This week on The Whiskey Trip Podcast, Big Chief takes you on a ride to Tennessee and introduces you to Company Distilling. He chats with Co-Founder, Jeff Arnett, who was the former Master Distiller for Jack Daniel’s.  Jeff tells listeners how he got his start in the food industry as a production manager for Folgers Coffee where he learned sensory sciences.

He started at Jack Daniels as their quality control manager for seven years and was hand-picked as Master Distiller of one of the largest whiskey brands in the world. Who better than a man knew their entire process? Over the next 12 years he would grow the Jack Daniel’s line from three expressions to eleven.

Why would anyone leave? Jeff felt that he had an opening to do something for himself and his family.  Company Distilling allowed him to step away from the cog that never stops and concentrate on his own ideas and passions.

Jeff and Big Chief start the show by sipping on Company’s Applewood finished whiskey that has cinnamon spiced apples on the palette. They then move to a maple wood finished wheated bourbon blend. In the second half they start with a straight Rye whiskey finished in cherry wood. They finish the show with a cask strength maple wood finished Bourbon at 117 proof.

This ride on The Whiskey Trip shows that there are still ways to change the complexity of whiskey with wood finishing and it’s exciting to see Jeff be able to be creative with his expressions.

Cheers!