Short Mountain Distillery President and CEO Billy Kaufman addresses the local Woodbury Chamber of Commerce at their annual dinner on the topic of celebrating community values in small business.

Billy talked about how our corporate philosophy, the Golden Rule, guides us to do right by our neighbors by keeping business as local as possible, from the corn we use to our skilled labor and manufacturing equipment. Billy also talked with local business leaders about the opportunity before us to share our community’s values with a world of tourists hungry to reconnect with America.

Jeff Schuler snaps a few photos of Josh Smotherman, Short Mountain Distillery’s Head of Production.

When our welder saw all the lights being set up Friday he joked with Ricky that we were going to make him famous. I told him he better get Ricky’s autograph while he can.

If it weren’t for a final piece of compliance I would have had all three of our moonshiners fire up the still right then just to warm us all up. The temperature in the shiner’s shack must have been close to freezing, but once the shiner’s took their jackets off for photos and the stories started flying, the room warmed right up.

Friday was one of those personal moments of pride after looking through the photos and seeing and feeling the history we are about to make together. I can’t wait for you to meet these living legends of our state’s whiskey making heritage.

Crane’s eye view compliments of Jeff Schuler.

The crane operator said this is the baby crane after slapping close to 37,000 pounds of counter weights on it this morning.

It didn’t take much for the baby crane to lift our chiller and boiler over the roof of the still house before the cold front blew through. These huge pieces of machinery are the muscle of our distillery, and like all of our major equipment, they were manufactured right here in the United States.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Over the past year, we’ve shared at least a book’s worth in posts and photos as we built our first still house, but this one really says a lot about how far we’ve come.

Our core team defies all the odds, both private and public. We made deep personal sacrifices. We changed the law. We worked through the necessary compliance and permitting. We put our friends and neighbors back to work and helped bring back something they call manufacturing. And in a matter of months, we’ll export our heritage and our pride to the world.

That still, the still house, the people, the whiskey… none of it would exist like it does if it wasn’t for many of you showing up last year and voting to change the law and make it happen. You trusted us. After a year of hard work, we’re ready to deliver.

Over the next two months, you’ll see us work to fire up the stills and bring into the light the magic of a centuries old craft handed down from generation to generation. You’ll see the old ways come back to life, the ups and the downs, but mostly we hope you’ll see our shared pride.

The parking lot is coming together. It’s space for about 40 cars. We could probably park a few more if we had to and if it wasn’t muddy.

In the video, John Whittemore takes the roller on a short tour through the parking area before more crusher run arrives.

There are twelve new trees here: 8 Crepe Myrtles and 4 Dogwoods.

One of the Southern most mountains in the Appalachians (Middle TN’s highest point) is now properly represented on the Appalachian Quilt Trail. And by “proper,” we mean with moonshine, but it probably doesn’t count as much as having this big beautiful quilt tile painted locally by Diane Mooneyham on one of our barns. That’s Diane’s husband Kevin way up there on the ladder.

Kevin had some special help from Short Mountain Fire Dept.’s Brad, Michael, Skylar, and Chris. We love our neighbors!

If you’re traveling the trail through Tennessee next Spring, don’t forget to stop by the still house behind the barn and learn how they’ve been making moonshine on Short Mountain for over 150 years.

John Whittemore steers the corn picker and gravity wagon to harvest. We’re harvesting our first seven acres of organic corn today and hoping to get at least 50-60 bushels of shelled corn per acre. The corn will be shelled and stored on site and later stone-milled at Still House #1.

Starting next year, the farm will plant 20 acres of rotational organic corn crops on the 300 acre farm while securing the rest of the distillery’s grain needs from local farmers. We’re aiming to complete our USDA Certified Organic process next summer to preserve the land and water for generations to come.

(Woodbury, TN, USA) – Earlier today, Short Mountain Distillery became Tennessee’s newest licensed distillery. The state and federal permits come months after supporters changed Cannon County law by referendum to allow distilleries as well as securing federal permits and completing construction of Still House #1.

Short Mountain Distillery will make a Tennessee sour mash white whiskey (moonshine) from a family recipe handed down for generations in Cannon County. The traditional recipe and process will use locally grown corn that is stone milled on site. Distillery owners, the Kaufman brothers, hope to reconnect visitors with the nation’s agricultural heritage and whiskey making traditions by creating a unique destination.

“Once people experience how our product was made here for generations, they’ll make moonshine America’s drink,” said Billy Kaufman, farmer and Short Mountain Distillery CEO.

Short Mountain Distillery’s traditional process will use local stone milled grain and Tennessee spring water to create a sour mash moonshine, a Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey. Tourist will be able to follow the spent grain back into the farm process and take the Cave Spring Trail to experience why Tennessee is the perfect location for whiskey making. Visitors will also learn from legendary moonshiners of Short Mountain as they demonstrate processes handed down for generations.

Short Mountain Distillery is owned by the Kaufman brothers: Billy, David and Ben. They are the great grand children of Jesse Shwayder, who 100 years ago founded the iconic American brand Samsonite. Their grandfather, Louis Degen, brought Samsonite to Murfreesboro decades ago bringing steady work to many local families.

Short Mountain Distillery will begin production in January 2012 and open for distillery and farm tours March 23, 2012. The distillery is working to become USDA Certified Organic within a year.

Short Mountain Distillery’s Ricky Estes and John Whittemore set up Ricky’s old moonshine still visitors will see on display at Stillhouse #1. It’s one of very few in Tennessee to survive decades of persistent moonshine busts.

This particular still was built by Emory Bragg and purchased by Mr. Estes back in the 60s or 70s. Some people might know Emory for a bank robbery that sent him to prison back in the day, and still fewer might have known him for his moonshine.

The still has gone through a couple small changes over the years, especially after it blew up and nearly took Ricky with it. For the most part the still made some of the best moonshine to come off Short Mountain. We can’t really say how recent that might have been, but you can rest assured this federally registered still now has a permanent and proud home at Short Mountain Distillery.

We didn’t have to look far for spare barn wood for Stillhouse #1. Billy remembered there was a damaged barn just around the corner on Pea Ridge.

The owner, Robert Bogle, was home and said we could help ourselves to whatever we needed. He had been following our progress in the newspaper and was happy to hear we got our federal permit. He said the state should be easier.

Robert knew a thing or two about moonshine and the revenuers and took us inside his home where his wife Louise directed him to a small stack of scrap books she had kept throughout his time as Cannon County Sheriff. She reminded us they were lucky the books survived a fire that took their home a couple of years ago.

Scattered throughout the pages were stories from the local newspaper of moonshine and whiskey busts across the county in the late 70s and early 80s. It was clear by the headlines many locals had moved on to growing marijuana and did a lousy job hiding it from Sheriff Robert Bogle. The few old-timers, who weren’t the least bit tempted by the new cash crop, quietly stuck to a 100+ year old folk tradition of whiskey making on Short Mountain.

STILL CAPTURED (1982) – Sheriff Robert Bogle displays a 50 gallon moonshine still that was captured by state Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents and deputies from his department late Friday, Sept 4 in the Pea Ridge section of the county on a farm known as the Keith place. Confiscated in the raid was the still, four barrels of mash and a 1967 Ford pickup truck.