nonetheless operations like we do.
John and I began interested by it. We’d labored collectively as a group for 20 years. There have been two of us, and now there have been two totally different kinds of distillation. We didn’t need individuals to think about it as a blended whiskey as a result of technically it isn’t. It’s the identical mashbill. We’re distilling it on two several types of gear after which mingling these barrels collectively later.
The pot nonetheless whiskey has extra character. It’s deeper, with a little bit extra happening. The column nonetheless whiskey is cleaner and crisper. These variations stay all through getting old. Initially, the plan wasn’t essentially to mix them. We simply needed to make nice whiskey and see the way it developed. However as soon as we settled on the AJ Bond identify and considered what it represented, we realized how becoming it was that these two distinct kinds might come collectively. It provides us one thing that’s genuinely distinctive within the trade.
Drinkhacker: Let’s discuss a little bit bit concerning the Lincoln County Course of. How do you strategy that? Is it totally different for the pot nonetheless whiskey versus the column nonetheless whiskey?
Allisa Henley: No, the method is similar. The Lincoln County Course of is what makes Tennessee whiskey Tennessee whiskey. For us, we really make our personal charcoal. The legislation requires maple charcoal. We particularly use sugar maple. You should purchase charcoal commercially, however you’ll be able to’t at all times assure precisely what sort of wooden it got here from. So we make our personal.
Only a few Tennessee distilleries nonetheless do this. We buy sugar maple logs, stack them into massive four-by-four ricks, and once in a while we mainly have an enormous bonfire. That’s how we make our charcoal. It’s a vital a part of our course of and one of many issues that basically distinguishes Tennessee whiskey from bourbon.
Drinkhacker: What do you suppose are a few of the greatest misconceptions about Tennessee whiskey?
Allisa Henley: I believe when individuals hear “Tennessee whiskey,” they instantly consider one specific model. They affiliate it with that chunk or harshness somewhat than one thing you’d sit down and sip and actually take pleasure in.
We’re making an attempt to indicate individuals one thing totally different. We wish to produce an aged Tennessee whiskey that’s versatile, one thing you’ll be able to sip and recognize with out that harshness individuals could anticipate.
The opposite debate is whether or not charcoal mellowing provides taste or takes taste away. Folks might argue about that every one day. My opinion is that charcoal is a pure filter. It removes fusel oils and fatty acids, permitting the flavors you really wish to come by extra clearly. To me, it enhances the whiskey somewhat than taking something away.
It’s humorous as a result of inside Sazerac we now have distilleries in Kentucky too, and everybody jokes that bourbon is one of the best. In fact, I argue that Tennessee whiskey is one of the best.
Drinkhacker: Is Tennessee whiskey technically a subcategory of bourbon, or ought to we consider it as utterly separate?
Allisa Henley: I’d argue it’s a subcategory. Technically, if we made Tennessee whiskey, put it by the charcoal mellowing course of, and determined to label it as bourbon, we legally might as a result of it meets all the necessities for bourbon.
However my query is: why would I? I’ve taken it one step additional to make Tennessee whiskey. I like explaining it as a hierarchy. On the prime you’ve gotten whiskey. Beneath that you’ve classes like American whiskey, Scotch, Irish whiskey, and Canadian whisky. Inside American whiskey, you’ve gotten bourbon. Inside bourbon, you’ve gotten Tennessee whiskey.
As you progress down every degree, you’re merely including one other set of necessities.
