Collier and McKeel is a brand of

Tennessee whiskey Tennessee Whiskey is straight whiskey produced in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Although it has been legally defined as a bourbon whiskey in some international trade agreements, most current producers of Tennessee Whiskey disclaim references to ...

produced in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. The whiskey was originally distilled by Tennessee Distilling Company, a corporation founded in 2009 in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

, by former Tennessee state representative Mike Williams. The brand was sold to North Coast Spirits, a

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

business group, in 2014, but distillation and other operations remained in Nashville.

History

After

President Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War again ...

stopped the

Whiskey Rebellion The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax impo ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

in 1794, two whiskey makers from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

William Collier and James McKeelfeared similar events could happen in their own states, so they moved to

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, where they used their knowledge of Scottish and

Irish whiskey Irish whiskey ( or ''uisce beatha'') is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish , meaning ''water of life''. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a long period of ...

making to make their own sour mash whiskey. Centuries later, Collier and McKeel's whiskey history began again when Mike Williams, who is a descendant of the original

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

makers, helped pass new legislation that revised Tennessee state laws related to distilling in 2009. Prior to the passing of the bill, alcohol could only be distilled in three Tennessee counties:

Coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

Moore Moore may refer to: Language * Mooré language, spoken in West Africa People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior ...

and

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

(origin of the

Lincoln County Process The Lincoln County Process is a step used in producing almost all Tennessee whiskeys. The whiskey is filtered through—or steeped in—charcoal chips before going into the casks for aging. The process is named for Lincoln County, Tennessee, w ...

used to make Tennessee whiskey). Williams opened the first Collier and McKeel distillery in the old Marathon Auto Works building (next to Corsair Artisan Distillery), located near the state capitol building in Nashville in 2009. The first distilled whiskeysaged in and barrelswere available for sale in 2011. The original product line consisted of Tennessee whiskey, a cinnamon whiskey, a vodka, and a white dog unaged whiskeyalso known as

moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...

. In 2012, Collier and McKeel moved its

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

operations to the Speakeasy Spirits (now Pennington Distilling Co.) complex in West Nashville. Speakeasy used Collier and McKeel Tennessee whiskey in combination with other flavors to create Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream at a milder 40 proof. Nashville chef Deb Paquette helped create the recipe. In May 2013, Collier and McKeel signed an agreement with The Vintner Group to expand distribution to parts of the East Coast. The deal made the distillery's whiskey available to liquor stores and restaurants in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and designated

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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and

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in the Northeast and

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

in the Midwest as distribution targets. Mike Williams called the deal a "major move" for the company. In May 2014, he announced the sale of Collier and McKeel to North Coast Spirits.

Whiskey

Collier and McKeel Tennessee Whiskey uses a mash of 70% corn, 15% rye, and 15% malted barley with ingredients obtained from local farms. That includes using limestone-filtered water from Big Richland Creek on Collier Farm (which belongs to the Williams family) in Humphreys County. The whiskey is filtered using the Lincoln County Process — a requirement for all Tennessee whiskeys (except Prichard's) — but Collier and McKeel alters the method slightly by pumping the whiskey slowly through the charcoal instead of using gravity to drip the liquid through the charcoal. The company originally used small casks for aging but added traditional barrel sizes for aging in 2013. According to master distiller Mike Williams, "Nothing can take the place of time, but the 15-gallon

liter The litre ( Commonwealth spelling) or liter ( American spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metres (m3). A cu ...

barrels allowed us to age the whiskey a little more quickly to start." After 2013, the company focused on larger barrels with only limited production of smaller barrel whiskeys. The brand also started using a new label that featured "Pappy," the distillery's copper still, Big Richland Creek and a rustic barn. Each bottle included a real thumbprint added by Mike Williams. Collier and McKeel's unaged white dog whiskey received a silver medal from the American Distilling Institute in 2012 in the Artisan American Spirits category. Wine Enthusiast gave the Collier and McKeel Tennessee Whiskey a score of 92 and rated it Best of Year in 2016.

References

{{coord missing, Tennessee 2009 establishments in Tennessee Cuisine of the Southern United States Distilleries in Tennessee Tourist attractions in Tennessee Tennessee whiskey