Fermentation expert and Cannon County resident Sandor Katz has been working on the farm for some time introducing the use of organic composts and compost teas to our agricultural processes. It’s one of the many sustainable agricultural values future visitors will experience at Short Mountain Distillery.

Sandor was recently featured in the November 22 edition of The New Yorker magazine for his work advancing a live-culture food revolution. As the article notes, Sandor’s two books – “Wild Fermentation” and “The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved” are must reads for a new generation of underground food activists.

We are very fortunate to have Sandor working with us as we begin integrating centuries old distilling practices with the 300 acre farm.

IT’S ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY: Last week, Sandor whipped up a big brew of compost tea that Billy and John sprayed on the newly plowed organic corn field. The practice will be repeated regularly and replace an unsustainable and costly practice of applying chemical fertilizer to the farm environment.

The processes Sandor is putting in place now will eventually transform some of Short Mountain Distillery’s grain product into an environmentally safe fertilizer. The process is amazing to watch and demonstrates a genuine bottom-up level of care for the life of the farm and quality of spirits we will produce.

Besides whiskey and moonshine, the process of distillation creates a usable grain product that is perfect for farm life. The grain mash from the distillery can be consumed by farm animals as well as crops. The distillery will produce tons of grain product annually.

HOW IT’S DONE: To get the grain into a consumable product for crops, the grain will first be fed to livestock whose manure will be composted with other organic material.

Next, the manure and other organic materials and allowed to compost. This process requires turning the pile so the composting kills pathogens but not overheat and kill the microbes.

Once the compost process is complete, a portion then goes into a large “tea bag” and is left to aerate in a large cistern of water while the rest is used as a soil amendment. The resulting frothy tea, teaming with cultivated microbes, are sprayed onto the field where they continue digesting organic matter into usable nutrition for crops.

(Woodbury, TN) — Short Mountain Distillery is pleased to announce securing $1 million in capital investment for a planned spirits manufacturing facility in Cannon County near Woodbury, TN.

The financial commitment comes weeks after a local group gained the support of voters through a county wide referendum in November. Voters in every precinct voted to allow the distillery to be built and operated on Short Mountain.

“Today’s $1 million investment shows our commitment to the people of Cannon County and the state of Tennessee,” said local farmer Billy Kaufman. “We are now a big step closer to building an American brand we can all be proud of.”

The financial commitment to the distillery by Billy and his brother David Kaufman will help create jobs and promote sustainable agriculture and business practices that focus on work with local farmers and businesses.

“Our investment is not just in a building and a product,” said David Kaufman. “It is also an investment in quality, hard work and values that have always made our country strong.”

The Kaufmans are the great grandsons of Jesse Shwayder, the founder of iconic American brand Samsonite 100 years ago in 1910. Their grandfather, Louis Degen, brought Samsonite to Murfreesboro, TN where it employed many Middle Tennessee families for decades.

Short Mountain Distillery will produce Tennessee corn whiskey and moonshine in an area famous for distilled spirits for over 150 years. Moonshine from the hills of Cannon County was praised in song by Uncle Dave Macon on the Grand Ole Opry’s 1939 television debut and other stars of country music. Cannon County boasted close to 20 operating distilleries in the 1800s.

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Billy Kaufman holds dirt John Whittemore plowed for the distillery.

This isn’t exactly what corporate America would call an official ground breaking, but in its own special way that’s exactly what it is.

Local farmer John Whittemore started early Friday morning plowing the rich farm land where Short Mountain Distillery’s first organic corn crops will be planted this coming Spring.

The spot is roughly 4 acres on the future home of the distillery, nestled in the rolling hills of Short Mountain in Cannon County. The distillery will need well over 100 tons of corn a year to make our fine Tennessee whiskey and moonshine, and we intend to get every bit of it from Cannon County and surrounding Tennessee farms.

We know we won’t get all of our corn organic at first. Over time, we want to help farmers we work with adopt more sustainable practices and help preserve our agricultural heritage for generations to come.

We also know the yield might not be as good as the corn Jack Daniel’s and George Dickel have shipped in from other states, but we also know what we’re producing is something we’re all producing together.

That’s what makes this unofficial ground breaking so special when you think about it, because this is where it all begins. This is the start of something real and something wholeheartedly Tennessee.

I got a call yesterday from a guy in North Carolina who makes a very cool 750 ml glass jug bottle. His pitch was simple. It would make a great container for Tennessee moonshine, and best of all, it’s made in America.

Ever since voters in every precinct of Cannon County voted Nov. 2 to allow us to build Short Mountain Distillery, the calls and emails have provided some perspective on the character of America in a time of great need.

You can hear the eagerness in America’s voice. It’s not defeated. It’s not the voice of fear you hear on cable news. It’s the sound of America doing what we do best: work.

It comes in calls from small businesses who will make the bottles, labels, boxes and barrels, and emails with resumes expressing big hopes to be one of the folks we’ll need to build and produce a locally owned American brand of whiskey.

Countless hands will work to build some part of Short Mountain Distillery. Some may not realize it as they become busy filling our orders, making lunch for a tourist, or passing by acres of local corn we’ll need. Still more will never see our impact in the lives and economy of our community and our great state. But it’s there.

Our needs create jobs: employees, architect, farmers, builder, concrete, steel, consultants, attorney, accountant, boiler, forklift, box truck, fermenters, dry wall, pot still, bottles, bottling machine, labels, paint, barrels, racks, computers, point of sale systems, boxes, grain, air compressors, signage, kitchen sinks, security systems, water, power, prep tables, insurance, phones, landscaping, office furniture, merchandise, advertising, and much more.

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We want to thank each and every one of you who came out and supported our effort and the future of our great county! We had a small group of voters hanging out at the Scoreboard on the square listening to the precinct results trickle in.

Here is a press release that went out tonight regarding your vote to move our county forward. Be sure to follow us on Facebook for more updates coming soon.

(WOODBURY, TN) – Voters in Cannon County gave the green light Tuesday (1962 to 1667) to a proposed distillery on Short Mountain near Woodbury. Backers are now looking to deliver for the community and state.

“I am humbled by the support of my neighbors and my community,” said Short Mountain farmer Billy Kaufman. “Their support and confidence means so much to all of us, and we’ve got a lot of work to do now to build an American brand we all can be proud of.”

Backers placed the referendum on the ballot after the state legislature passed a law allowing legal distilleries across the state of Tennessee. Lawmakers put in place a referendum process for counties that do not already allow liquor by the drink or package stores.

Short Mountain Distillery will produce Tennessee Corn Whiskey and moonshine. The group hopes to put up a “Future Home Of” sign soon.

Cannon County has a rich agricultural heritage that also produced what some say was the best distilled spirits in the country before and during prohibition. Moonshine from the hills of Cannon County is specifically celebrated in old time country music songs once sung at the Grand Ole Opry by Uncle Dave Macon, Porter Wagoner and others. In the mid 1800s, Cannon County alone had more than 18 operating distilleries. Tennessee is well known around the world for Jack Daniel’s and George Dickel aged whiskeys.

Short Mountain Distillery will bring tourism, jobs and needed county revenue while honoring the community’s history and character.

“We want to work directly with local farmers and businesses as we grow,” Kaufman said. “We want to share our local history with the world, and we want tourism to bring new opportunities for local businesses.”

Kaufman is the great-grand child of Jesse Shwayder, the founder of another well-known American brand Samsonite 100 years ago in 1910. Their grandfather, Louis Degan, ran Samsonite’s Murfreesboro, TN location for decades employing many Middle Tennesseans.

Short Mountain Distillery will be a small-batch craft distiller located on a 300 acre farm on Short Mountain.

Early voting across Tennessee has begun! From today through October 28, voters across Cannon County have something on the ballot no other county has: a yes or no vote on real jobs.

We ask that you vote YES on jobs by allowing a distillery to open on Short Mountain. In many ways, our state’s great agricultural heritage was supported by hundreds of distilleries.

In 1840 the U.S. Census reported that Cannon County alone had 18 distilleries. Distilling spirits was a necessary way to turn grain into a medicinal and dietary staple of rural family life.

Unlike many job opportunities that come and go, we are not owned by a foreign company. We are not owned by a company in another state. We are your neighbors. We are farmers. Our families live right here, and we want every dollar to stay here and support our way of life.

We want to revive the artisan process of distilling spirits and open up our county’s rich agricultural heritage to tourists from around the world. We want to tell our story and shine our light to the world, but we can’t do it without your help and without your permission.

VOTE YES ON JOBS!

• DATE: October 13 – 28 9am – 12pm | Tuesday 19th and 26th is 2pm – 6pm
• LOCATION: Cannon County Election Office on West Main Street, Adams Office Building

The Tennessee Municipal League’s bi-monthly magazine Tennessee Town & City had a nice article in today’s edition featuring Billy Kaufman.

The article by Victoria South highlights Cannon County’s cultural heritage and legacy we hope to share with the world through Short Mountain Distillery.

“This is about jobs,” said Kaufman, who is the great grandson of iconic Samsonite Luggage founder Jesse Shwayder. “It’s also about tourism, revenue, and the kind of sustainability we need to preserve our way of life. We want to share our local history with the world, and we want tourism to bring new opportunities for local businesses.”

With Cannon County’s rich agricultural heritage, Short Mountain Farm is revered by old-timers for the quality of its moonshine, made from ice cold spring water, which still flows from three springs on the property. Kaufman is hoping to tap this renewable energy source for the distillery’s operations.

“I had been looking for a way to make farming profitable,” he said. “One of my strongest drives is making farming sustainable, having it make sense again. It’s the best way of life there is, but that doesn’t mean it makes financial sense, as it’s structured now. You have to be incredibly skilled and lucky to make a living.”

Heavy regulations and substantial start up costs of several hundred thousand dollars or more could be a formidable obstacle for legal moonshine distillers. “Just getting through all the red tape and hurdles makes it a community endeavor,” Kaufman explains. “It’s also my commitment to my community.”

As part of that commitment, Kaufman plans to hire locally and use locally grown agricultural products.

“Cannon County is full of qualified hard working farmers, factory workers, industrious people, who are already telling me what they can do,” he said. “It’s a great time to harness this tremendous energy of a community doing something that relates to their values close to where they live.”

An increased interest in Tennessee culture and heritage prompted the state Department of Tourism to launch a tourist attraction dubbed “White Lightning Trail,” where drivers traverse a network of roadways spanning hundreds of miles across nine counties in northeast Tennessee. Along the trail, visitors can travel the same routes where bootleggers in hopped up cars, transported illegal moonshine whiskey, rumored to be the inspiration for NASCAR. As tourists visit the various sites, neighbors along the way might be more than willing to swap a moonshining tale or two.

“If people would be willing to drive a little farther, they could come to the place where the history of moonshine is rich and the living history of moonshine, the people, are still alive,” said Kaufman. “Let me tell you, the stories here are rich. Almost everyone in Cannon County can tell you a great story about the moonshine in this area, whether it be the law enforcement against it, or their family struggle to make a living at a time when there was really no other way to make a living. It’s part of this area’s heritage and goes back much further than you think.”

In this weekend’s Murfreesboro Post, Mike Vinson speaks from personal experience on the rich cultural heritage Short Mountain Distillery celebrates.

Indeed, Short Mountain has a long, rich history for producing moonshine.

Having grown up in the Centertown-Blues Hill area of Warren County, about a 20-minute drive from Short Mountain, I, personally, can attest to the “lore” that connects Short Mountain to the craft of whiskey making.

Without going into needless detail and giving up any names, I’ll just say that clear, homemade, high-proof liquor could be purchased at any of several Short Mountain locations back in the day.

The Sanbourns told us we were welcome to pick as many apples as we wanted from their small Short Mountain orchard.

Like most homeowners, the Sanbourns grow them organically and couldn’t possibly eat everything their orchard produces. Mrs. Sanbourn told us about the only thing appreciating them lately were the deer, so she was happy to see us put them to use.

After a couple of hours of picking we ended up with about seven bushels of apples. They were a mix of Yellow Delicious and a hybrid they called “Johnny” Delicious. If we had time, we probably would have gotten more, but we had to meet up with Gabby by 2 p.m. if we wanted to use his apple press.

In the old days, this is how cider and distilled brandy was made. The process was often a collective effort by locals that extended the life of fruit well into the winter, warming the farmer, making holiday cheer and soothing mild winter ailments.

In the late 1800s, residents throughout Cannon County would bring their apples to Jim Jamerson who ran a legal distillery near Burt. “Jimerson” would then turn the collected apples into brandy. Jamerson was just one of several enterprising distillers in Cannon County who created sustaining value for the community’s rural way of life. It was an American way of life that made friends out of neighbors and let nothing go to waste.

Distilleries have always been a part of American culture. Nearly every single one of our founding fathers distilled spirits, and one of the first taxes they levied on the American people to pay for war and to build our nation was the Whiskey Tax.

You don’t have to look too far back into Tennessee’s history to understand the role distilleries played in making farms successful and building our great state.

In 1840 the U.S. Census reported that Cannon County alone had 18 distilleries. Distilling spirits was a necessary way to turn grain into a medicinal and dietary staple of rural family life.

In an 1874 letter to Tennessee’s Secretary of Agriculture J.B. Killebrew, Robertson County attorney William Moore described how distilleries in his county kept local farms profitable.

The immense amount of grain required in the manufacture of the article has stimulated the farming community to produce more corn, there being an active and steady demand for it at the highest and most remunerative prices. Seven hundred and fifty bushels of grain are being daily consumed, (which would be forty-five thousand barrels annually). This will give some idea of the immense business. The increasing demands for grain have absorbed the entire surplus of corn in the county, and have compelled our distillers to rely in a great degree upon the St. Louis and other foreign markets, including the productions of the rich Wabash Valley.

Since 1900, Cannon County’s population has gained just a few hundred people. In many ways, we still embrace an agrarian lifestyle. In his 1874 report The Resources of Tennesseee, Sec. Killebrew had this general observation of the people of Cannon County.

The citizens are industrious and energetic, but not enterprising. They prefer the old way because they believe it to be the sure way. They are greatly attached to the county, and emigration to other states is very rare. They would like to have additions to their population, though labor is sufficiently abundant and cheap. The county is free from debt, and jury tickets are at par. Infractions of the law are not common. Ease, peace and plenty characterize the county. Economy is the ruling trait of the citizens, and they mingle with their labors many of the pleasures of life.

Life in Cannon County has strayed little from that quaint description from 136 years ago. About the only noticeable exceptions are jobs, revenue and the quality of life both sustain.

The opportunity we have to preserve our way of life is tucked between our rolling hills and pages of history’s wisdom. It comes in bushels of corn, rye, sorghum, and maybe even apples, all grown here for over 100 years. And with your support in November, our values and our heritage can be our most treasured export to the world.

Commissioners Aug. 28, 2010 from CannonWire on Vimeo.

Somewhere around the 6 minute mark you can listen to the Cannon County Commission officially set the date of election for our distillery referendum for the November 2 general election. Video by the Cannon Wire. You can read their story here.

The Cannon Courier posted the full text of the ballot question before voters in November and are also running an online poll of how you’d vote today.

Cannon County Administrator of Elections Stan Dobson certified that enough signatures of registered voters had been obtained by the proponents of the measure.

Nine of the 10 county commissioners voted to place the items on the ballot, with Karen Ashford passing.

The question which voters will see on the ballot will be:

— To permit and legalize the manufacture of intoxicating liquors and other intoxicating drinks within the boundaries of Cannon County.

— Not to permit and legalize the manufacture of intoxicating liquors and other intoxicating drinks within the boundaries of Cannon County.

County Executive Mike Gannon said that if the question was not on the November ballot, the county would have to spend $10,000 to $15,000 in the spring of next year for a special election.

Every step we take to bring jobs and tourism to Cannon County we’re reminded of some very big shoes we have to fill.

The reminders come as fond memories folks share with us of working for Billy Kaufman’s grandfather and great-grandfather at Samsonite in Murfreesboro, TN.

The stories come from local officials, shop owners and farmers. They’re our neighbors, people we know and trust. If you ask around you are bound to know someone who made the daily trip to Murfreesboro to make a living for their family.

One of those neighbors is Harold Stembridge. When he heard Billy wanted to build a distillery on his Short Mountain farm, Harold put the word out through friends that he had something very special to share with Billy.

Harold has lived here all his life. He’s a farmer who now keeps bees, chickens and reindeer. When Harold was younger he worked in a t-shirt factory and wanted something better. His co-workers laughed when he left and told him he’d be back. Harold landed at Samsonite and ended up working for Billy’s grandfather for 34 years.

Harold remembers Samsonite like it was yesterday. For years he tried get the Cracker Barrel in Murfreesboro to hang a portrait of Samsonite founder Jesse Shwayder telling them this was the man who made Murfreesboro. The portrait hung in the lobby of the Samsonite factory greeting employees and visitors for years.

Harold told Billy when his great-grandfather would visit that he’d ask folks if they had their Golden Rule marble on them. If they did, he let them take a paid hour off work. Harold still has his Golden Rule marble to this day among some of his valuable treasures, a blue one with the Golden Rule inscribed on a golden band.

But Harold had one more treasured item he wanted to give to Billy. It’s the portrait of his great-grandfather Jesse, conservatively dressed with the Holy Bible firmly griped in his right hand.

An engraved brass plate at the bottom reads: “Jesse Shwayder, Founder and Chairman of the Board, Shwayder Bros., Inc., Taken on his 80th birthday March 26, 1962.” It’s a portrait of conviction, service and respect that reminds us what good people can do when we expect the very best from each other.