Wally Dant is a Nashville businessman with roots in the distilling business that stretch back almost two centuries to when his ancestor JW Dant fashioned a still out of a hollowed-out poplar log — a pretty remarkable feat when you consider the high pressures and inherent flammability of the alcohol distilling process. Ole JW was a brave man, and his triple-great grandson Wally is exhibiting some stones of his own by starting up a brand new modern distillery in Gethsemane, Ky., where he and his cousins are developing 300 acres into what they are calling Dant Crossing.
In addition to plans for an amphitheater, a network of hiking trails, a farm-to-table restaurant, a fishing lake and lodging options, Dant Crossing is now home to Log Still Distillery. The distillery will release products under the Monk’s Road brand and has already produced its first bourbon and rye whiskeys that are currently taking an oak nap in barrels on the premises. In the meantime, they have some of their own gin and barrel-aged gins ready to sample at their modern new tasting room if you want to take a field trip to discover them before they blow up crazy large. (Fame-wise, I mean. Not like an exploding log or anything.) While they wait for their own products to mature, the Dants are also selling some whiskeys sourced from other distilleries in the region. These include some 4-year old and 8-year old whiskeys from Tennessee that were blended from hand-selected barrels and some flavored whiskeys that we shan’t discuss here in decent company because I’m frankly not a fan of those uses of precious bourbon.
I look forward to trying out some Log Still whiskeys and gins as soon as they get distribution in Middle Tennessee, or I might have to head towards Bardstown myself to check them out.
