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In the years since the Kentucky Distillers' Association opened the Bourbon Trail in 1999, more than a half million visitors per year use the guide to visit multiple distilleries in one trip. The Tennessee Distillers Guild knows a good thing when they see it and have banded together to create the Tennessee Whiskey Trail, a tour of 25 distilleries across the state. In addition to brochures and maps to direct visitors from point to point, they've also created an app so that pilgrims can track their progress toward completing the Trail.
Participating distilleries include larger facilities, such as Jack Daniels and George Dickel, as well as smaller producers, like local favorites Nelson's Green Brier and Nashville Craft. Jeff Pennington is best known as the founder of SPEAKeasy Spirits, the producer of Pickers Vodka and Whisper Creek. He has taken advantage of the new trail to launch a second company, Pennington Distilling Co., in advance of releasing his first rye, Tennessee whiskey, and bourbon products. Pennington considers the Trail a valuable addition to the state.
'After years of hard work, we are extremely excited about the Trail launching. We feel it really gives the local distilling industry and our own distillery the credibility and visibility that we all strive for,” he says. 'We look forward to its continued growth and success.”