Mike Williams
Mike Williams – Master Distiller - Tennessee Distilling Ltd.
(Disclaimer: Tennessee Distilling Group is a private label supplier for various whiskey companies and as such there is a certain level of confidentiality expected at the distillery and by its employees because of non-disclosure agreements. There is not a lot of information readily available on Tennessee Distilling Company nor on Mike Williams publicly. We do understand the resulting confidentiality and we do wish to respect both Mr. Williams and the Tennessee Distilling Company. However, we do very much want to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of Mike Williams as a Tennessee Whiskey Founder and his contributions and efforts in crafting Tennessee Distilling Laws. Until we can get an interview with Mr. Williams, the information we have is compiled from several secondhand sources online. You will notice several critical bits of information are currently missing. We have no birthdate, birthplace, education, etc. Some liberty had to be taken in compiling the information and therefore much grace is asked for and expected of any errors or omissions in the results. Hopefully, as information becomes available in the future, this WILL be updated, and any errors WILL be corrected. Citations were included if available. -KH)
Mike Williams the Legislator
Prior to prohibition, Tennessee had approximately 400 distilleries in operation across the state. After Prohibition ended, Tennessee laws were enacted that made production of distilled spirits only legal in two counties; Moore and Lincoln. Coffee County was added by referendum in 1958. These counties just happened to be where the two distillers to revive their operations following Prohibition operated: Jack Daniel’s (Moore County) and Cascade Hollow/George Dickel (Coffee County). It stayed that way for 40 years and in 1997, Prichard ’s Distillery opened operation in Lincoln County. Those three were it!
Mike Williams is a former Tennessee State Legislator from Franklin, Tennessee who helped pass new legislation that revised Tennessee state laws related to distilling in 2009. The law that Williams was instrumental in getting passed was the catalyst to the Tennessee distilled spirits’ rebirth. As soon as the law was passed, 44 more of Tennessee’s 95 counties became eligible for legal distilleries. Manufacturers would be allowed in any county where both retail package sales of liquor and liquor-by-the-drink sales had already been in place and then locally approved by their respective County Commission. State lawmakers felt this was not a distillery bill, but a jobs bill. They believed not only would distilleries create jobs, but they also would generate money for the state's agricultural industry when those distilleries purchased local grown products. “The only difference between moonshine and (legal whiskey) is one is taxed and the other is not," one law maker said.
Mike Williams said most distilleries opening under the new law would be small-scale boutique producers who will not be viewed as a competitive threat to large producers like Jack Daniel's or George Dickel. Williams had been exploring the option of opening a distillery and was in the preliminary stages of selecting a location. "Jack Daniel's has nothing to fear from anybody trying to get licensed under this new law," said Williams, noting that it could be a minimum of one year before he gets into the business himself. "They are the largest brand of whiskey in the world; they are a national icon."
Elizabeth Conway, public relations manager for Jack Daniel Distillery, said Jack Daniel's was pleased to see Governor Phil Bredesen sign into law legislation that would allow expanded craft distilleries in Tennessee.
Mike Williams the Entrepreneur
Mike Williams then went on to become one of the founders and co-owners of the Tennessee Distilling Company. Tennessee Distilling Company LLC operates as a distiller. The company was incorporated in 2009 and at the time was based in Franklin, Tennessee. He also became the company’s Master Distiller. Currently, we don’t have any details on Williams’ education. Williams started to produce Collier and McKeel whiskey. [1] According to the company website, the story of Collier and McKeel whiskey is intertwined with Mike Williams as part of his family heritage. Williams is descended from those original whiskey makers.
The story of Collier and McKeel starts during the early years of the United States. After President Washington stopped the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania in 1794, whiskey makers from Virginia and North Carolina were concerned the same could happen to them. So, two of those whiskey makers, William Collier and James McKeel, moved to Tennessee, where they used their knowledge of Scottish and Irish whiskey making to make their own sour mash whiskey. Fast forward a couple hundred years; Mike Williams opened his distillery named Collier and McKeel in the old Marathon Auto Works building (next to Corsair Artisan Distillery), located near the state capitol building in Nashville in 2009. The first distilled whiskeys were available for sale in 2011. The original product line consisted of Tennessee whiskey, a cinnamon whiskey, a vodka, and a white dog unaged whiskey (legal moonshine). In 2012, Collier and McKeel moved its operations to the Speakeasy Spirits, later referred to as the Pennington Distilling Co., a complex in West Nashville.
In May 2013, Collier and McKeel signed an agreement with The Vintner Group to expand distribution to parts of the East Coast and Midwest. Mike Williams called the deal a "major move" for the company. In May 2014, he announced the sale of Collier and McKeel to California based North Coast Spirits.[2] “Finding the right partner to carry on this historical legacy of these brands was hugely important to me,” Mike Williams, President of Tennessee Distilling Company said, “I really wanted to find a partner that could take Collier & McKeel forward and carry on the Tennessee tradition of this company”. The transaction was between two privately held companies and no details have been disclosed.
Mike Williams and the Tennessee Distilling Group
Shortly after the Collier and McKeel sale, Tennessee Distilling Company made a move to its current location in Columbia, TN. This is also when and where details about the company start to become more and more secretive and scarce as they made the move to a Private Label supplier.
Based on the information available, it appears an entity called Tennessee Distilling Group became the holding company to the distillery known as Tennessee Distilling Ltd., both of which are the Tennessee Distilling Company. It sounds confusing; but it is believed this was likely due to the reorganization of the company for moving into the Private Label Source business. It also appears Mike Williams is not only the Master Distiller but also a co-owner of the company and President. Tennessee Distilling Group is a distiller of traditional Tennessee Whiskey, American Bourbon, Rye, Corn, and Single Malt Whiskeys. They provide their brand partners across North America and around the world with new-make whiskey, aged whiskey, contract storage, contract bottling, and private label/exclusive brand programs. Located in Columbia, Tennessee just a one-hour drive south of Nashville, Tennessee Distilling Group's operations encompass three campuses spanning over 150 acres with 2 independent distillery operations, a dedicated certified food grade contract bottling facility, and contract storage warehouses totaling over 800,000 sq. ft. under roof and storing several hundred-thousand barrels. Their customers consist of some of the largest public and private global alcohol companies, many of the largest global retailers, as well as craft, emerging, and personality brands.
Out of respect for Williams and the company, we are not going to attempt to divulge any “non-disclosure” brand names here. However, around November 2020, Costco announced its partnership with the Tennessee Distilling Company on its official Facebook page. While Costco wraps its other spirits in a cloak of secrecy, when it came to their Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey, they released a whole video about its making. The video showed how the grains were gathered, and how the whiskey dripped through maple charcoal before being barreled. [3] It is no secret that the Kirkland’s brand of Tennessee Whiskey is a Tennessee Distilling Company product. The bottles carry the signature of Master Distiller Mike Williams and state that the whiskey is bottled by Tennessee Distilling.
Tennessee Distilling Ltd. makes whiskeys under both their own brand label and for private labels. Williams said, whether it be the whiskey for their own brand or any private label, they "make them with the same quality and with the same care. That's what we have tried to do with Kirkland’s whiskey." Williams added, "They picked the grain bill that they wanted, gave us the specifications that they wanted their whiskey made to."[4] Tennessee Distilling Company does not offer public tours nor tastings due to non-disclosure agreements.
While it is unusual for Costco to disclose their whiskeys’ producers, it shows that Mike Williams and Tennessee Distilling Company are worthy of recognition.
Contributed By: Kevin Hazard, Columbia, Tennessee
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[1] "Collier and McKeel whiskey sold to Calif. group". Washington Times. Associated Press. May 6, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014
[2] ("Collier and McKeel inks multistate distribution agreement". Nashville Post. May 30, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2018., 2013)
[3] (via Johnson City Press).
[4] https://www.mashed.com/763132/the-truth-about-kirkland-signature-whiskeys/
