A nondescript warehouse in La Vergne is the secret home to a new spirits company that is ready to turn the Tennessee whiskey world upside-down. AJ Bond is a subsidiary of Sazerac, the New Orleans-based spirits company that owns legendary brands ranging from BuzzBallz, Fireball and Benchmark on the low end to the rarified marks of Blanton’s, Eagle Rare and Pappy Van Winkle on the other.
AJ Bond has been a 10-year effort to bring a Tennessee whiskey into the portfolio. It was originally started by former George Dickel distillers John Lunn and Allisa Henley, who had worked together for 20 years at different operations before Lunn tragically passed away in 2023 while their latest project was still aging in the barrel. The path to market started in Newport, Tenn., at the former Popcorn Sutton distillery.
Working on small pot stills, Henley and Lunn produced hundreds of barrels of what would become an important component of AJ Bond. Those barrels were palletized for storage, which turned out to be handy when Sazerac purchased the distillery and had to move more than 200 truckloads of product to their new facility in La Vergne. That larger distillery is also where Sazerac installed a larger and faster column still to produce the second component of their new Tennessee whiskey.
AJ Bond Distillery will mark more than a decade of work
Sourcing corn from Batey Farms in Murfreesboro, each production method reveals different characteristics of the ingredients. Pot stills create more complex flavors, because distillers have to choose when to make the cuts of what are called “heads” and “tails” at the beginning and end of a production run. Those decisions allow for complex molecules like esters and aldehydes to remain in the final blend, contributing fruity and spicy notes.
Column-distilled whiskeys tend to be cleaner and more consistent. Each component is barreled separately before Henley and her staff blend the whiskeys to create the final product. The whiskey also has to pass through maple charcoal before reposing in Tennessee oak barrels as part of the Lincoln County Process that defines Tennessee whiskey.
A pot still and column still at AJ Bond
I was fortunate to tour the distillery prior to the first release and taste the pot still product and the column distillate, as well as the final blend. Although most folks will probably never taste the separate components, I was struck by how different they were, and also how well they complemented each other in the final blend.
The pot still whiskey was peppery with lots of baking spice notes that actually reminded me a little bit of a rye whiskey. The column still distillate was warm with lots of caramel and a long honey finish. When it was blended together, I was reminded of sweet hickory smoke — something that I absolutely love!
There is no age claim on the bottle. But I'm confident that, like most good whiskeys, the current release is at least 5 years old, and it’s quite possible that some of those barrels might be as old as 9 years old. Bottled at 95 proof, AJ Bond is smooth enough to sip, but also powerful enough to stand out in a whiskey-forward cocktail. The initial stated standard retail price was $39.99, which I felt was quite fair for a whiskey of this age, quality and proof, but I’ve already seen it on liquor store shelves for several dollars cheaper.
Allisa Henley
This is only the first product release from AJ Bond, and Sazerac is famous for experimentation at its various distilling facilities. The rickhouse at AJ Bond is filled with all sorts of innovative products that might make their way into future releases for themselves or possibly even some of their corporate cousins. Lunn and Henley always had a spark of innovation in their collaborations, and whatever comes next will represent both of their ideas and creative spirit.
If this first release is any indication, there is a very bright future for what’s happening in La Vergne!
“We wanted to raise expectations for what Tennessee Whiskey can be,” says Allisa Henley. “Every decision behind this whiskey was driven by a commitment to quality and a belief that innovation and tradition can work hand in hand. By combining pot and column still distillation and bonding those components after aging, we have created a whiskey that sets a new standard for the category.”
Henley will be at Frugal MacDoogal (701 Division St.) on Thursday, June 4, from 2 until 5 p.m. to offer tastings and sign bottles of AJ Bond if you'd like to sample with the master distiller.
