You've been on the Bourbon Trail. You've seen the gift shops, the velvet ropes, and the framed photos of great-great-grandpappy. You've heard the same "long-lost recipe" story until your ears bled. Now, you’re at the spot where the work begins. If you're like us, you're done with the fluff and interested in what's in the bottle, and more importantly, the honest, un-romanticized how. You’ve seen ASW Distillery on the shelf. Maybe you’ve even heard the buzz. The founders are a former accountant and a retired plumber; one obsessed with spreadsheets, the other with copper piping. They’re making whiskey, and it’s working. Instead of a secret, they give you a transparent recipe card. They trust you to realize that execution is harder than a list of ingredients. You're trying to figure out if the bourbon is worth your hard-earned cash. So, let’s talk about the hardware and the process. Because when it comes to making good bourbon, the equipment matters. A lot.
Most big-name bourbons are the product of continuous column stills, the factory assembly line of the whiskey world. They are incredibly efficient, pumping out massive volumes of consistent spirit 24/7. But efficiency often costs character. Column stills strip out impurities, yes, but they also strip out the flavorful oils and congeners that give a whiskey its soul. The result is a lighter, cleaner spirit. Fine, but it’s a factory approach.
Then there are pot stills. These are the cantankerous, old-school beasts. Think of them as the manual-transmission sports cars in a world of automatic sedans. They’re inefficient, demand hands-on attention, and operate only in small batches. Each run is a commitment.
Because they don’t “strip things out” as aggressively, pot stills retain more of the heavy, flavorful compounds from the mash. The result is a whiskey with a richer, more robust texture and a complex flavor profile. It’s a method steeped in tradition, favored by Scotch single malt and Irish whiskey. For Kentucky bourbon? It’s a road less traveled.
This is where ASW Distillery veers off the main road. Instead of the typical column still you’d see in Kentucky, they went all-in on tradition, ordering a custom set of twin copper pot stills from the legendary Vendome Copper & Brass Works. These Scottish-style stills, complete with swan necks and helmets that look like Jules Verne designed them, are a deliberate choice.
Why opt for a difficult, inefficient method in Atlanta? Because they’re flavor fanatics. By double-distilling in these copper pots, they create a spirit that’s full-bodied and complex off the still, long before it ever sees the inside of a barrel.
But here’s the kicker: they didn’t just copy the Scots. They blended that tradition with pure Southern innovation.
In Scotland, distillers lauter their mash, straining out all the solid grain before fermentation to create a clear liquid called wort. Clean, tidy, and predictable.
ASW embraces the mess. They practice a “grain-in” distillation, an old Appalachian technique where the solid mash of corn, wheat, and barley stays in during both fermentation and the first distillation run. They actually have a special agitator in their wash still just to stir the thick, oatmeal-like mash and prevent scorching on the bottom of the pot.
Why? Flavor. Distilling “on the grain” allows the spirit to pull more character, an earthy, grainy richness, that you simply can’t get from a strained mash. This combination of Scottish-style pot stills and Southern grain-in technique sets the foundation for their unique spirits.
Of course, the stills are only part of the story. The final flavor is a symphony of choices. ASW’s mashbills, like the high-wheat profile in their Fiddler Unison Bourbon, play a huge role. Their choice of water and their barrel aging program, which we’ll save for another time, are just as critical. But the production method is the engine room. It’s the foundational decision that defines the spirit’s character before it ever touches oak. Choosing twin pot stills and grain-in distillation is a deliberate, difficult choice to prioritize complex flavor over easy volume.
If you’ve ever had to Google what ‘petrichor’ means just to read a whiskey review, you know the problem. We’re not here to give you a vocabulary test. We’re here to give you a pour. All this talk of stills and techniques is great for the purists, but what does it mean for your glass? It means you can expect a bourbon from ASW with a noticeably different texture and depth. It’s richer, chewier, and often presents flavors that are bolder and more integrated than their column-stilled counterparts.
That’s where a tool like OAKR becomes your best friend. Instead of relying on a single tasting note from a so-called expert (like me), OAKR acts as your personal bourbon sommelier. The app aggregates tasting data from a wide panel of blind tasters to create a comprehensive flavor profile for thousands of spirits. You can see what the consensus is on a bottle before you buy it, cutting through the marketing and getting straight to the point.
If you’re ready to explore bourbons based on how they actually taste, not just their backstory, it’s time to check out OAKR. You can discover in-depth flavor profiles for ASW’s entire lineup and get personalized recommendations for other spirits that match your unique preferences. Stop guessing and start discovering.
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.
