The folks from Buy Local BG stopped into our Bowling Green Distillery and were quite impressed with what they saw (and tasted). Check out their article and be sure to watch the youtube clips (included below) about the history of our distillery and our current product line up.
Corsair Artisan spirits, brainchild of Nashvillians Derek Bell and Andrew Webber, is one of a growing number of microdistilleries representing the spiritual heirs of the small batch bourbons of the 1990s. For the moment, Corsair’s vanilla vodka, absinthe, spiced rum and small-batch gin are brewed in Bowling Green and marketed from 37205, but a recent change in state law reported in Nashvillepost.com will likely allow Bell and Webber to move production to Nashville.Four Corsair quaffs made an appearance at a party. The bartender poured up a massive 3-to-1-ratio drink of the Red Absinthe and water. The absinthe has a huge nose of florals and licorice and a subtle taste alongside a mighty fist of alcohol. It wasn’t the Pernod or Ricard I expected–it’s a spirit for mixing. The 56 percent alcohol content confirms that you wouldn’t drink it neat. If you were normal.
With that in mind, my next order was the vanilla vodka with a Coke, for a double shot of vanilla (for that is Coke’s primary flavoring) that tasted like a grown-up Coke float. You know, minus the ice cream and plus the potential for saying something you regret later.
After reading the website’s description of the gin manufacturing, I regret not having tried it. It’s still possible, though: Corsair products are available at Midtown Wine and Spirits and CoolSprings Wine and Spirits.
We use two copper pot stills in production, our 50 gallon hybrid pot still and our 240 gallon antique still.
Our 240 gallon still is a circa 1920 classic pot still that survived prohibition. Originally a gin still, we use it for the first or “wash” pass when making whiskey. The unfinished whiskey spirit resulting from the first distillation, called low wines, is finished in our 50 gallon still.
In addition to being our spirit still for whiskey, where we do a second distillation on the low wines and cut the heart of the distillate as clear whiskey (“white dog”), our 50 gallon still makes most of our other distilled spirits. Four plates in the still’s column, each of which can be disabled, give us the flexibility to distill various spirits. We disable this column and shunt spirit vapors to still’s vapor basket to make our gin-head style gin. Extracting the flavors of gin’s botanicals via vapor, rather than soaking the juniper and other herbs in liquid alcohol, yields less bitterness and, we think, a brighter, fresher gin.
We make very small batches of spirits – just a few cases at a time – in our pot stills. Everything’s done by hand, from production to bottling.
Gin-Head Style Gin: We make our gin in very small batches using our hand-hammered gin-head pot still. This uncommon step makes our gin crisp and very smooth on the finish. We’re proud to use an unusual mix of traditional botanicals, all sustainably harvested, to give our gin a unique and refreshing character.
Vanilla Bean Vodka: We’re proud to use whole bourbon vanilla beans – the best fair trade beans we can find – to give our vodka all the richest, most authentic notes of real vanilla. The resulting spirit is more savory than you may expect, a terrific match for both sweet and dry drinks. And perfect by itself.
Spiced Rum: Our small batch spiced rum has an unusual character. We use several types of citrus peel and whole vanilla beans while going easy on our other spices and botanicals (all sustainably harvested). The result is a rum that plays well with others — a lot of flavor that doesn’t overwhelm.
Red Absinthe: We’ve started with traditional 1800′s recipes and herbs to give our absinthe superieure the clean notes of a classic blanche. Then we tweak with the unusual, including citrus, tarragon (Dragon Wormwood, a relative of the Grand Wormwood we use), and red Hibiscus for floral tones and color. We’re pleased to share this unique result with you.
Wry Moon Unaged Rye Whiskey: Made in very small batches, we’re proud to use our antique whiskey wash still then our handmade pot still to craft this unaged rye whiskey. These hand worked stills preserve the peppery, spicy cereal taste of rye which we love, resulting in a moonshine full of character.
Coming soon: Kentucky 4-grain Whiskey, Rye Whiskey, Bourbon