Company Distilling: Tennessee’s Best Kept Secret

By Richard Thomas

When I first started writing professionally about whiskey, Tennessee had just four distilleries making whiskey that wasn’t classed legal moonshine and it didn’t have a whiskey trail. Now it does have an official trail with over two dozen distilleries listed. Yet despite the growth, the fixtures remain the same: some 60 miles southeast of Nashville, Jack Daniel’s and George Dickel sit as giants, like the state’s twin pillars of Heracles. As the legacy and by far the largest distilleries in the Volunteer State, and sitting not 15 miles apart, they command attention in proportion to their footprint. Folks on holiday in Gatlinburg might visit Ole Smoky or one of the other legal moonshiners, while hardcore whiskey enthusiasts may seek out Corsair Distillery on the basis of its well-earned reputation.

Arguably the best kept secret on the trail is Company Distilling, and that starts with the name. Even whiskey enthusiasts could be forgiven for thinking the name refers to an enterprise or maybe a company town, that is if they hadn’t heard the tagline “Whiskey as good as the company you keep.” Yet despite having their own destination entry on the Whiskey Trail website, the company still enjoys that status of being like the awesome dive bar that, if you know it, hope nobody else finds out about. Despite having an interesting backstory and two worthy locations, it’s not as chattered about as it should be. That will change, so take advantage while you still can.

Bringing Good Company Together
The origins of Company Distilling go back to the foundations of the modern Tennessee distilling scene, which is to say the early days of the American craft distilling movement and the overhaul of Tennessee law that opened the door to the Volunteer State joining that movement. Kris Tatum and Jeff Arnett were the president and vice president of the Tennessee Distillers Guild, which lobbied for those necessary changes. In those days, Tatum was the founder and distillery manager at Old Forge Distillery, one of the legal moonshine makers in Gatlinburg; Arnett was the Master Distiller at Jack Daniel’s, America’s biggest whiskey-maker.

Fast forward to the eve of the Pandemic and the pieces for a merger of people, expertise and resources were all in place. Tatum was no longer with Old Forge, while Arnett was looking to make a change. The idea of starting his own company appealed to Arnett, offering the opportunity to go “from being an employee–a respected employee, but still–to an owner.” He felt, after two decades working in Lynchburg, he had earned his laurels there, was ready for new challenges and to establish a more personal legacy.

Next came Kevin Clayton, he of Clayton Homes, one of the nation’s largest pre-fabricated housing companies. Finally, with this trio brought together and intent on starting a distilling enterprise, they acquired the H. Clark Distillery in Thompson’s Station in 2020. That acquisition brought with it more than just the obvious assets of H. Clark; as Arnett and Tatum well-understood from their years of work with the Distillers Guild, there were many legal and regulatory advantages to absorbing a distillery that had been up and running for three years versus starting entirely from scratch. Furthermore, the H. Clark gin became the basis for the current Company Distilling gin.

Getting Past The Pandemic
The buyout of H. Clark Distillery was announced on the very eve of lockdowns sweeping the nation, which turned out to be one of the most disadvantageous times to start a new spirits venture as could be imagined. For one thing, the materials and labor shortages of the construction and housing boom that accompanied the steep interest rate cuts of the Pandemic severely hampered the start and completion of their Townsend location, which did not become functional until December 2022. Prices spikes during that period forced the price tag on the Townsend facility up by $1 million, and all that is keeping in mind the involvement of the folks from Clayton Homes in the project!

But there were some upsides. As Master Distiller, Arnett spent approximately one-fifth of the year on the road, serving as Jack Daniel’s rock star brand ambassador. From March to September 2020, he was grounded, and he resigned as Master Distiller in September 2020.

Despite the Pandemic speed bump, Company Distilling is now moving forward. In 2021, they bought a 31 acre property in Alcoa, better known for smelting aluminum than making spirits. After disputes with local property owners, they are now set on a course to build a new production facility to join the 10,000 barrel storage house they currently have set up in an existing building. The plan is to use the Thomson’s Station distillery to make gin, the new Townsend distillery to make vodka, and use the Alcoa facility both to store sourced whiskey and then make it in the future.

Bringing Good Company To Company’s Destinations
The combination of personalities and talents at Company Distilling should make it a much higher profile curiosity for whiskey enthusiasts than it is at present, especially for its sourced whiskeys blended under Arnett’s stewardship, but it’s pair of locations are what should be of interest to drinkers and travelers generally. With its location in the exurbs of Nashville, it is both convenient to that metropolis yet far enough removed to offer the kind of idyllic outdoor patio setting usually associated with wineries.

Not quite as convenient, but even more outdoors-oriented, is the Townsend location, and that part is truly the best kept secret in Tennessee. Townsend itself is the “peaceful side of the Smokies,” being the least touristy of the three major entrances to Great Smoky Mountain National Park. In fact, it is hardly touristy at all, at least by comparison to Gatlinburg and thereabouts, with just the right balance of outdoor activities, infrastructure and being off the beaten track. Close enough to Knoxville or Chattanooga to be inside day trip range for those two cities, taking in a pleasant and relaxing drink at Company Distilling in Townsend after a day hike or tubing trip in the Little River is more of an overnight trip from Nashville. The allure of Townsend as a drinks-meets-outdoors destination will only grow alongside Alcoa facility, since the latter is just 15 miles away.

Autumn is around the bend, and with it the truly spectacular sight of the Smokies sporting their fall colors. This might be the last autumn that Company Distilling could truly be called Tennessee’s best kept secret, so for those who crave that type of destination, now is the time.