The Jack•Son•Tucky, a Florida based company, is a distillery specializing in the manufacture of craft whiskies. The business’s aim is to produce super premium bourbons and a single-malt. The focus after aging will be to bottle from single barrels and offer the final products at cask strength (no water dilution). Again, this is a niche area that appeals to true whisky aficionados and connoisseurs.

Initially nearly 100% of revenues will be generated from bourbon sales. When the bourbon casks are emptied, a single-malt whisky will then refill the emptied bourbon barrels (as is currently done at the majority of Scotland’s distilleries), and aged until mature.

Management consists of Mr. Espenship (who learned the craft of whisky making over 20 years ago from his father and uncle). A desire to learn about his family’s long tradition of distilling spirits (i.e., moonshine) spawned after a visit to his father’s from law school. For the first time he observed an illicit still in operation in a restricted area inside of his uncle’s barn.

Today the distillery bears the name that inspired Mr. Espenship from what he discovered in that cordoned off horse stall in his uncle’s barn. Together with the knowledge, the techniques, the processes, the recipes, and the secrets passed down from his father and uncle, the name was derived: The Jack•Son•Tucky. It is a play on words, a marriage of where the distillery is located and the birthplace of bourbon: Jacksonville + Kentucky.

The name also has a more personal meaning. Specifically, the name of Mr. Espenship’s father (“Jack”), the continuation—legally—of the family’s bootlegging legacy by Mr. Espenship (“Son”), meanwhile paying homage to the region famous for its bourbons—(Ken”Tucky”).

Mr. Espenship traveled to Scotland four separate times and toured over ten different distilleries (some privately) throughout the country’s rich whisky making regions (Speyside, Highlands, Lowlands, etc.). Here, Stateside, he visited craft distilleries in Colorado, the St. Augustine distillery in Florida, and has been to Kentucky several times. While in Kentucky he toured more than a dozen distilleries. The various visits and in-depth conversations with a number of master-distillers and plant operators provided a wealth of knowledge regarding the techniques and processes in place at some of the largest and finest bourbon and scotch distilleries in the world.

Mr. Espenship then incorporated (mostly by trial and error), what he learned from his family and the distillery tours. The Jack•Son•Tucky production process is more akin to the Scots, e.g., double-distillation utilizing two copper pot stills (one a “wash” still, the other a “spirit” still). This is also known as batch distillation. This process mirrors the same process still found at Woodford Reserve and, to some extent, Makers Mark (both Kentucky distilleries founded by men of Scottish heritage).

The objective is to craft “high octane” bourbons and a stellar American single-malt. The whiskies produced are not intended for the mass market. The heat desired and intense flavor profile take an acquired, refined, and discriminating palate.

In terms of company goals, the aim is to create a luxury boutique rather than a luxury mall; hence, keeping volumes low will allow the brand to focus on continuously improving and refining its processes and providing concierge-like service to its customers—quality over quantity!