Tennessee has long been a leader in producing distilled spirits. As our nations early founders moved west, they carried with them the craft of whiskey. Fortunately for Tennessee, the land, water, and climate is nearly perfect for the production of whiskey. So make whiskey we did.
Tennessee was a leading producer of distilled spirits even prior to the Civil War. In fact, Tennessee made so much whiskey, that the then Confederate government of Tennessee outlawed whiskey production in order to field and supply the army. This was the nation’s first act of prohibition. Following the Civil War, Tennessee quickly rebuilt its distilled spirits industry. In 1908 Tennessee had hundreds of registered distilleries across the state. Unfortunately for Tennessee and enthusiasts of fine spirits everywhere, Tennessee again led the way in prohibition in 1910, banning the production of whiskey ten years ahead of the Federal ban in 1920.
Tennessee would remain dry until 1939, six years after the Federal ban was lifted. While these laws destroyed the legal spirits trade in Tennessee, Tennesseans across the state kept making whiskey and maintained Tennessee’s reputation as a place for fine whiskey and moonshine. The Jack Daniel Distillery reopened soon after the law allowed in 1940, and George Dickel returned in the 1950’s, and both began rebuilding our once proud legal distilled spirits industry. In the mid-1990’s Pritchard’s distillery opened Tennessee’s first craft distillery and that is where progress stalled. In 2009, Tennessee began reforming its prohibition-era laws and eliminated many nearly insurmountable legal barriers to entry.
Since then, the number of Tennessee distilleries has grown from three to the now thirty distilleries Tennessee host’s across the state. These distilleries range from small, boutique-style operations making traditional and innovative spirits to well-known distilleries that have been making legendary Tennessee Whiskey for generations. The Tennessee Whiskey Trail was established in 2017 by these distilleries to bring you our State’s great spirits heritage.
