The distillery employs 2 full time and one part time employee. “We’re really small and people are surprised by that – to see what has been done by just a few people. It’s very hands on. We just jump in and get it done.” “One thing that sets us apart from other craft distilleries is that we design and build all of our equipment (mash cooker, stills, fermenters) from repurposed materials. Everyone who works here performs all the production steps and can explain the process to visitors in details that they do not get at the other distilleries. Other distilleries use tour guides who do not do or understand the production work,” said Meier. As you might guess, visiting the distillery is a unique experience. “First of all, when people pull up to the place, they can see this isn’t going to be a shiny Disney World experience. People who come here are interested in reality and history. A lot of visitors tell us that they learned more here than in all their other tours.” The distillery’s first product OCD #5™, is also their flagship bourbon. OCD #5™ is created from a wild yeast collected from one of the original fermentation tanks (fermenter #5) in the Old Crow Distillery which gives it a genuinely histori- cal taste and feel. “It’s not a classic bourbon but it has a flavour profile that people enjoy. If I had to pick a drink for life, I would pick OCD #5.” OCD #5 Kentucky BourbonWhiskey won the 2017 Gold Medal from the North American Bourbon and Whiskey Competition and a Bronze Medal from the Washington Cup tasting competition. A newer product, ¡Cuervito Vivo!™, which trans - lates to “The Little Crow is Alive”, is an attempt to duplicate the Old Crow bourbon whiskey recipe of long ago. The last supervisor to manage the old distillery helped to perfect the final product. Café Olé™ Bourbon uses a heavily roasted barley malt to give it a unique flavour profile with hints of chocolate and coffee.
The distillery also produces three specialty spirits. Hamilton’s Spirit™, Hamilton Dark™ and Hamilton Smoke™. The Hamilton products are spin-offs of the OCD #5 bourbon grain bill with additions of sugar or smoked barley during fermentation, for a product that is milder than bourbon. New products that are currently being aged include COB #5™, a corn only bourbon, and Swheat™ Bourbon, a wheated bourbon with a pleasant sweetness. “We like to try different things. We get bored easily so we’re always thinking about what else we can make,” said Meier. Glenns Creek Distillery products are currently available in Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan and Wisconsin. The growth plan for the distillery is steady but at a sustainable rate. “One of the big challenges is that you have to age bourbon for a period of time. We can only sell what we distilled some years ago. You can’t just make a product today and sell it tomorrow. We have to put it in a barrel today for some time in the future.” Visitors come from all over the world for the bourbon experience. “We have a map on the wall where people put up a dot where they came from. We’ve had people from Australia, China, Japan, Europe, and South America. They come to Kentucky because they are interested in bourbon. And they’re always surprised that two guys who don’t have formal training are able to make such a good smooth bourbon,” said Meier. The thing that brings Meier the greatest satis- faction are repeat visitors. “We’re starting to see people come back for their third or fourth visit. They come back and stock up because they enjoy the product. Anybody will come for an experi- ence one time, but to come back means there’s something here they appreciate. People enjoy the experience and the product.” Meier often jokes,
“I couldn’t have picked a simple business where you can make something today and sell it tomorrow, or a product that can be sold online, 24/7 and to anyone. I didn’t have somebody come in and install a turnkey system. That’s part of the chal- lenge and the interest. We like fixing things and solving problems and thinking about how to make things better. We’re constantly working on it and changing things.”
The distillery also produces a rum which surprises many visitors who come to Kentucky expecting only bourbon. The Prohibition Kentucky Rum™ was awarded a first round Gold Medal in the 2017 Washington Cup tasting competition and later selected from a group of 150 distilled spirits to receive one of only six prestigious Washington Cups awarded.
“You go through life and don’t really think about who you are or what you are. You just are. Reflecting back, I would say I’ve always just enjoyed fixing things and making things.” Those things now include great Kentucky Bourbon.
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JUNE 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020
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