Let’s talk about “heritage.” The bourbon world is currently drowning in it. You can’t walk down a liquor aisle without tripping over a bottle that claims to be based on a great-great-grandfather’s secret recipe found in a barn. It’s a fairy tale designed to sell you a mediocre pour at a premium price. The real heritage of American whiskey? It’s in the tax code. ASW Distillery in Atlanta respects history without being locked to it. They don't have a 200-year-old family ghost guiding their mash bill; they have former lawyers who knew when to step aside and a self-taught, fiddle-playing, ponytail-wearing fanatic who lives on a farm. And that is exactly why you should care about them. If you are researching new spirits, you need to know about the ASW Distillery distillers. They aren't following the Kentucky playbook. They are rewriting it in a shed in Georgia, and the results are delighting everyone who is tired of the same old vanilla oak bomb.
Before we get to the wizard behind the curtain, we have to talk about Jim Chasteen and Charlie Thompson. They are the founders. They are also University of Georgia grads and former lawyers. Usually, when white-collar professionals start a distillery, it’s a vanity project that results in overpriced vodka and a lot of forced, unearned swagger. Jim and Charlie actually started there, with American Spirit Whiskey, a vodka substitute. But they had the self-awareness to realize that if they wanted to make serious brown water, bourbon, rye, and malt whiskey—they needed someone who actually understood the science of fermentation better than the nuances of contract law. The founders of ASW understand that the distiller believes his job is to make whiskey, not give TED Talks. So, you’re not getting their life story, just the facts about their mashbill. They went out and found a true expert. That fundamental lack of ego is the first thing that makes this operation unique.
The primary force among the ASW Distillery distillers is Master Distiller Justin Manglitz. If you picture a distiller as a colonel in a white suit, erase that image. Justin looks like he might tackle you, or perhaps play a bluegrass set. Or both.
Justin isn’t a chemical engineer from a major university program. He’s self-taught. He spent years running a homebrew supply store in Athens, Georgia. He learned the “art of the mash” by doing it, obsessively, for half his life. He’s the guy who knows yeast strains the way other people know sports stats.
Justin lives on a twelve-acre farm outside Commerce, Georgia. He commutes 150 miles round-trip to Atlanta to make whiskey. Why? Because he’s committed, or crazy. The jury is still out.
He lives with his wife, kids, and a dog named Feints. If you know distilling, you know “feints” are the tails of the distillation run—the stuff you usually discard or recycle. Naming your dog Feints is the kind of nerd humor that proves this man eats, sleeps, and breathes distillation.
He also plays the fiddle. This isn’t just a quirky detail; it’s baked into the brand. The “Fiddler” line of bourbons is a direct nod to his bow arm. He isn’t just a guy pushing buttons on an automated still; he’s an artisan who essentially treats the still like an instrument.
Justin’s approach to production isn’t about efficiency; it’s about flavor extraction. Most big commercial distilleries are factories. Justin runs ASW like a laboratory.
He uses Scottish-style twin copper pot stills and distills “grain-in.” This means the solids stay in the still during the first distillation. It’s messy. It’s inefficient. It’s a pain to clean. But it leaves massive amounts of flavor in the spirit. He’s not trying to strip the alcohol clean; he’s trying to drag every ounce of character out of the grain.
He also has a weird obsession with wood. He doesn’t just buy barrels. He sources Georgia Heartwood, white oak harvested from a guy near Bogart, Georgia, and finishes the whiskey with hand-charred staves. He’s physically putting wood into the barrels himself. It’s labor-intensive and ridiculous, but it works.
You want the truth about whether you should buy this stuff? Here is the breakdown of the ASW Distillery distillers’ methodology and how it impacts your glass.
Because Justin and the team are constantly tweaking mash bills and wood finishes, tasting through the ASW lineup can be overwhelming. One batch of Fiddler might be finished in toasted barrels, another on Georgia Heartwood.
This is where you stop guessing and use OAKR.
OAKR is the best bourbon sommelier app on the market because it doesn’t care about the marketing story. It cares about data. OAKR aggregates tasting data from blind tasting panelists to show you what the spirit actually tastes like before you buy it. We write the same way we analyze flavor data: clean, concise, and focused on the facts. The label should be a tool, not a poem. Since everyone has a unique palate, OAKR acts as the equalizer. It helps you navigate the complex, sometimes weird innovations coming out of ASW. Instead of buying a bottle of “Tire Fire” blindly and regretting it, you can check OAKR to see if that specific profile matches your preferences. Explore the app today to discover in-depth flavor profiles about spirits and get personalized recommendations just for you.
The ASW Distillery distillers are not traditionalists. They are a mix of legal minds and a ponytail-wearing, fiddle-playing whiskey savant. They are making spirits that are winning global awards not because they are old, but because they are made with an obsessive attention to flavor.
If you are a superfan of bourbon, you owe it to yourself to try what Justin is cooking up. Just check OAKR first so you know what you’re getting into.
Login to OAKR for spirit profile flavor data, create your own lists and customize your palate to get custom somm recommendations on whiskey you’ll love.
