What a long, strange trip it’s been. Nearly a decade ago Sazerac, parent company to A. Smith Bowman Distillery, Barton 1792 Distillery, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Garrard County Distilling, The Glenmore Distillery, and Sazerac House, purchased the Popcorn Sutton Distillery in Newport, Tennessee. The acquisition didn’t include the brand, it was just the distillery, the DSP, and most importantly, the people.
In 2016 Sazerac didn’t have a Tennessee whiskey, a category that is often overlooked but if you dig into the numbers another famous Tennessee whiskey brand by the name of Jack Daniel’s is the number two selling whiskey brand in the world right after Jim Beam bourbon.
If history is any indicator, big fish buying little fish doesn’t have a good track record. It is not uncommon, especially during the bourbon boom over the last decade, for a large distillery to purchase a craft distillery. Sometimes it works out but often the big fish tries to impart their big ways on the small fish and in the end the little fish gets eaten up, never to be heard from again. Thankfully, that is not the case with Sazerac. Sazerac was actually ‘acqui-hiring’ talent.
When Sazerac acquired the Tennessee Whiskey distillery, they got a trio of pot stills and a pair of veteran distillers. That talent included Master Distiller John Lunn and Master Blender Allisa Henley. Lunn and Henley worked together for more than a decade at Cascade Hollow Distilling Co., formerly known as the George Dickel Distillery. Unfortunately, Lunn passed away in 2023.
We recently had an opportunity to talk to Allisa Henley, now Master Distiller, to hear about her 10-year journey with Sazerac and the introduction of the AJ Bond Distillery and their first Tennessee Whiskey release.
Back in 2016 Sazerac COO Jake Wenz (now CEO) came knocking at the door of a small distillery in Tennessee. “Jake Wenz came to John and I and asked, ‘What would you do if this was yours, if you had free reign, what would you do? After he left, we high-fived each other and got to work talking about what all we wanted to do. I feel like Sazerac gets bourbon, we get bourbon, and we get whiskey, we know how to do it right.
“It’s very surreal to be sitting there with the COO of Sazerac and him saying, ‘If you had free reign, what would you do?’
“And AJ Bond is what we did.”
Watch Our Conversation with Master Distiller Allisa Henley
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Look at the close up views of the label below to find a few hidden Easter eggs.
Where Did the Name AJ Bond Distillery Come From?
When starting a new whiskey brand, it is not uncommon to dust off an old family name from a dead distiller with a long history of making whiskey from the 19th century. Sazerac didn’t do that. They started anew with the talent they had making their new Tennessee Whiskey.
“It started with John and I,” said Henley. “The A stands for Allisa and the J stands for John.
“We started in the industry at George Dickel within a few months of each other. John passed away three years ago so he never got to see it in the bottle. He knew the name was going to be AJ Bond. He never got to see the design but it’s a good way to carry on his legacy. I love that it has our names on it, it kind of solidifies the bond that we did have. People that knew us would always comment on it. It was like a brother sister relationship we were really that close.”
AJ Bond Distillery is a Mixture of Pot Still and Column Still Distillation
Not only does the bond pay homage to the relationship of the people, but it also pays homage to the way AJ Bond Distillery makes their version of Tennessee Whiskey.
“When we started making this whiskey, Sazerac had bought a small craft distillery, and it came with three pot stills. We started making AJ Bond on the pot stills and about 3 to 4 years into it, we picked up everything and moved it closer to Nashville. At that time, we bought a column still. John and I never really had experience with pot stills, we just learned it as we went. When we made the exact same recipe on the column, the taste was so different that we were like this could be something. We have two master distillers, we have this special bond between us, we have two separate types of stills, we have pot stills and column stills. What if we make it the same, put it in their own barrels, age it separately and then bond it together after it’s aged. It’s all kept separately from distillation. It’s the same mash bill, the same yeast we’re just using a different apparatus to distill it.”
The distillery has two 2,000-gallon pot stills and one 1,500-gallon pot still. The first distillation is done on the 2,000-gallon still, and then the second distillation is on the 1,500-gallon pot still. The pot stills were originally designed by moonshiner Popcorn Sutton and built by Vendome Copper & Brass Works. At the time they were built, they were believed to be the largest pot stills in North America. When they moved the distillery, they added a 24” copper column still also built by Vendome. The stills are fed by six 10,000-gallon fermentation tanks.
This first release includes a mix of 8–9-year-old pot distilled whiskey and 5.5-year-old column distilled whiskey. They mature in their own barrels until it’s time to dump and bottle the whiskey.
“I’m so glad Sazerac has patience,” added Henley. “You have to have patience to make good whiskey. For me, there is no substitution for time in the barrel. People have tried, they’ve gotten creative to rush the aging process, but you don’t get the same result. You have to have patience.”
Take a Close Look at the AJ Bond Tennessee Whiskey Label
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If you take a close look at the label, you’ll find a couple of easter eggs. The bond between Allisa and John is carried on through the label. When you look at the top left corner and hold it just right to the light, you’ll see Allisa and Johns silhouette’s embossed on their. You can also see their silhouettes in some versions of the AJ Bond Distillery logo. Props to Sazerac for going small and honoring Allisa and John.
A second kind of Easter egg is in the shape of the label. (Vol fans will likely see it right away.) As you pour the whiskey, watch the label as it goes from vertical to horizontal. The initial view of the label looks kind of like a torn piece of paper or piece of wood. As you are pouring the whiskey and the bottle goes horizontal that shape turns into the silhouette of the state of Tennessee. A nice touch honoring the legacy of Tennessee Whiskey.
The 1st Charcoal Burn – Don’t Burn My House Down
AJ Bond Distillery makes its own charcoal for the Lincoln County Process. If you ever get to visit a Tennessee distillery hopefully you get to visit on a sugar maple fire day. It’s fun to see and smell.
Related Story – Sazerac’s Unnamed Tennessee Distillery is Fired Up About the Lincoln County Process
Henley shared the first time she and John made charcoal together. It was quite an experience.
“Doing the first charcoal burn ever for AJ Bond Distillery we did it at John’s house, and this is a true story,” proclaimed Henley. When a distiller begins her story with ‘and this is true’ you know it’s going to be good, and it may even be true.
“John was a bachelor, he lived by himself. I was married and had a kid. I was like, if we do this, we could have done it at either house because we both had land to do it on. I was like, ‘If we mess up and burn down my house, my husband’s going to kill me. If we burn down your house, nobody’s going to care. So, we burned it at John’s house, and it was a family affair.
“I remember his parents came out, my parents came out, my son was like, maybe eight at the time and he was out there helping us put the fire out. It was just a real family affair. It was very authentic for sure.”
She went on to say that properly burning sugar maple into charcoal is a lot harder than it looks. If you do it wrong, you end up with a pile of ashes and it will just turn to dust. If you do it right, you end up with the perfect size charcoal to make Tennessee whiskey.
How Tennessee is AJ Bond Tennessee Whiskey?
“We wanted as much Tennessee, as we could get in it without compromising the quality,” said Henley.
Tennessee Corn – 100% of the corn used for distillation comes from Tennessee. They work with Batey Farms, a 200-year-old family farm in Murfreesboro.
Tennessee Oak – All of the oak for the barrels was harvested from Tennessee forests.
Lincoln County Process – The Lincoln County Process of making whiskey using sugar maple charcoal is unique to the state of Tennessee. The process was codified by state legislature when they passed House Bill 1084 in 2013. It is also included in many international trade agreements. You can find the full definition of the Lincoln County Process here.
AJ Bond Tennessee Whiskey Release No. 1 Tasting Notes
“I really want consumers to take away is that to expect more out of Tennessee whiskey. AJ Bond is an example of raising their expectations of what Tennessee whiskey can be. It doesn’t have to be that one thing, it can be other things,” said Henley.
Bottled at 95 proof, AJ Bond Tennessee Whiskey delivers rich, layered flavors. On the nose, it opens with sweet notes of wedding cake and caramel corn, complemented by butterscotch and a subtle redwood undertone. The palate is complex, unfolding with baked apple and charred fruit, followed by marzipan, powdered cinnamon and brandied cherry, with hints of cream soda and baking chocolate. The finish is long and evolving, marked by a savory peppercorn and lingering notes of chestnut honey.
“AJ Bond Tennessee Whiskey is deeply personal. John and I built this together over years of shared experience, and this whiskey carries forward his legacy. It’s a reflection of the respect we have for the process, the people who taught us, and the bond we will forever share.”
What Can We Expect Next from AJ Bond Distillery?
“We do have a rye whisky that is aging. And we also have a wheated Tennessee whiskey, that’s aging, and a few other things,” said Henley. “I don’t know which one we’ll release first. The rye whiskey is a true rye whiskey, the one with wheat is a Tennessee whiskey, so it’s mainly corn, but instead of Rye, it’s going to have wheat.
“With AJ Bond, we want to stand on this Tennessee process. We try to put as much Tennessee into it as we can. The Tennessee process of that charcoal mellowing, you’ll know that if the bottle says AJ Bond on it, it’s gone through that charcoal mellowing process, whether it’s a Tennessee whiskey or not. So even the Rye whiskey that we made, we put it through charcoal.
“And that’s just a way of staying true to what we are and that we’re proud of in Tennessee.”
AJ Bond Tennessee Whiskey is available now in Tennessee via Sazerac’s distributor network with a suggested retail price of $39.99 for a 750ml bottle with broader U.S. distribution to select states to follow in late 2026. This release signals the beginning of the AJ Bond Distillery portfolio, which will introduce additional whiskeys in the years to come.
Related Stories
– What is Tennessee Whiskey & What is the Lincoln County Process? Sep 2026
– Sazerac’s A&J Bond Distillery Master Distiller John Lunn Has Died Mar 2023
– Sazerac’s Unnamed Tennessee Whiskey Distillery Moves to 55 Acre Site Just Outside of Nashville Jul 2018
– Sazerac’s Unnamed Tennessee Distillery is Fired Up About the Lincoln County Process Aug 2017
– George Dickel Distiller Jumps Ship to Expand Popcorn Sutton Distilling Jul 2016
– Watch Out Jack, Sazerac Just Bought a Craft Distillery in Tennessee Dec 2016
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