At last month’s Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville, Tenn., I visited many companies featuring their brewing and filling equipment, packaging solutions, and beer ingredients. During an extended stay in “Music City,” my husband and I toured the Pennington Distilling Co. (PDC), which prides itself on authenticity and creating hand-crafted spirits that embody the same characteristics as the city where it all began.
Founded in 2011 by husband-and-wife Jeff and Jenny Pennington, PDC, formerly known as SPEAKeasy Spirits Distillery, sources most of its grains from Huntington, Tenn.-based Renfroe Farms. Barley grains, including white corn, red winter wheat and rye, are milled on-site and discarded mash is picked up by local farms to feed livestock, explains tour guide Bonita Kolb.